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LOFTIN
GENEALOGY
LINE

 

Alonzo
Lester
Loftin

(1876 - 1937)

William Alexander
Loftin

(1851 - 1939)

James
Franklin
Loftin

(1827 - 1864)

Thomas
Loftin

(1798 - 185?)

James
Loftin

(1768 - 1836)

John
Loftin

(1740 - 1793)

Cornelius
Loftin III

(1714 - 1785)

Cornelius
Loftin II

(1675 - 1735)

Cornelius
Loftin I

(1648 - 1735)

Leonard
"Laughton"
Loftin

(1610 - 1678)
_______

Alonzo & Ida's
Children
Were:

Charlie
Roosevelt
Loftin

(1905 - 1988)

Theodore
Roosevelt
Loftin

(1906 - 1969)

Sadie
Elizabeth
Loftin

(1909 - 2007)

Willie
Thelma
Loftin

(1911 - 1977)

Callie
Elma
Loftin

(1911 - 1992)

Sallie
Allie
Loftin

(1813 - 1986)

Daisy
Pearl
Loftin

(1914 - 1994)

Michael
Whitener
Loftin

(1916 - 1949)

Sam
William
Loftin

(1918 - 1979)

Oscar
Sherrill
Loftin

(1920 - 1986)

Glennie
Frances
Loftin

(1926 - 2015)

_______

FAMILY
NAMES

LOFTIN:
Beatty
Corzine
Cranford
Fisher
Givens
Harwell
Kaiser
Lanier
Lomax
McCorkle
Rudisill
Sherrill
Upright
Washington
Work


SETZER:
Aderholdt
Barringer
Bovey
Bushart
Deal
Heavner
Herman
Ikert
Miller
Motz
Rankin
Witherspoon

GOBLE:
Babst/Bobst
Douglas
Faber
Fink
Fulbright
Hefner
Meinhert
Miller
Muller
Pabst/Bobst
Robinson

JOHNSON:
Corzine
Fink
Hamilton
Kaiser
Leslie
Lewis
Moore
Sherrill
Upright
Wilkinson

_______

Additional
Family
SURNAMES


_______

Where
To Find 'Em


_______

The
"ROYAL"
Lineage


_______

Genealogy

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Mike Whitener Loftin

 

 

Born: 18 Feb 1916, Catawba County, NC
Died:  24 Feb 1949

 

 

                           

Mike Whitener Loftin was the tenth child born to Alonzo Lester Loftin and Ida Lillian Setzer.  Mike was born 18 Feb 1916 in Catawba County, NC. 

                             
                             
                             
(Right) A pre-teen Mike Loftin with his sister-in-law, Marie Hoke Loftin, wife of his brother, Theodore Roosevelt "Speedo" Loftin  

 
(Below) An older Mike Loftin

 

 
 
 
                             

According to Willie Goble Loftin, "Mike seemed to frequently be involved in the shady side of life.  He was even a bootlegger.  Mike could get stuff during WWII when things were being rationed, even when no one else could get them."

 

 

Mike showing his "fun-loving" nature

 

 
 
 
Mike and Tate Pope ran Catawba Cleaners before he was married. 
 
 
 

(Left) Mike Loftin with Tate & Fred Pope
(Right) Mike with Winifred Kale and Mary Jo Rufty, 1945, at the Cleaners in Catawba

   
 
 
 
 
Mike and his brother, Os, were arrested in the death of Carl Cline in 1945 but found not guilty - as well as assaulting (slapping) two females.
 
 

 

THE LANDMARK

1945 September 3

 

Carl Cline Believed Thrown From Catawba River Bridge & Killed

 
     Carl Cline, 35, of Newton, former employee of the Tallent Transfer Company of Hickory, was fatally injured in a fall from the Catawba River bridge 12 miles west of Statesville (the bridge between Catawba & Iredell Counties) Saturday night about 10:30, following a road house brawl.  The trouble started at Riverside Service Station near the bridge on Highway 70, and several men were chasing Cline out in the direction of the bridge.  Four of his pursuers are charged with throwing him from the bridge, the fall resulting in injuries from which Cline died about an hour later.  The men involved are all from Catawba County, but the disturbance took place over on the Iredell County side of the river.

