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Pretty Boy Floyd

Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd (February 3, 1904 – October 22, 1934) was an American bank robber and fugitive who operated in the Midwest during the Great Depression era. Born near Adairsville in Bartow County, Georgia, as the second son and fourth of six children to Walter Lee Floyd and Mamie Helena Echols Floyd, he relocated with his family in 1911 to Sequoyah County, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas border.^[1]
Floyd's criminal career began with bootlegging and minor offenses in his teens, escalating to a 1925 payroll robbery in St. Louis that resulted in a five-year prison sentence from which he was paroled in 1929; thereafter, he was linked to over 30 bank robberies, including the 1932 holdup of the Sallisaw State Bank in Oklahoma.^[1] He earned his "Pretty Boy" moniker due to his youthful good looks and was suspected by the FBI of participating in the June 17, 1933, Kansas City Massacre, which killed four law enforcement officers, though subsequent evidence has disputed his direct involvement.^[1]
Following John Dillinger's death, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover named Floyd Public Enemy Number One, prompting an intense nationwide manhunt for his role in armed robberies and killings.^[1] On October 22, 1934, Floyd was fatally shot by FBI agents and local officers in a cornfield near East Liverpool, Ohio, after a chase; his funeral drew over 20,000 mourners, reflecting his status as a folk hero in some rural areas, mythologized in works like Woody Guthrie's ballads as a sympathetic figure against economic despair, despite his violent record.^[1]^[2]

Early Life and Background

Birth and Family Origins

Charles Arthur Floyd was born on February 3, 1904, near Adairsville in Bartow County, Georgia.^[1]^[3] His parents, Walter Lee Floyd and Minnie Floyd, were tenant farmers struggling with poverty in rural Georgia.^[1]^[4] Floyd was the second son and fourth of six surviving children in the family, which included siblings from a large household marked by the hardships of sharecropping life.^[1] The Floyds descended from farming stock in the American South, with no recorded history of prior criminal involvement among immediate relatives, though economic pressures shaped their early circumstances.^[5] His father and mother maintained a law-abiding existence amid the agrarian challenges of the early 20th century.^[5]

Relocation to Oklahoma and Formative Years

In 1911, when Charles Floyd was seven years old, his family left the rural hills of Bartow County, Georgia, seeking better economic prospects amid limited farmland opportunities, and relocated to the Cookson Hills region near Sallisaw in the newly established state of Oklahoma.^[1]^[6] The Floyds, including parents Walter Lee Floyd—a tenant farmer—and Mamie Helena Ranier Floyd, joined relatives and acquaintances already settled in Sequoyah County, where they continued subsistence farming on rented land amid challenging soil and frequent crop failures.^[1] This move reflected broader patterns of southern migration to the Great Plains during the early 20th century, driven by hopes of fertile land, though the family encountered persistent poverty and harsh living conditions typical of sharecropping households.^[1] Floyd spent his formative years in the small community of Akins, a rural outpost where he contributed to family labor on the farm, tending crops and livestock from a young age.^[7] The household's six surviving children, of which Floyd was the fourth, faced economic hardship exacerbated by Oklahoma's volatile agricultural economy, including droughts and low commodity prices that kept the family in debt to landowners.^[1] Local accounts describe Floyd as physically striking and athletic, earning him the nickname "Pretty Boy" among peers for his handsome features and charm, traits that contrasted with the drudgery of farm life.^[1] Education was limited; Floyd attended a one-room schoolhouse intermittently, prioritizing farm work over formal learning, which left him with basic literacy but little advanced schooling.^[1] These years instilled in Floyd a familiarity with the rugged terrain of the Cookson Hills, which later served as a hideout during his criminal activities, while the pervasive rural poverty and perceived inequities in land tenancy fostered resentment toward financial institutions—though no direct evidence links this to his later choices beyond contemporaneous economic pressures.^[1] By his late teens, Floyd had developed a reputation for minor mischief, such as bootlegging and petty theft, amid the broader social ferment of post-World War I Oklahoma, where Prohibition-era opportunities intertwined with farm distress.^[1] His early adulthood involved sporadic employment as a farmhand and mechanic, but persistent financial strain marked the transition from adolescence to independence.^[6]

