Charles Wesley Loffer

  General Notes:

Charles was born in Chariton Co. Missouri, but his family soon moved to Crawford County Kansas to live with his Loffer grandparents. They farmed there for about 5 years. Soon after the birth of his sister Malinda, they moved to Arkansas. Charles' mother, Emerila was not well. At that time, Sulphur Springs in Benton County was noted for the healing mineral properties of its water. People who were sick came from near and far hoping to benefit from the natural, warm-flowing spring water. Charles father, Henry, took her to these springs, hoping to ease her pain. Emerilla died there in 1878, leaving her husband with two young children. Eight months later, Henry married Sarah Elizabeth Knight. They settled in Lead Hill, Arkansas. As Charles grew to manhood, he became a capable farmer, carpenter and blacksmith, under his father's tutelage.

At the age of twenty, Charles took a bride. His marriage to 18 year-old Mahala Ann Perkins was reported in the Mountain Echo, the newspaper that served the Ozarks. In 1892 the Loffers moved from Lead Hill by covered wagon, to homestead land near Bruno, in Marion County Arkansas. Charles and his father began blacksmithing. He also helped with his father's wood shop business, lending a hand to the carpentry work. Charles grandfather, Daniel Loffer also worked at the shop, making and repairing shoes.

In September of 1892 Charles staked a claim to 80 acres of his own in Marion County. His land bordered that of his father Henry, on the south side. In 1894 Charles and Mahala's first son, Lemuel was born. In early 1899 Charles' homesteaded land was deeded and recorded in his name. That same year, Charles and Mahala loaded their belongings into a covered wagon and headed south, bound for Texas. They settled in the little community of Marietta in Cass County, where son Albert was born soon after their arrival. The town did not have a blacksmith so Charles quickly set up shop. In 1908 their third son, Edgar, was born. Texas, with its wide open spaces, was a fine place to raise three boys.

All was well, and the family flourished in that Texas setting until 1914, when tragedy struck. A tornado came through the area and pretty much destroyed the town. Edgar, who was just seven, died that day. He and some other boys were playing baseball when the weather turned bad. They ran into a nearby store to take cover. The high winds destroyed the store, turning over a heavy shelf that crushed young Edgar. A newspaper article published in the Naples Texas Monitor in May 1958 gave this account, in part:
Late in the afternoon of March 31, 1914 a tornado struck the town of Marietta, Texas. All of the buildings in town were of frame construction. Buildings collapsed, and rain fell in torrents. People sought cover anywhere they could find it. When the fury of the storm had died down, nothing was left undamaged except one building - a small box house occupied by C.W. Loffer.
Apparently the carpentry skills, handed down through generations of Loffer men, had served Charles very well.

Charles loved to play the fiddle. He was in high demand at all community gatherings, and at times of celebration. His life was much, too short. After his passing, he was laid to rest beside his son Edgar, in Oakridge Cemetery, about one mile north of Marietta.

Charles married Mahala Ann Perkins, daughter of William Perkins and Grace Knight, on 25 Oct 1891 in Marion County, Arkansas. (Mahala Ann Perkins was born on 1 Sep 1873, died on 30 May 1948 in Cass Co. Texas and was buried in Oakridge Cemetery, Marietta, Texas.)