     Sheriff Walter D. Morrison, Coronon N. D. Tomlin and a Coroner's jury composed of W. J. Mastheson, J.E. Deitz, J.A. Deaton, W.S. Kelly, C.R. Rimmer and Marvin Mason, started an investigation of the death in an inquest at the Iredell Court House Sunday morning at 11 o'clock.  Solicitor Charles L. Coggins, of Salisbury, Solicitor Mason M. Simon, of Iredell Recorder's Court, and Sheriff Ray Pitts, of Catawba County, took part in the preliminary investigation.  At the suggestion of Solicitor Coggin, the jury recessed after viewing the body at a local under-taking establishment and a visit to the scene of the tragedy.  The jury will meet later to complete the inquest.  Four men from Catawba were ordered held in jail pending developments.  The men ordered helf in jail without bond are Henry Bolick, Joe Bridges, OSCAR LOFTIN and MIKE LOFTIN.

     Witnesses told of Cline having trouble with other guests at the road house over a serving of beer, resulting in a fight.  Several men were said to have attacked Cline and he ran out in the direction of the river bridge pursued by a number of men.  Thirty minutes later, some one heard groans under the bridge, and the dying man was identified as Cline, the man who was chased from the road house a short time before.  Cline was brought to the Davis Hospital but he expired a few minutes after being admitted to the hospital.

     Investigation is to determine whether Cline fell from the bridge or was thrown off by his pursuers.  The distance which Cline fell from the top of the bridge to the river was estimated at 60 to 65 feet.  It appeared the he fell on his head in the sand.

     Carl Cline leave his wife and four children, two sons and two daughter.  His home is a mile west of Newton, in the St. Paul's section.  He is the son of John Cline of Maiden.  His mother resides at Maiden.  The body was taken back to Newton Sunday afternoon.  Funeral plans were not complete.
 
 
 

THE LANDMARK

1945 September 10

 

Loftins Again Are Arrested

 
     Oscar Loftin, 24, and Mike Loftin, 29, of Catawba County, who were released last Saturday following a coroner's hearing to investigate the death of Carl Cline, who was fatally injured in a fall from the Catawba River bridge on the night of September 1, had warrants served on them charging them with an assault on a female.  It appears that a number of women were at the roadhouse brawl on the night that Carl Cline lost his life.

     Both Oscar and Mike Loftin filed bonds in the sum of $300 each for their appearance in the Iredell Recorder's Court, September 17, to answer the charge of assault on the female.
 
 
 

THE LANDMARK

1945 September 30

 

Loftins Guilty of Slapping Two Females

 
     Mike Loftin and Oscar Loftin, of Catawba County, were found guilty of assault on two females, the evidence showing that on the night Carl Cline met his death at the Catawba River bridge on the night of September 1, the Loftin boys slapped two girls who were present at the Riverside Service Station brawl.  The girls were knocked down.  Mike and Oscar Loftin each got the same judgment - three months on the roads, suspended on good behavior for two years and each to pay a fine of $25 and the costs.
 
 
 
                             
Mike married Eleanor Carolyn Irvin on 18 Oct 1947.  Eleanor was born 30 Jan 1920.
 
 
Mike Whitener Loftin & Eleanor Carolyn Irvin's Marriage License

 
 
                             

(Below) Mike Whitner Loftin and Eleanor Carolyn Ervin Loftin

                             

Mike and Eleanor lived in the boarding-house in Catawba, but eventually he built her a home about a mile and a half out of Catawba.  He owned and operated a beer-joint next-door to his home.  The facility functioned as a dine-and-dance and went by the name of "The Bamboo Club".  Like Speedo and Sam, Mike had illegal slot-machines in his beer-joint.

 

Mike and Eleanor's home on Hwy. 10

 
 
 
Mike was killed in the auto accident on 24 Feb 1949.
 
 
 

THE LANDMARK

1949 February 28

 

Mike Loftin Is Killed and Two Policemen Hurt

 
     Newton, Feb  -   A night club operator lost his life and two policemen were critically injured in a three-vehicle collision near here today.
     Thirty-year-old Mike Loftin was killed when the car in which he was riding with the officers collided with a truck, which skidded into a second truck in the impact.
     It is understood that the truck was in the act of turning around in the highway when the death car came over the crest of a hill at considerable speed.
     Seriously injured were Deputy Sheriffs Ralph Pitts, 28, and Russell Herman, 60, both of Newton.  Catawba County Hospital reported the men were in "extremely critical" condition.
     Occupants of the trucks escaped injury in the crash.  They were identified as Early Reinhardt, 24, Negro, of Maiden, who was operating a vehicle owned by Bost Building Supply Company; and Pete Craig, 35, of Vale, Route 2 and David Leonard, Occupants of the other truck.
     Loftin, owner of the Bamboo Club, a dine-and-dance establishment situated five miles east of the scene of the accident on Highway 10, was reported to have been accompanying the deputy sheriffs on an investigation.
     Authorities declined to disclose the nature of the investigation, but Loftin was involved purely as a witness, they made clear.
     A native of Catawba County, Loftin was the son of the late A. L. Loftin.  Survivors include his wife and several brothers and sisters.
 