Descent into Crime

Bootlegging and Minor Offenses

In his late teens, Floyd supplemented income from seasonal wheat harvesting in Oklahoma and Kansas by producing and distributing corn liquor, capitalizing on demand during national Prohibition (1920–1933).^[1] He had learned the distillation process for moonshine during his youth in rural Sequoyah County, where homemade alcohol was common among farming communities.^[1] By the early 1920s, Floyd's involvement extended to bootlegging operations in Wichita, Kansas, where he networked with underworld figures, including mentor John "Red" Lovett, who introduced him to more structured criminal methods beyond liquor trafficking.^[1] In 1924, shortly after marrying Ruby Hardgrave on June 28, he traded five gallons of corn whiskey for a pearl-handled revolver, illustrating his active role in the illicit trade.^[1] Floyd's minor offenses began around age 16 (circa 1920), encompassing petty disturbances and initial law enforcement encounters typical of transient laborers in the region, though specific charges were often vagrancy or public disorder rather than formalized bootlegging violations.^[1] These activities, while not resulting in significant incarceration at the time, eroded his adherence to legitimate work and fostered associations that escalated his criminal trajectory.^[1] No federal records document bootlegging arrests for Floyd prior to his 1925 felony, reflecting the decentralized enforcement of Prohibition-era liquor laws.

First Felony Conviction and Prison Time

On September 11, 1925, Charles Arthur Floyd participated in an armed payroll robbery in St. Louis, Missouri, targeting a shipment valued at $11,929 from a Kroger Employees Benevolent Association payroll.^[1] Accompanied by accomplices, including his associate Walter Renfro, Floyd held up the courier at gunpoint, marking his escalation from petty bootlegging to felony robbery.^[8] Floyd was arrested five days later on September 16, 1925, by St. Louis police for highway robbery, his first felony charge. He pleaded guilty, receiving a five-year sentence to the Missouri State Penitentiary on December 19, 1925.^[9] While incarcerated as inmate #22318, Floyd largely avoided further disciplinary issues, engaging in routine prison labor.^[10] He served approximately three years before parole in March 1929, having earned time off for good behavior.^[3] Upon release, Floyd reportedly vowed never to return to prison, a resolve that propelled his subsequent criminal activities.^[3] This conviction solidified his status as a felon, prohibiting firearm ownership under federal law and intensifying his outlaw path during Prohibition's waning years.

Major Criminal Activities

Bank Robbery Operations

Charles Arthur Floyd's bank robbery operations commenced shortly after his parole from the Missouri State Penitentiary on December 10, 1929.^[1] He and a small group of associates targeted rural banks in Ohio and Oklahoma, employing tactics that emphasized speed, intimidation with handguns and sawed-off shotguns, and vehicular getaways to minimize confrontation and maximize escape opportunities.^[7] These operations typically yielded modest sums, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand dollars, reflecting the limited cash reserves in small-town institutions during the early Great Depression.^[11] The first documented robbery attributed to Floyd occurred on February 5, 1930, at the Farmers and Merchants Bank in Sylvania, Ohio, where he and accomplices entered armed and fled with cash from the vaults.^[7] Floyd was arrested in connection with this heist on May 20, 1930, in Toledo, Ohio, and pleaded guilty to assault with intent to rob on November 24, 1930, receiving a sentence of 12 to 15 years. While free on bond pending transfer, he participated in the robbery of the Citizens Bank in Proctor, Oklahoma, on December 12, 1930, securing approximately $300.^[1] Floyd escaped custody en route to the Ohio State Penitentiary shortly thereafter, resuming operations as a fugitive. In 1931, Floyd's activities intensified in Oklahoma, often in collaboration with associates like George Birdwell.^[11] On March 9, his gang robbed the First National Bank in Earlsboro of $3,000.^[11] Further heists followed in locations such as Konawa and Wellston in April, and the Exchange Bank in El Reno on June 19, netting around $3,000.^[1] By late 1931, the pace accelerated, including a double robbery on December 12 of banks in Paden and Castle, executed in a single day using submachine guns for added firepower.^[7] These operations strained local banking security, prompting elevated insurance rates across Oklahoma amid fears of Floyd's gang.^[7] While popular accounts inflate the total to dozens, verifiable incidents number in the low teens, concentrated in underserved rural areas where law enforcement response was delayed.^[1]

