Loftin
LOFTIN
GENEALOGY
LINE
The
LOFTIN
Family
Tree
Philip
Daniel
Loftin
(1978 - 20??)
Curtis
Dean
Loftin
(1953 - 20??)
Sam
William
Loftin
(1918 - 1979)
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)
_______
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Sam William Loftin
Born: 13 May 1918, Newton, Catawba County, NC
Died: 18 Sep 1979, Statesville, Iredell County, NC
Sam William Loftin was the tenth child, out of fourteen, born to Alonzo Lester Loftin and Ida Lillian Setzer.
(Above) Alonzo Lester Loftin
& Ida Lillian Setzer LoftinAlonzo married Ida after the death of his first wife, Cornelia, from pneumonia. Cornelia left Alonzo with five children - Nannie, Roy, Lillie, Floye and Verdie Lee.
Sam was born May 13, 1918. According to records, Sam wasn’t immediately named like most of his brothers and sisters were. Dr. Fred Long was the Doctor that "delivered" him.(Left) Sam at about age 13 - 15
(Thanks to Loretta Huffman Hiatt for this photo of Sam)
Sam’s siblings from Alonzo’s marriage to Ida were Charlie, Theodore (Speedo), Sadie, twins Thelma & Elma, Allie, twins Daisy Pearl & Daniel, Mike, Oscar, Frances and two other infant sons who died at birth.
According to Willie Loftin (Sam's wife), the Loftins owned three stores in Catawba. Roy Loftin, Sam’s half-brother, owned two, and Alonzo owned the one. Alonzo's store sold feed & fertilizer, as well as eggs and groceries, and was located about mid-way up South Main Street in Catawba - the current location of the billiards room, next to the Catawba Tavern.
Sam (below left) with sister, Daisy Pearl
(Thanks to Deanie Herman Hilton for this photo of Sam)
Sam (center) poses with brother-in-law Dewey Connor (right), Glenn Trimm (left)
and a wonderful old car
(Thanks to Deanie Herman Hilton for this photo of Sam)
With the Great Depression of 1929, that lasted most of the 1930s, Alonzo and his family went through some hardships. When the Depression came, many people couldn't pay Alonzo the money they owed him at the feed and fertilizer store. He refused to declare bankruptcy, saying "he still owed his creditors, and he would pay them." He lost most of his wealth as a result.
Alonzo died in 1937 when Sam was sixteen, leaving Sam on his own.
In 1940, at the age of 22,
Sam was involved in the Civilian Conservation Corps.
The CCC was created in 1933 “for the relief of unemployment through the performance of useful public work, and for other purposes.” One of the most successful New Deal programs of the Great Depression, it existed less than ten years, but left a legacy of strong, handsome roads, bridges, and buildings throughout the United States.
The 4,000 temporary and permanent camps scattered across the nation were run military-style by the War Department, though the recruits carried picks and shovels rather than rifles. The earliest enrollees wore surplus uniforms from World War I. The CCC boys worked 40 hours a week and had their evenings and weekends free. Each camp had a recreation building, education building and infirmary. The men lived in barracks and ate in a mess hall.
Sam was trained as a cook, and gained the distinction of First Cook, from the School of Bakers & Cooks in Winnsboro, South Carolina.
After his time in the School for Bakers and Cooks, Sam returned home and worked in his brother Speedo’s store.
According to Willie, Sam was very good-looking when he was young and very popular with the girls. Even Willie’s sister, Lib, wanted to date him.
When asked how she first met Sam, Willie said she had gone to Speedo’s store (just down the road from where the Martin Goble family lived on Alley Rd.) to buy some candy and Sam was working there. She said, “He gave me a LOT of candy for the money. He told a neighbor, Ms. Trimm, that he was “gonna date that girl, Willie” … that she was pretty. Willie always said Sam was the best looking man she had ever met.
