From DCPA’s Proud Heritage, Vol. I, not currently in print.
Clement Letot, founder of Letot, Texas, is the only veteran of the Crimean War ever known to have settled in Dallas County. A native of France, who was born near Paris in 1836, Letot served in the French fleet that was sent into the Black Sea as a part of the Allied forces of Turkey, France, England, and Sardinia in their war against Russia. After the war, Letot came to the United States, settling in LaSalle County, Illinois, in 1860, where he farmed before moving to Dallas in 1874. Letot became one of the wealthiest citizens in northwest Dallas County. He increased his farm and ranch holdings to 1,200 acres and built a two-story farm house that was long a showplace of the area until its demolition in the 1960’s.
In the mid-1870’s, the Dallas and Wichita Railway was projected and built, at first as far as the present site in Lewisville in Denton County, then to the county seat of Denton. The first of three stops on the railroad before reaching Lewisville was seven miles north of the Dallas County Courthouse. At this point, land was granted by Letot for a depot. It was to grow into a small settle¬ment and take the name of the leading citizen, Letot. The town was established in 1881 with a population of 60 persons. By 1947 the population had grown to 300.
That same year, 1881, a post office was established with Letot as the first postmaster. There was a general store, a cotton gin, a corn mill, all owned and operated by Letot. The town also had a small church which doubled as the schoolhouse on weekdays. He was instrumental in the establishment of this church and gave the land for the development of the project.
Today, the Letot School stands on the original site. It is now in use as a rehabilitation center for wayward youth. It has become well-known nationwide because of the system used, known as the Letot Method.
Letot was proud of his French background, of his worldly success in Dallas County, and of his family. The first Mrs. Letot, Nathalie Bernard, died in 1903. They had four sons and four daughters, Theodore, Paul, David, Oliver, Elizabeth Letot Tinker, Eugenie Letot Williamson, Mamie Letot Andrews, and Mattie. Letot later married Rosa Winder, and they had one son, Clement Louis. Today, there are a number of Letot descendants living in the Dallas area.
As was the custom of early Texas pioneers, a plot of land on their farm or ranch was used as a burial ground for the family of the landowner. Such was the cemetery site for Clement and Nathalie Letot when their child, Theodore, died November 27, 1884, and two months later their son, Paul, died January 29, 1885. At his death, September 9, 1907, Clement Letot was buried beside his sons. According to traditions in the part of France from which he came, Letot’s body was laid on a narrow bed which was lowered into an underground brick and concrete vault. The curved top of this sealed vault constitutes the covering of his grave. Since that time, there have been 16 burials in the cemetery, all Letot and kin.
By A. R. Letot, Dallas