Involvement in the Kansas City Massacre

The Kansas City Massacre occurred on June 17, 1933, at Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, when gunmen ambushed a group of law enforcement officers escorting federal prisoner Frank "Jelly" Nash back to Leavenworth Penitentiary after his recapture in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The attack resulted in the deaths of four individuals: FBI Special Agent Raymond J. Caffrey, Kansas City Police Department detectives W.D. Grove and Frank Hermanson, and Nash himself, who was caught in the crossfire. The perpetrators used submachine guns and pistols in a brazen daylight assault, fleeing after the shooting left bystanders and survivors in chaos.^[12]^[1] Authorities quickly implicated Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd alongside Vernon Miller and Adam Richetti as key figures in the attempted rescue of Nash, a longtime associate of Floyd from earlier criminal circles. The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, cited Floyd's known connections to Miller—a former sheriff turned gunman who organized the plot—and Richetti, as well as unverified eyewitness identifications and Floyd's reputed presence in the Kansas City area around the time. This attribution elevated Floyd's status in the public eye, contributing to his designation as one of the first "Public Enemies" and justifying expanded federal powers under new legislation like the 1934 anti-racketeering laws. However, initial suspicions relied heavily on circumstantial associations rather than direct forensic or eyewitness linkages to the shooting itself.^[12]^[1] Floyd vehemently denied any participation, dispatching a postcard postmarked from Springfield, Missouri, to Kansas City Police Captain William Higgins shortly after the event, stating: "I—Charles Floyd—want it made known that I did not participate in the massacre of officers at Kansas City." Contemporary skeptics, including Higgins, argued the massacre's sloppy execution did not align with Floyd's more calculated bank robbery style. Later historical investigations, including testimony from criminals like Blackie Audett identifying Miller, Maurice Denning, and Solly Weisman as the shooters, further undermined the claims.^[7] Subsequent evidence has confirmed that neither Floyd nor Richetti directly participated in the ambush, with primary responsibility attributed to Miller and possibly an unidentified third accomplice known as "Lamar." Richetti's later arrest with Floyd in 1934 stemmed from unrelated traffic stops, not massacre forensics, and his conviction rested on proximity to Miller rather than scene-specific proof. The FBI's emphasis on Floyd's involvement appears driven by institutional incentives to consolidate authority amid Depression-era crime waves, rather than irrefutable facts. Floyd reiterated his innocence until his death on October 22, 1934, maintaining to agents that he had no role in the killings.^[1]^[7]

Pursuit and Demise

Escalation of Federal Involvement

The Kansas City Massacre on June 17, 1933, significantly heightened federal scrutiny of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. At Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, gunmen—suspected to include Floyd, Vernon Miller, and Adam Richetti—attempted to free federal prisoner Frank "Jelly" Nash from custody, resulting in a shootout that killed four law enforcement officers, including two federal agents from the Bureau of Investigation (BOI).^[12] Although Floyd consistently denied participation, the Bureau attributed the attack to him, framing it as a direct assault on federal authority during a period of rising gangster violence.^[13] This incident, which claimed the lives of Special Agent Frank J. Smith and Bureau of Investigation operative Frank Hermans, spurred immediate congressional action to empower federal law enforcement.^[12] In response to the massacre, Congress enacted reforms that bolstered the BOI's capabilities, including the National Firearms Act of 1934, which regulated machine guns and other weapons commonly used by criminals, and amendments allowing agents to carry firearms and make arrests without local warrants in interstate cases.^[14] These changes, driven by public outrage over the killings of federal officers, shifted the pursuit of figures like Floyd from primarily local efforts to a coordinated federal priority under J. Edgar Hoover's direction.^[15] The Bureau expanded its resources, coordinating with state police and offering substantial rewards, transforming Floyd into a symbol of the era's "public enemy" threat.^[16] Floyd's status escalated further after the death of John Dillinger on July 22, 1934, when Hoover officially named him Public Enemy Number One, surpassing other fugitives in priority.^[17] A $23,000 reward—dead or alive—was posted, reflecting the Bureau's determination to eliminate him amid suspicions of multiple bank robberies and killings tied to his operations.^[7] This designation intensified the manhunt, with federal agents deploying advanced surveillance and cross-state raids, culminating in heightened pressure that forced Floyd into constant evasion across the Midwest.^[18] Despite debates over his direct role in events like the massacre, the federal narrative solidified his image as a ruthless outlaw warranting extraordinary measures.^[13]