Sam married Willie Aleen Goble on March 21, 1942. Sam was 23 and Willie was 16. Both lied about their age, Sam saying he was 24 and Willie 18. Sam & Willie's Marriage License
Most of Alonzo & Ida’s children lived in the little two-room house on the corner of E. Bandys Rd and Sherrills Ford Rd when they were first married - including Sam and Willie. They were very poor when they first got married, but Sam did buy Willie a bedroom suite for the little two-room house. He built the table for the kitchen, and bought a used wood stove and cabinet for the dishes.
Sam (left) with a friend
Like many of the other young men in his day, when WWII broke out, Sam left Willie at his sister Allie’s house and went to enlist. During his physical exam, however, it was discovered that he had a hernia and he was turned down.
Eventually Sam would buy 40 acres of property on Dexter Path, just off of Shiloh Church Rd. from Fred Gibson’s father. Sam purchased the property, then cut and sold the timber there to pay for the property. Sam had started working at Russ Campbell’s sawmill. He used Russ’ horses to pull the logs that he had cut off of the property. He also used some of the timber to build a house for him & Willie.
During their marriage, Sam built Willie three new homes - each one a little nicer. The first was on Dexter Path, just off Shiloh Church Rd, the second on E. Bandys Rd, and the last on Hwy. 10 one mile from the town of Catawba. Sam also originally owned Sugar Farm in the Bandy's High School area (about 35 acres) before selling it to Lloyal Deal.
Sam & Willie had two children:
Name Birth Date Death Date Spouse William "Billy" Ray Loftin 26 Dec 1943 19 Aug 2005 Mattie Diane Self Curtis Dean Loftin 8 May 1953 Carolyn Janet Weeks 
Sam & Willie with Billy Ray in 1944 
(Left) 2006 Photo of Willie at their first house on Dexter Path, off of Shiloh Church Rd.
(Right) The house on E. Bandys Rd.
(Left) The building that was originally built as Sam's beer-joint, then grocery store
(Right) The house Sam built on Hwy. 10 in 1954During Sam’s life, he was involved in a number of trades. He worked at…a sawmill…and trained as a cook. Sam owned and ran ...
...a beer-joint
…a grocery store
...a café
...a jewelry store
...a dry cleaners
...a tire-recapping business
...a clothing store.Sam owned a beer joint at the same time as Speedo and Mike. He even sold boot-leg whiskey for his brother, Mike, from the 2-room house and also at the beer joint. For a season Sam had slot-machines in the beer joint that belonged to Boots Cabin who had the local authorities in his back pocket. Eventually Sam got his own slot-machines, and when Boots would leave Sam’s beer joint with his earnings, Sam would put away Boots’ machines and put out his own. Sam felt “the call” and was a preacher for several years. After attending Fruitland Baptist Bible Institute in Henderson, NC, Sam preached in several small churches, but mainly in homes in the mid-1950s. Average attendance was around 30 – 40. 
Deacon Certificate Ministry License Revival Flyer I remember having meetings in our home on Hwy 10 in Catawba when I was a very small child (3 to 5 years-old). Sam even built some slatted benches that were moved into the family den to accommodate the crowd when there were home meetings. Sam, Willie & Billy Ray at Mathis Chapel Baptist Church
(Back Row, Left to Right)
Bob Wilson, William Guins, T. A. Potter, Vic Kirksey
(Front Row, Left to Right)
Sam Loftin & Floyd Kirksey
Rev. Tommy Taylor encouraged Sam with his preaching, but there were those at Mathis Chapel who became jealous of the crowd that Sam was having at his meetings, and he was asked to stop his preaching in homes. So he did.Sam & Willie with other charter members of Mathis Chapel Baptist Church in 1953
Willie (middle left) holding Curtis with Billy Ray in front of them.
Sam (standing center, 3rd from left) beside of Pastor Tommy Taylor.
