He married Ruby Lee Hardgraves on 28 June 1924, in Sallisaw, Sequoyah, Oklahoma, United States. Heres how Charles Arthur Floyd, came by the sobriquet of "Pretty Boy" as told in his native eastern Oklahoma Hills. Willard his antithesis giant Kansan disliked fighting and has only one great victory to his credit. Pro lightweight fighter Benny Leonard predicted a victory for the 6'1", 187-pound Dempsey even though Willard, known as the "Pottawatamie Giant", was 6'.mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}6+12" tall and 245 pounds. When the defeated Dempsey returned to his dressing room, he explained his loss to his wife by saying, "Honey, I forgot to duck. The Playa Ensenada", "Tips on Tables: Jack Dempsey's Is Notable For Special Dishes", "L.A. investors acquire Palm Springs hotel", "Black L.A. 1947: Heavyweight Fighter George Godfrey, 'The Black Shadow of Leiperville,' Dies at 50", "John J. Sirica, Watergate case judge, dies at 88", "Hall of Fame Honorees Charter Class of 1970", "The Irish American Hall of Fame Announces 2011 Inaugural Class", https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/NYSAC_World_Heavyweight_Title_Fights, https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/NBA_World_Heavyweight_Title_Fights, "Jack Dempsey Loved Fighting, Mining, and Cowboying", Free Downloadable Menu from Jack Dempsey's New York Restaurant, advertising poster to the Carpentier fight, 1921, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jack_Dempsey&oldid=1138843681, This page was last edited on 11 February 2023, at 23:18. . Published in 1950, his book Championship Boxing: Explosive Punching and Aggressive Defence , is as relevant today as it was seventy years ago. He met Ruby, who lived at Bixby, when she came to visit Grandma Lydia. : Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1997). The legends about his being invincible began to grow. Whether this story was true, I never found out. Following retirement, Dempsey became known as a philanthropist. [6][7][8], William A. Dempsey, of Logan County, West Virginia, identified his son John Dempsey, Jr. of Mud Fork of Island Creek as executor of his last will and testament dated May 1, 1875. In the summer and fall of 1932, he and his partner George Birdwell, robbed dozens of small banks in Oklahoma. Charles also killed a Officer a few miles west of town in the road in front of her parents home. On January 4, 1929, Ruby Floyd filed for divorce, charging her incarcerated husband with neglect. He started out to follow the wheat harvest north and ended up robbing a St. Louis bakery company of its $12,000 payroll. In a way, I think this is a little ironic. Dempsey was losing the fight on points when in the seventh round he knocked Tunney down with a left hook to the chin then landed several more punches. Charley also learned the art of making corn liquor, or moonshine. [19] Desperate for money, Dempsey would occasionally visit saloons and challenge for fights, saying "I can't sing and I can't dance, but I can lick any SOB in the house." I watched the proceedings and the only person who had anything to do with the taping of Jack's hands was Deforest. Miske was knocked out in three rounds. This beloved old mountain minister never knew Jack Dempsey, but he remembers Jacks mother as a girl, her maiden name being Cecilia Smoot. The next morning they read in the newspapers that Charlie had been involved in the Union Station affair. Saturday Section: Sports, p. 18. Adjacent to Tilles Park, it was a good find for the Depression-era Robin Hood. During this early part of his career, Dempsey campaigned in Utah, frequently entering fights in towns in the Wasatch Mountain Range region. Ruby stayed at Grandpa's. In 1970, Dempsey became part of the "charter class" in the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. Interview gathered as part of The Great Depression. Jack Dempsey. Produced by Blackside, Inc. Copyright to all articles and other content in the online and print versions of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History is held by the Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS). In 1945, he was on board the attack transport USSArthur Middleton(APA-25) for the invasion of Okinawa. The picture appeared in . He was promoted to lieutenant commander in December 1942 and commander in March 1944. [39], Dempsey's heavyweight title-defending fights, exhibition fights, movies, and endorsements, made Dempsey one of the richest athletes in the world, putting him on the cover of Time. While in Logan, Mrs. Dempsey will visit her half-brothers, Don Ellis of Stratton Street, and Joseph and John B. Ellis of Island Creek, and others. Ultimately, Dempsey beat Argentine contender Luis ngel Firpo with a second-round KO. At the time of the knockout, Dempsey was leading on the scorecards. Flowers . 6,710. William Harrison Dempsey was born in 1895. 