Great Depression Meets Pretty Boy Floyd
The Great Depression Meets Pretty Boy Floyd Back in the early 1930’s as the Great Depression was deepening, it was front-page news every day of the week; more often than FDR, the New Deal, international politics, local happenings and the weather. ... Some of its perpetrators were Dillinger, Capone, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, Bonnie & Clyde and others. After watching the movies on the effects of the Great Depression, I decided to research crime further. My subject; “Pretty Boy” Floyd. Charles Arthur Floyd was born on February 3, 1904 in Georgia, he was one of seven children, but his family moved to a small farming community in Oklahoma, which he called home. ... In 1921 he married 16 year old Ruby Hargrove, they eventually had a son, Jack Dempsey Floyd. ... Floyd lived and operated in the East Liverpool, Ohio area as a hired gun for the bootleggers and rum-runners along the Midland, PA and Stebuenville, OH stretch of the Ohio River. ... It was here that he learned to use a machine gun and acquired his legendary nickname “Pretty Boy”. ... A year after his release, Floyd was caught for robbery in Ohio and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In route to the penitentiary at Columbus, Floyd talked his guards into uncuffing him so he could use the restroom. Floyd escaped and returned to Kansas City. ... Floyd escaped with several shots to his abdomen. A reward of $4,000 was put up for the capture of Charles Arthur Floyd, dead or alive. Floyd missed his wife and son and decided in 1931 to reacquaint himself with his family. His wife had remarried, but when Floyd showed up, she fell in love with him again and the Floyds disappeared to Fort Smith, Ark.