Others in the photo include (Left to Right)
(Last Row) Unknown Man, Unknown Woman, Ken & Edna Guins Warren, Unknown Man
(3rd Row) Kenneth Sigmon holding Darris, Etta Wilson, Sam Loftin, Tommy Taylor, Bob Wilson, Unknowns
(2nd Row) Willie holding Curtis, Viola Kirksey, Helen & Floyd & Harry Sigmon, Vic Kirksey, Zannie Abernathy
(Front Row) Billy Ray Loftin, Ray Sigmon, William Guins, Marie (Unknown), Martin Abernathy
(Left)
Sam
(Right)
Martin Goble,
Sam Loftin holding Curtis,
and Fred Isenhour,
all celebrate May
birthdays, when
Martin & Nessi Goble
lived in the
old Lowrance House
on Lowrance Rd.
in Catawba.Sam eventually built a block building beside of his home on Hwy. 10 and established Loftin’s Tire Service in the building. Ralph Dwiggins, who ran a local used-car lot, was a silent partner. Sam sold new and re-capped tires. He’d take the tires off of the cars, use the grinder to grind off the surface of the tire, spray adhesive glue on the surface, and apply some new rubber from a large roll. The tires would be placed in a mold and baked for a period of time and eventually a “practically new” tire was produced. Sam stayed in this business for a long period of time, but as he got older he looked for an easier line of work. He purchased 10 acres on Hot Rot Rd, about a mile from his home on Hwy. 10 with plans to build a rest home for the elderly. He had a well bored, building blueprints drawn up, basement dug, and foundation laid. He and Willie had begun purchasing supplies they planned to use in the rest home, when he discovered the property had an unknown second mortgage. Sam paid off the second mortgage, but became discouraged about the entire building process. Eventually the foundation was pushed into the basement, and he used the property to raise cattle, pigs, horses and ponies. Sam eventually converted the Loftin’s Tire Service building into a clothing outlet. He built tables and purchased supplies to make the business successful. He sold men & boys’ suits, women’s dresses, blouses, skirts, shoes and many other clothing items. Sam loved campmeeting. His family had roots at the Balls Creek Campground. Because of the size of Alonzo’s family, they actually had to have two tents for the entire family. The original family tents were located at 69 & 70, the same tent used later by Sam’s sister, Frances Cook & her husband, Alvin. Sam & Willie built a tent on the side of the campground close to the "Shack" when they were first married but eventually sold it. In the 1960s, Sam built a tent for his family on the last row - tent number 298. His brother, Os, built the tent next door, 297. (Left)
2006 photo of the tent
Sam built in the mid-1960s
(Right)1966 photo of Sam's tent;
Martin Goble with (front row)
Beverly & Billy Loftin and
(back row) Terry Lee
& Frankie Edwards
(Left) Sam & Willie cut their 25th Anniversary cake while Billy Ray & Curtis watch
(Right) Sam & Willie with just a few of the Loftin Family that attended,
(left to right) Ruel & Daisy Peal Herman, Dewey & Thelma Lanier
and grandchildren Billy & Beverly Loftin, Willie, Sam & Curtis
(Left) Sam with Martin Goble, March 1967
(Right) Sam & Willie in October 1969Sam & Willie with their son Billy Ray, his wife Diane and their four children - January 1971
(Children left to right) Billy, Crystal, Eric and Beverly
1971 - Sam & Willie with their children and grandchildren at Mathis Chapel Baptist Church
Sam & Willie, Spring 1971
Sam's Signature
During the later part of his life, Sam was frequently ill. Willie quit her job at Betterware Hosiery to stay home with him and even learned to drive when she was in her 50s in order to drive him to the Doctor and hospital. Sam suffered from emphysema as a result of many years of smoking cigarettes, and had urinary bladder cancer in 1977.
Sam died on September 18, 1979. Cause of death was listed as “cardio respiratory failure”.Sam's Death Certificate
Sam's Obituaries
Sam is buried at Mathis Chapel Baptist Church in Catawba County, NC.
If you have additional information or photos of Sam Loftin or his family please contact Curtis D. Loftin A special thanks to Willie Goble Loftin, Brenda Isenhour Schronce, Loretta Huffman Hiatt and Deanie Herman Hilton
for the photos of Sam.