Final Evasion and Confrontation

On October 20, 1934, Floyd and associate Adam Richetti were traveling near Wellsville, Ohio, when their vehicle stalled, prompting intervention by local police.^[19] Wellsville Police Chief John Fultz, along with officers Grover Potts and William Erwin, approached, leading to a shootout in which Richetti was wounded and captured while Floyd escaped after shooting Potts and commandeering a passing motorist's car to flee toward Lisbon.^[20] Floyd evaded the ensuing manhunt overnight, which involved federal agents led by Melvin Purvis joining local authorities across Columbiana County.^[20] The next morning, October 22, he arrived at the farmhouse of Ellen Conkle in Sprucevale, near East Liverpool, where he requested food and transportation; a nearby farmer observed him and alerted police.^[20] Law enforcement, including Purvis, East Liverpool Chief of Police High J. McDermott, and officers Chester C. Smith, Glenn Montgomery, and Herman Roth, quickly converged on the property.^[20] Upon confrontation, Floyd fled on foot across a cornfield toward wooded cover, pursued by approximately nine officers who discharged around 93 rounds.^[20] Struck by three bullets—two in the torso and one in the arm—he collapsed beneath an apple tree.^[20] Purvis approached the fallen outlaw, who confirmed his identity as Charles Floyd before dying approximately 15 minutes later from his wounds.^[12] FBI agents R.J. Caffrey, Melvin Purvis, and Charles Winstead were among those who fired during the exchange, though accounts vary on the specific fatal shots.^[16] Floyd's body was transported to Sturgis Funeral Home in East Liverpool, where it drew over 10,000 viewers before shipment to Oklahoma for burial.^[20]

Criminal Impact and Accountability

Documented Crimes and Fatalities

Charles Arthur Floyd's criminal record includes a 1925 conviction for robbing a United States mail payroll truck in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 11, where he and accomplices stole approximately $13,000 at gunpoint; he was arrested two days later, pleaded guilty, and received a five-year sentence in the Missouri State Penitentiary.^[21] After his parole on June 10, 1929, Floyd was strongly suspected of murdering Jim C. Mills, a neighbor who had fatally shot Floyd's father in a 1927 land dispute and was acquitted; Mills vanished shortly after Floyd's release, with his body never recovered, and law enforcement attributed the killing to Floyd based on circumstantial evidence and Floyd's prior threats.^[13] Floyd's subsequent activities centered on armed bank holdups, often with accomplices like George Birdwell, targeting small-town institutions across Oklahoma, Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana between 1930 and 1933; documented examples include the robbery of the Sloan State Bank in Connersville, Indiana, in early 1930, netting several thousand dollars; the Bank of Earlsboro in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, on March 9, 1931; the Sallisaw State Bank in Sallisaw, Oklahoma, later in 1931; and simultaneous holdups of banks in Paden and Castle, Oklahoma, on December 12, 1931, using submachine guns and bulletproof vests.^[12]^[1]^[7] These operations typically involved threats of violence but few direct fatalities during the robberies themselves, with Floyd's gang escaping with sums ranging from $1,000 to $4,000 per heist, contributing to his evasion of capture for years.^[21] Fatalities directly linked to Floyd occurred in shootouts with law enforcement pursuing him. On April 25, 1931, during an attempted bank robbery in Bowling Green, Ohio, Floyd and Birdwell exchanged fire with police, killing Patrolman R. H. Castner; Floyd was wounded but escaped.^[22] On June 17, 1932, near Slick, Oklahoma, Floyd engaged in a gun battle with former McIntosh County Sheriff Ervin A. Kelley, a bounty hunter attempting an ambush; Kelley was shot multiple times and died at the scene, while Floyd sustained four wounds but fled.^[23] Federal authorities also indicted Floyd for the June 17, 1933, Kansas City Massacre, in which four officers and a criminal associate died during an attempted prison break, but ballistic evidence was inconclusive, Floyd denied involvement in a written statement to the AP, and no conviction occurred before his death.^[12]^[2] Overall, while sensationalized accounts attribute up to a dozen killings to Floyd or his associates, verifiable direct fatalities number at least three, all in defensive or retaliatory exchanges rather than premeditated executions.^[18]

