“Pretty Boy” Floyd’s Fatal Ford V-8 Mishap

By John Emmering

Mechanical problems and mishaps with our Ford V-8s can result in interference with an event, unwanted expense and a possible “hard luck” award.    The following is an account of the V-8 mishap that led to the end of the life and career of Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd.

     Speeding down Ohio Highway 7 just before reaching Wellsville on that rainy night of Saturday, October 20, 1934 Charlie Floyd felt the tires of his 1932 Ford slide on the wet pavement and momentarily losing control, his Ford skidded into a telephone pole.  Checking out the damage Floyd saw steam emitting from under the hood.  As he attempted to proceed in the Ford it was clear that the car would need repairs if it were to take him across the county as he had planned.  Floyd and his partner Adam Richetti agreed that their female companions, sisters Beulah and Rose Baird should take the Ford into town for repairs and return for the men afterward.  A year earlier they were almost captured in a mechanic’s shop and they were wary of repeating the scenario.

       Charles “Pretty Boy Floyd” and his partner in crime Adam Richetti had paired off with the sisters a year earlier in Toledo Ohio and decided to lay low in a rented apartment in Buffalo, New York, following a long bank robbing spree.  Floyd and Beulah took the names of Mr. & Mrs. George Sanders and Richetti and Rose were known as Mr. & Mrs. Ed Brennen.  After a very uneventful year in hiding Floyd panicked when he heard some startling news. He and Richetti had been indicted for the murders of four law enforcement officers and gangster Frank Nash in the Kansas City Massacre, while attempting to free Nash from custody on June 17, 1933.

     Knowing the manhunt for he and Richetti would intensify, Floyd made plans to return to his home base in thef Cookson Hills of Oklahoma.  From there they could flee to Mexico.  Floyd gave Rose Baird cash and sent her to a Ford dealer for a serviceable used car.  Rose bought the two year old 1932 Ford V-8 Tudor and the four headed west until the accident stopped them in their tracks near Wellsville, Ohio.

     As Beulah and Rose headed into Wellsville just before dawn to get the Ford repaired, Floyd and Richetti took some blankets and guns they had removed from the car and climbed a hill near a brick factory.  They sat down on the blankets as they waited for the women to return with the Ford.  The presence of the two outlaws did not remain secret long.  Noticed by an area resident, a call was placed to Chief John H. Fultz of the Wellsville Police Department reporting the activities and location of the strangers.  It seemed unusual that two men dressed in suits would be sitting in that location.

     Chief Fultz deputized two local men and located Floyd and Richetti on the hill.  Floyd pulled his gun but Fultz, who was not in uniform, was not fazed, saying he was just a worker at the brickyard.  After an exchange of gun fire the outlaws then ran in opposite directions but Chief Fultz was able to capture Richetti after firing at him.  When the lawmen spotted Floyd once again, he let loose with machine gun fire hitting one of the deputies in the shoulder and making his temporary escape.

     As Floyd made his way on foot through the Ohio countryside he encountered teenager George McMillen who agreed to drive Floyd to Youngstown for $10.00 in his Model “T” Ford.  After a short while the Model “T” stalled near a greenhouse, out of gas.  Floyd got florist James Baum to agree to take him for gas in his 1929 Nash automobile.  Once in the car Floyd pulled his gun and ordered Baum to take him to Youngstown.  When the Nash was spotted avoiding a road block at Floyd’s instruction, the police grew suspicious and gave chase.  Floyd fired several shots from his pistol at the pursuing police car and soon exited the Nash, running into a wooded area where he disappeared.     

     The next 24 hours saw Floyd roaming the area between Wellsville and East Liverpool desperately attempting to evade capture.  After spending a full night on the run Floyd emerged from the woods on Monday, October 22 and approached the farm house of Widow Ellen Conkle.  Floyd told her he would pay her for a meal and she accommodated, serving him ribs, fresh bread and pudding.  When Mrs. Conkle’s brother-in-law Steward Dyke drove up in his Ford Model “A”, Floyd again offered money for a ride to Youngstown.  Dyke said he could take him part of the way and Floyd jumped in the Model “A”.  As the old Ford pulled out two cars suddenly pulled into the Conkle Farm.  One, an East Liverpool Police car full of officers and a sedan driven by Special Agent Melvin Purvis, of J. Edgar Hoover’s Division of Investigation, who were checking area farms.   Floyd chose that moment to sprint across an open field toward a c lump of woods and was cut down by the lawmen’s rifle fire.  As Floyd lay on the grass Purvis asked him to confess to the Kansas City Massacre, to which he answered “I ain’t telling you nothing”.  The outlaw soon passed from this life.  

     On a lighter note Beulah and Rose Baird were able to get the 1932 Ford fixed.  The repaired Ford V-8 carried them all the way to Oklahoma in time for them to attend Pretty Boy Floyd’s funeral.