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East Lothian: One of Two "Lothians"

Was located between Winchester Rd. and Shelby Dr. west of Tchulahoma Rd. in the Whitehaven area

Circa 1845. Large, white frame 2 story Greek Revival home.


John Wooldridge Elam (1812-1886) and Mary Elizabeth Thweatt Elam (1816-1888) erected East Lothian. They were first cousins and wed in 1835. They first migrated from Virginia to Alabama with two of her brothers; then they continued on to the Memphis area by 1844. The home was named for their home county in Firth of Forth, Scotland. The property was likely north of the branch of Old Tchulahom Rd. where the Memphis airport expanded and reached south to the Mississippi state line. They settled on 325 acres which was later expanded. The other brothers founded West Lothian and South Lothian.


Their oldest son Thomas E. S. Elam died in 1851.Another son, Emmett Eugene Elam (1842-1908) married Sarah “Sally”  Hilderbrand Elam (1841-1881) in 1866, and because of the marriage, he inherited East Lothian. When the Civil War erupted, he was attending the University of the South, Sewanee; he returned home. He had another plantation in Crittendon Co., AR. His second wife was a neighbor, Frances Maria Davis Elam, who he married in 1882, and she lived for a decade more. 


John's brother was Edward S. Elam whose home is/was on Fox St. (North Lothian - originally about 445 acres) - just north of John's land. John's children farmed their shares of the family plantation.




Family members kept the property until about 1967. There are conflicting stories about whether the dilapidated house burned down or was torn down for Memphis airport expansion. See Elam Homestead (North Lothian)


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