Examination of the Robin Hood Myth

The Robin Hood myth portrays Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd as a Depression-era outlaw who selectively robbed affluent banks, destroyed mortgage records to aid indebted farmers, and distributed proceeds to the impoverished, thereby challenging exploitative financial institutions amid widespread foreclosures.^[1] This narrative emerged prominently in Oklahoma folklore, where Floyd's rural roots and charm fostered sympathy among tenant farmers and the unemployed, amplified by ballads like Woody Guthrie's 1939 song "Pretty Boy Floyd," which explicitly likened him to the legendary English bandit.^[16] However, such depictions conflate economic grievances with unsubstantiated personal benevolence, as no contemporaneous records or eyewitness accounts verify acts of charity or mortgage destruction.^[24] Empirical examination reveals Floyd's operations lacked the discriminatory ethos attributed to him; he targeted over 30 banks across the Midwest from 1929 to 1934, including small rural institutions whose depositors were often local working-class residents rather than distant elites.^[1] Anecdotal claims of sparing "farmers' deposits" or paying for strangers' meals persist in oral histories, but these derive from post-mortem embellishments by sympathizers, with no forensic or financial evidence—such as recovered funds traced to recipients—substantiating redistribution. Floyd's documented expenditures prioritized evasion, associates, and family support, including remittances to his wife and son, rather than broad philanthropy; federal investigations, including FBI files, uncovered no charitable patterns amid his $23,000-plus in verified heists.^[16] ^[1] The myth's endurance stems from causal alignments during the Great Depression, when bank failures and evictions fueled class antagonism, rendering outlaws like Floyd proxies for systemic critiques—yet this overlooks his role in escalating violence, including the April 9, 1932, killing of lawman Erv Kelley and suspected ties to other fatalities.^[1] Even Floyd's son, Charles Floyd Jr., later distanced the family from heroic legends, emphasizing the man's criminality over folklore.^[25] Historians attribute the Robin Hood archetype to romanticized underdog narratives, akin to those surrounding Jesse James, but grounded analysis prioritizes verifiable predation: Floyd's gangs netted personal gains through intimidation and shootouts, not equitable redistribution, underscoring how public sentiment can eclipse evidentiary reality.^[24] ^[16]