1, had met death in Ohio, as the Tulsa World reported on Oct. 23, 1934. They did a little better on Sept. 8, in Morris, and grabbed $2,000. Like, when I, when I to school, I, they put in my school under a fictitious name. They said they wanted to talk to Frank. Nearby lies Uncle Hughie, a chief of police; Uncle Hughie's son, H.T. If the police came knocking, the park may have offered some cover for a back-door escape. Father Charles Arthur (Pretty Boy) Floyd. I believe him. Ironically, the neutral corner rule was requested during negotiations by members of the Dempsey camp. Nevertheless, he was helped back into the ring by the writers at ringside. He was buried at burial place, Oklahoma. [56], Dempsey was an inaugural 1954 inductee to The Ring magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame (disbanded in 1987),[1] and was an inaugural 1990 inductee to the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Fifteen days, of that time they spent on horseback hunting deer and turkey and. [35] Carpentier also broke his thumb in that round, which crippled his chances. Grandpa Gay and Lydia, Ruby's grandmother, lived at Akins in the Cookson Hills in the eastern part of Oklahoma. you know. "I don't know anything about the heavyweights except Liston and Clay and [Floyd] Patterson," the former champion said. Floyd had such a good career when you think about it. Charles Dempsey Floyd was born on Dec. 29, 1924. He was released from active duty in September 1945 and received an honorable discharge from the Coast Guard Reserve in 1952. Please enable JavaScript in your browser's settings to use this part of Geni. Charles Arthur Floyd, famous as Pretty Boy Floyd, was an American bank robber. Paul Kooistra, Criminals as Heroes: Structure, Power, Identity (Bowling Green, Ky.: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1989). Dempsey portrayed himself in the role of referee of the climactic fight between Max Baer (playing the role of Steve Morgan) and Primo Carnera (playing himself), a fictional battle that foreshadowed their actual championship bout only a year later. [54], After the world-famous Louis-Schmeling fight, Dempsey stated he was glad he never had to face Joe Louis in the ring; when Louis eventually fell on hard times financially, Dempsey served as honorary chairman of a relief fund to assist him. (Photo by Mark Perlstein/Getty Images) Jack Dempsey enjoyed rock-star level popularity, and he was the most adored and commercially powerful fighter of his era. Dempsey ended up winning the match in the fourth round. In other news, oil producing states were trying to stamp out, "hot oil," seen as the basic cause of low prices. [51] Dempsey was also a co-owner of the Howard Manor in Palm Springs, California. The souvenir hunters have chipped away three headstones. Users agree not to download, copy, modify, sell, lease, rent, reprint, or otherwise distribute these materials, or to link to these materials on another web site, without authorization of the Oklahoma Historical Society. According research by Michael Griffith of Poteau, the Floyds moved in on Sept. 11, 1931. During a card game at Mother Ash's boardinghouse in Kansas City, Floyd met his future girlfriend, Beulah Baird, who gave him the colorful moniker "Pretty Boy.". Documents of Charles Arthur "Pretty Boy" Floyd. Said the Logan Banner: "Interviewed at Huntington Mrs. Dempsey told of her desire to revisit girlhood scenes and inquired about old friends. All Uncle Hughie would do when you asked him about it was grin. Birth june 30 1923 - Baxley, Appling, Georgia, USA. Kevin Bernhardt wrote the script with contributions from Charles "Jack Dempsey" Floyd, the only son of Charles Flyod. [2] [55], One of Dempsey's best friends was Judge John Sirica, who presided over the Watergate trials. Many relatives live in the two counties; and they as well as his former friends have taken pride in his prowess and successes. Gay, who was an Oklahoma highway patrolman; and adjacent to Charlie, his . Quotes. Following his parents' conversion to Mormonism, Dempsey was baptized into the LDS Church in 1903 following his 8th birthday, the "age of accountability", according to Mormon doctrine. Boxing historian J. J. Johnston said, "the films show Willard upon entering the ring walking over to Dempsey and examining his hands." Though it was deemed "the Fight of the Century", experts anticipated a one-sided win for Dempsey. Raised on small tenant farms near Sallisaw and Akins, the youngster worked long, arduous hours with his family in fields of cotton and corn. He was immortalized in song by Woody Guthrie and by the fictional Joad family in John Steinbeck's novel The Grapes of Wrath. Afterward, he was accused by some boxing fans of being a slacker for not enlisting. He is preceded in death by his parents an Radio pioneer RCA arranged for live coverage of the match via KDKA, making the event the first national radio broadcast.[3][36]. He adored his Mother. Dec 31, 2009. . White, the World reported, was certainly not afraid of, a big bad lion, that is a mountain lion or cougar, for she stood, close enough to one to kill it with a .22 caliber rifle on a. hunting trip near Sonora, Mexico, from which she had just returned. Dempsey and Williams had two children together and divorced in 1943. [57], He recounted an incident where he was assaulted while walking home at night, telling the press in 1971 that the two young muggers attempted to grab his arms, but he broke free and laid them both out cold on the sidewalk. The DempseyTunney rematch took place in Chicago, Illinois, on September 22, 1927 one day less than a year after losing his title to Tunney. He met Jack Kearns on the Pacific coast, from which point his spectacular climb to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division furnished the sport with one of its most romantic episodes. The Dempsey's lived in squalor. "Pretty Boy" Floyd was known to the FBI as a dangerous man, but to our family he was known simply as "Charlie.". He was also one of many boxers to attend the funeral of Feab S. Williams, who boxed under the name of George Godfrey. His family was poor and they moved around quite often so his father could find work. The picture appeared in The Buffalo Evening News. Oilman Lew Wentz stepped into the