Lone Elm   Lone Elm was settled in 1855 by the Jones, Delk and Johnson families. Other families interwoven in the community's history were those of Tilman Shaw, Tom Allen, W. W. Bailey and the Spears. The name, Lone Elm, was reportedly significant in that the large elm tree played a part in dealing with horse thieves. The chief industries - farming, cattle-raising and dairying - kept people busy, which resulted in a good life. There was a church, school, gin and store. During the 1920s the gin was operated by C. L. Ralston. In 1919, one store belonged to the Delk family and remained there until 1955. It was known as the "Jot "Em Down Store" and resulted in more being jotted down than was collected. The town reported two businesses and a population of ten in 1931. By 1942 population had increased to 40, but declined to twenty by 1971. The store closed in 1955, the gin was moved away and the school children transferred to Waxahachie. Other families known to have lived in this community were: Batson, Woodard, Martin, Holt, Morrow, Spiller, Armstrong, Bigham, Cox, Jeffecoats, Hardin, Rice, Jackson, Weeks, Ballard and .McAdams. The Jones-Delk home, one of the original homes, was still standing in 1990. References: The Handbook of Texas Online.< Hawkins, et al. Ellis County History Workshop, History of Ellis County, Texas, Texian Press, Waco, 1972.   Copyright © 2002-2016, Ellis County TXGenWeb. All Rights Reserved. This page was last modified: Thursday, 01-Jul-2021 13:17:12 MDT