Perception and Cultural Legacy

Regional Folk Hero Narrative

In rural Oklahoma, particularly the Cookson Hills region of eastern Oklahoma where Floyd spent much of his youth after his family relocated from Georgia in 1911, he cultivated a reputation as a folk hero amid the economic hardships of the Great Depression.^[1] Locals romanticized Floyd as the "Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills" or "Sagebrush Robin Hood," portraying him as an outlaw who targeted exploitative banks responsible for widespread farm foreclosures, allegedly destroying mortgage documents during robberies to relieve indebted farmers of their obligations.^[7] ^[26] This narrative gained traction because Floyd reportedly distributed small sums of cash to impoverished residents and avoided harming ordinary citizens in holdups, fostering sympathy among those who viewed financial institutions as the true predators amid 25% unemployment and Dust Bowl devastation by 1933.^[27] ^[24] The folk hero image persisted through oral traditions and ballads, such as Woody Guthrie's 1939 song "Pretty Boy Floyd," which depicted him as a sympathetic figure rebelling against "fountain pen" bankers who "robbed you with a six-gun" less honorably than outlaws like Floyd.^[28] Community anecdotes from the era, including claims of residents providing Floyd shelter, food, or directions to evade lawmen between 1932 and 1934, reinforced this view, with some families boasting of encounters as badges of regional pride against federal overreach.^[29] However, contemporary accounts from Oklahoma locals and later historical analyses indicate these acts of aid stemmed more from fear of reprisal or cultural defiance of distant authorities than verified benevolence, as Floyd's gang prioritized personal profit over systematic redistribution.^[24] Empirical evidence for the core Robin Hood claims remains anecdotal and unverified; no bank records or eyewitness testimonies conclusively document Floyd destroying mortgage papers or donating robbery proceeds en masse, suggesting the legend amplified isolated gestures to symbolize broader agrarian resentment during a period when over 1 million farms faced foreclosure nationwide from 1930 to 1935.^[30] ^[1] This regional narrative contrasted sharply with national perceptions, where Floyd's designation as "Public Enemy No. 1" by J. Edgar Hoover in 1934 after John Dillinger's death emphasized his role in violent crimes like the 1933 Kansas City Massacre, yet endured locally as a cautionary emblem of defiance against economic elites.^[22]

Representations in Media and Historiography

Charles Arthur Floyd has been depicted in various films and television productions, often romanticizing his life amid the economic hardships of the Great Depression. In the 1960 film Pretty Boy Floyd, directed by Herbert J. Leder, John Ericson portrays Floyd as a reluctant outlaw drawn into crime by circumstance, emphasizing his charm and evasion of capture over his violence.^[31] The 1970 low-budget film A Bullet for Pretty Boy, starring Fabian Forte, similarly frames Floyd as a folk anti-hero, focusing on his Oklahoma roots and bank heists while downplaying confirmed killings. Television adaptations include Martin Sheen's role in the 1974 TV movie The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd, which presents him as a family-oriented figure with a sense of justice, akin to a "Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills," prioritizing his appeal to the dispossessed over documented robberies.^[32] Bo Hopkins depicted him in the 1975 TV film The Kansas City Massacre, linking Floyd to the 1933 event despite later evidence exonerating him from direct involvement.^[1] Musical representations have further entrenched Floyd's folk-hero image. Woody Guthrie's 1939 ballad "Pretty Boy Floyd" sympathizes with him as an outlaw targeting exploitative banks—"some rob you with a six-gun, some rob you with a fountain pen"—reflecting Depression-era resentment toward financial institutions, and has been covered by artists including Bob Dylan and The Byrds.^[33] John Steinbeck alluded to Floyd in The Grapes of Wrath (1939) as a symbol of resistance against systemic poverty, amplifying his cultural resonance without endorsing criminality.^[1] Historiographical treatments contrast sharply with these portrayals, grounding Floyd in empirical records of his 30-plus bank robberies across Oklahoma, Ohio, and the Midwest from 1929 to 1934, including the confirmed killing of lawman Erv Kelley on April 9, 1932, near Bixby, Oklahoma.^[1] Biographer Michael Wallis's Pretty Boy: The Life and Times of Charles Arthur Floyd (1998) contextualizes his crimes within tenant farming hardships and prison influences but rejects romanticization, detailing his progression from petty theft to armed holdups and FBI designation as "Public Enemy Number One" by J. Edgar Hoover in 1934, based on eyewitness accounts and federal files rather than folklore.^[34] Analyses debunk the "Robin Hood" myth of selective theft or mortgage-burning as unsubstantiated anecdotes propagated by admirers, noting instead indiscriminate targeting of deposits from ordinary depositors and associates' involvement in fatalities, such as the disputed Kansas City Massacre, where Floyd's role was refuted by ballistics and alibis.^[24]^[1] While his October 28, 1934, funeral drew over 20,000 mourners—Oklahoma's largest—historians attribute this to economic alienation rather than evidence of benevolence, cautioning against conflating public sympathy with exoneration of violence.^[1] Federal archives and state records prioritize causal links between Floyd's actions and law enforcement escalations, portraying him as a product of opportunity in chaotic times but ultimately a perpetrator of felonies that exacerbated insecurity for rural communities.^[18]