campaign, Mrs. N.W. Individual users must determine if their use of the Materials falls under United States copyright law's "Fair Use" guidelines and does not infringe on the proprietary rights of the Oklahoma Historical Society as the legal copyright holder of The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and part or in whole. "A champion is someone who gets up when he can't." - Jack Dempsey . Floyd served three years in prison. This boxing champion was born as William Harrison Dempsey and discoboobered his talent for fighting as a . At 20 years old, Floyd married Ruby Hardgraves; they had a son, Charles Dempsey "Jack" Floyd, who was born while Floyd was serving a four-year prison sentence for a robbing a Kroger store payroll . The son of Lithuanian immigrants in New York, Jack Sharkey was born Joseph Paul Zukauskas and moved to Boston as a boy, but he wasn't much of a fighter growing up. You can cancel at any time. That teacher was related to Floyd through a grandmother and gave Griffith a photo of Jack Dempsey Floyd that was said to be taken at the house. Counted amongst the Top 100 Greatest Punchers for all time, Dempsey is one of the most popular boxers ever in history. (1950), How To Fight Tough (1942), Dempsey: By the Man Himself (1960), Round by Round: An Autobiography (1940) and Thomas Morton of Merrymount. [31] Willard later said he had been defeated by "gangsterism".[27]. The couple Had Been Estranged for Year", "Jack Dempseys Hotel in Baja California. Griffith, who also finds time to play Wild Bill Hickock in re-enactments, said he was introduced to the story about the hideout house many years ago by a colleague at Choctaw High School. If anyone accepted the challenge, bets would be made. Robert Unger, The Union Station Massacre: The Original Sin of J. Edgar Hoover's FBI (Kansas City, Mo. Born to a dirt-poor farming family, young Dempsey took up boxing with his older brother. When he originally won the title, however, he had said he would no longer fight Black boxers. He was named Charles, after his father, and Dempsey after the heavyweight boxing champion of the world, Jack Dempsey, who Choc idolized. She was a daughter of Charles Smoot, who came to Logan from Boone County, and who lived and died up on Island Creek. This was seen as a violation of the rules, however Willard's corner did not ask for enforcement in order for the referee to disqualify Dempsey.[27]. Dempsey then married Deanna Piatelli, remaining married to her until his death in 1983. In 1925 he and a friend jumped a freight train headed east and left behind the Cookson Hills of Oklahoma. In 1921, at the age of 17, Floyd married 16-year-old Ruby Lee "Bobbie" Hardgraves, and they soon had a son, Jack Dempsey Floyd, named for the famous boxer. During this time away from competitive fighting, Dempsey married actress Estelle Taylor in 1925 and fired his long-time trainer/manager Jack "Doc" Kearns. His brother, Bernie, who often fought under the pseudonym "Jack Dempsey"this a common practice of the day, in fighters' admiration of middleweight boxer and former champion, Jack "Nonpareil" Dempseyhad signed to fight veteran George Copelin. Armstrong, Fund, Mrs. Hugh Prather, Miss Mabel Elmore and Miss Katherine Gibson, would preside as hostesses this evening when members of the Little, Theater gathered in the Public Service club rooms for a social. With no work in sight, Floyd took a train to St. Louis where he would rob a Kroger store of $16,000. Later that year, Ruby gave birth to a son, Jack Dempsey Floyd, named after the world-champion boxer. The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Heritage Preservation Grant Program. He shook hands and said hello to friends and acquaintances in one of the boldest bank robberies on record. Officers found what was left of the money from the robbery. [9], Hiram and Celia Dempsey, parents to Jack, left West Virginia in 1887. As Griffith notes in his history of the little house, Jackie would go on to join the Navy after graduating high school in 1942. Considering Pretty Boy always sat where he could see who was coming into a room, he may have chosen seats close enough in back to see the entrance doors. No one would suspect Charlie of being at the chief of police's home. Bernhardt penned the script for "Pretty Boy Floyd" with extensive contributions from Charles "Jack Dempsey . He is shown with his wife, Ruby, and son, Jack Dempsey Floyd. Following these wins, Dempsey racked up 10 more wins that included matches against Sudenberg and Downey, knocking out Downey in two rounds. On the second occasion he was floored, Dempsey flew head-first through the ring ropes, landing on a ringside reporter's typewriter. Four police officers were killed and two wounded by three machine gunners who were trying to free a prisoner named Frank Nash, who also was killed. (AP) It would be hard to tell it today, but a little brick house on North 36th Street in Fort Smith served as the home for infamous bank robber Pretty Boy Charles Floyd and his family for the fall of 1931 and spring of 1932. [52], Dempsey married four times; his first two wives were Maxine Gates (married from 1916 to 1919) and Estelle Taylor (married in 1925). Such lessons were hard, but fighting was something Jack Dempsey did well. Leading on the second occasion he was helped back into the campaign, N.W. A son, Jack Dempsey Floyd Oklahoma highway patrolman ; and they moved around quite often so father. ], Hiram and Celia Dempsey, parents to Jack, left west Virginia in 1887 in squalor and only! 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