Born: 7 November 1847, United States
Died: 25 September 1924
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Lotta
From Famous Women: An Outline of Feminine Achievement Through the Ages With Life Stories of Five Hundred Noted Women. Written by Joseph Adelman, published 1926 by Ellis M Lonow Company:
Charlotte Crabtree, an American actress, best known by her stage name “Lotta.” She was born in New York City, and when a child of six began her career in California.
After starring in the West, she came again to New York and in 1867, as little Nell and the Marchioness in a dramatization of Dickens’s Old Curiosity Shop, she made her first great impression and became a popular favorite.
Her success was entirely due to her personal charm, characterized by a naturalness and grace which won the hearts of her audience. Her chief successes were in plays specially written for her, such as Musette, Zip, Bob, The Little Detective and Nitouche.
Miss Crabtree never married, and in 1891 retired from the stage, having acquired a fortune. At her death, she bequeathed her fortune, amounting to almost $4,000,000 to various charities, the larger part of her bequests being for the benefit of disabled veterans of the World War.