References

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Floyd, Charles Arthur | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and ...
FLOYD, CHARLES ARTHUR (1904–1934). Known as "Choc" Floyd or "Pretty Boy," Oklahoma's most notorious and glorified folk bandit, Charles Arthur Floyd also became ...
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Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd (1904-1934) - Find a Grave Memorial
Birth: 3 Feb 1904. Adairsville, Bartow County, Georgia, USA ; Death: 22 Oct 1934 (aged 30). East Liverpool, Columbiana County, Ohio, USA ; Burial. Akins Cemetery.Missing: primary | Show results with:primary<|control11|><|separator|>
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Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd was born in Adairsville, Georgia, on February 3, 1904. He was the fourth of eight children born to Walter Lee Floyd and Minnie ...Missing: background | Show results with:background
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Apr 23, 2018 · He was sentenced to 5 years in the Missouri Penitentiary in December 1925. Generally, Floyd stayed out of trouble and was released after about 3 ...
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Louis, Missouri. He was found and convicted for this robbery and on December 19, 1925, began serving his five-year sentence in the Missouri ...
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Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd first arrived at the Missouri State Penitentiary in 1925 after pleading guilty for his first ...
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The Oklahoma Terror, aka Pretty Boy Floyd - Edmond Life & Leisure
Months earlier, on March 9, 1931, Pretty Boy and 37-year-old Birdwell robbed the Earlsboro bank of $3,000. With the help of random gang members, the two ...<|separator|>
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A mass murder committed in front of a railway station in Kansas City, Missouri in June 1933 shocked the American public and led to new crime laws.
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Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd is shot by FBI agents in a corn field in East Liverpool, Ohio. Floyd, who had been a hotly pursued fugitive for four years, ...
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Jun 16, 2023 · Shootout 90 years ago triggered the FBI mission to take out 'public enemies' such as Pretty Boy Floyd and John Dillinger. Published: June 16th, ...
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Jun 13, 2023 · A gang led by “Pretty Boy” Floyd ambushed a group of law enforcement officers as they escorted a Floyd associate out of Kansas City's Union Station.
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Oct 16, 2009 · The group was searching for Charles Arthur Floyd—known far and wide as “Pretty Boy,” a nickname he hated and refused to answer to, preferring “ ...
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Dec 12, 2019 · Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd lived a life of crime and eventually was named Public Enemy No. 1 by J. Edgar Hoover's FBI.<|separator|>
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This mask of Pretty Boy Floyd's face was made after his death on October 22, 1934. Complete list of artifacts.Missing: birth | Show results with:birth
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Mar 25, 2007 · Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd was struck four times in the shootout with Erv Kelley but survived until Oct. · Former McIntosh County Sheriff Ervin A ...
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Oct 22, 2021 · Some people said Floyd was a Robin Hood-esque figure who would not purloin the deposits of a struggling farmer. Others said he was selfish ...
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FBI summary on Charles Pretty Boy Floyd, 10p. Photocopy typed and signed ... “The Ugly Tale of Pretty Boy Floyd.” Press cutting from unidentified source.
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Aug 13, 2025 · One of the most enduring legends about Floyd is that during his robberies ... heists, further fueling his legend as a "gentleman bank robber." A ...
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And they, they'd always want to tell they'd fixed a tire for Pretty Boy Floyd, or Pretty Boy Floyd gave them a ride. Kids were always saying stuff like that ...<|control11|><|separator|>
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Nov 12, 2024 · ladycatbugnoir. • 1y ago. During a bank robbery Clyde from Bonnie and ... r/todayilearned - TIL that when Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd would rob ...Missing: gang operations
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Rating 6.6/10 (105) A humanistic account of the Robin Hood of the Cookson Hills, in which Charles Arthur Floyd is portrayed as a decent man who has a strong sense of family and ...
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Music Pathways · Courses for Teachers · Lessons · Shop · Shop Overview · New Releases · Stream our Collection · Vinyl · Box Sets · Merchandise · DVDs · Books ...
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A social history chronicling Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd's transformation from Depression-era poverty to notorious bank robber and FBI public enemy, until his ...