 
 
According to Willie Goble Loftin, "Mike's beer-join (dine-and-dance establishment) had been broken into on the night that died.  The illegal slot-machines that he had in the building were provided by the Pitts family and Deputy Ralph Pitts had come by to pick up Mike to take him to the Bamboo Club to see if the slot-machines had been stolen or damaged."  Unfortunately for Mike, the ride cost him his life.
 
 
 
Statesville Daily Record

Statesville, North Carolina

1949 March 9

 

Deputy Requests Own Indictment

 
     NEWTON, March 9 (U.P.) - A conscientious deputy sheriff involved in a highway death was charged with manslaughter today at his own request.
     Deputy Ralph Pitts asked that a warrant be sworn out for his arrest in connection with the death of Mike Loftin, 35-year-old night club operator killed when he was riding in Pitts car Feb. 24.  Earl Reinhardt, Negro, 24, driver of the truck which collided with the car, already was facing similar charges.
     Pitts was still in Catawba County Hospital here with injuries.  His brother, Sheriff Ray Pitts, took his request to the highway patrol.
 
 
 
Statesville Daily Record

Statesville, North Carolina

1949 March 30

 

Two Men Exonerated In Manslaughter Case

 
        NEWTON, March 30 (U.P.) - Deputy Sheriff Ralph Pitts and Earl Reinhardt, Negro, today were cleared of manslaughter charges in connection with the death of nightclub operator Mike Loftin, 33, in a highway accident Feb. 24.
     Loftin was a passenger in Pitts' car when it collided with Reinhardt's truck at a crossroads near here.
     The charges against the two men were non-suited in Recorder's court here.
 
 
 
Statesville Daily Record

Statesville, North Carolina

1949 July 8

 

Damage Suit Is Filed As Result Of Collision

 
     NEWTON, July 8 (U.P.) - Deputy Sheriff Ralph Pitts today sought $25,000 damages from Loy R. Bost of Maiden as a result of a car-truck collision last spring.
     The accident claimed the life of Mike Loftin, 35, of Catawba, a passenger in Pitts' car.
     The suit filed by Pitts charges negligence on the part of the Negro driver of the truck owned by Bost.
     Bost previously filed a damage suit against Pitts.
 
 
 
Mike's death certificate shows that he was involved in a collision while riding in a police car - that he sustained chest and head injuries - and that he was dead on arrival at the hospital.  The informant was Theodore Roosevelt "Speedo" Loftin, his brother.,  The death certificate also shows that he was a night club operator.  He was only 33 years old.
 
 

Death Certificate

 
                             
                             

Mike is buried at Center Methodist Church in Catawba County, NC.

                             
 
 

Mike and Eleanor had one son, Michael Lane Loftin, born 22 Mar 1949.

 
         
Mike's death on 24 Feb 1949, was a month before the birth of his son, "Mikey", on 22 Mar 1949. 
 
Mike's widow, Eleanor, married Robert Rufty three months after Mike's death.
 

Eleanor with newborn son Michael Lane Loftin

 

Michael "Mikey" Lane Loftin

 

 
 

Mikey celebrates his second birthday

 
 
Robert and Eleanor moved to Florida but would occasionally visit Robert's family on Rufty Lane just out of Catawba on Hwy 10. While visiting the Rufys, Mikey loved to walk through the woods and visit with Sam, Willie, Billy Ray and Curtis Loftin. He got more that one "whipping" from his step-father for going to visit his Uncle Sam and family - but he still kept coming back.
 
 

Mike and Eleanor's son, Mikey, was killed in an auto accident on 25 Jan 1965, two months before he turned 16.  Mikey wasn't driving the car that he was killed in. 

 
 
 
 

29 Jul 2010
Frances Loftin Cook talks about her brother Mike Loftin
YouTube Video

 
 

SOURCES

 

A special thanks to Frances Loftin Cook and Peggy Loftin Brotherton
for the photos and information on Mike and his family.

 
 
 
 
 

If you have additional photos or information on Mike Whitener Loftin, please contact me.