Charles Arthur Floyd was born in Adairsville, Georgia, where he lived on the street for much of his formative years. His unconventional early life continued when he moved to Oklahoma and was married by the age of 17.
Where the unconventional child became the world famous bank robber is unsure, but there are two popular theories. The first is that Floyd was struck down by a Sheriff and Floyd used crime as away of getting back at the law. The second theory sites simple poverty for Floyd’s need for crime.
It is believed that he committed his first robbery when he was just 18, when he stole $350 from a post office. From this led other crimes which eventually saw him in jail for 3 years, after being caught for payroll robbery.
When he was released from prison, Floyd vowed never to see the inside of a prison again, but this statement of intent did not mean he was intending on going straight. Teaming up with many of the established criminals in the Kansas City area, Floyd masterminded some of the most lucrative bank robberies ever, and gain the nickname “Pretty Boy”
After a string of highly successful ‘jobs’, Floyd was caught in Ohio whilst carrying out a robbery. Sentenced to 15 years in prison, Floyd escaped on his way to jail to re-form the gang and continue the lucrative crime spree. Labeled public enemy by the FBI, Floyd was blamed for many a robbery that he didn’t commit, such was his legend.
Floyd would lie low near his home town in between robberies, protected by his friends and family. His protection was sealed by his generous nature and a general hatred of banks by the population, although the press claimed that he simply bribed them into silence.
After narrowly escaping ambush by the FBI several times, Floyd was killed on October 22, 1934, when FBI agents shot him near East Liverpool, Ohio. As is the case with many aspects of Floyd's life, the circumstances surrounding his final moments are disputed. According to the FBI, Floyd died cursing his killers to the end. However, Chester Smith, the sharpshooter who felled Floyd, stated in a 1984 interview that after he had (deliberately) wounded, but not killed, Floyd, Melvin Purvis questioned him briefly and then ordered him shot at point-blank range. This is extremely controversial, because, if true, Purvis effectively executed Floyd without benefit of judge or jury.
Floyd's body was placed on public display in Sallisaw, Oklahoma. His funeral was attended by between twenty and forty thousand people, and remains the largest funeral in Oklahoma history. He was buried in Akin, Oklahoma.
Since then Floyd has been celebrated in film and song, and despite his lengthy list of crimes remains a folk hero, and lies up there in the category of loveable rogue with Robin Hood and Bonnie and Clyde!
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