The actual killer was Ted Rogers. Not till I was much older did it sink in who this man really was. "[4][5] When Hamilton was imprisoned at the Eastham prison farm north of Huntsville, Texas, Bonnie and Clyde raided the farm to free him and four other prisoners on January 16, 1934. During my years at Dallas Theological Seminary I toured chaplain Ray’s offices in Dallas with some other DTS students. Floyd got a second chance. Until shortly before his death, Floyd worked for Dallas car dealer W. O. Bankston for 16 years as a trusted night watchman. I met Mr Floyd Hamilton with Chaplin Ray in the 70’s. {{::mainImage.info.license.name || 'Unknown'}}, {{current.info.license.usageTerms || current.info.license.name || current.info.license.detected || 'Unknown'}}, Uploaded by: {{current.info.uploadUser}} on {{current.info.uploadDate | date:'mediumDate'}}. Mr. Bankston’s role is especially critical, since it is quite difficult for someone coming out of prison to get that sort of chance, especially given the crimes for which he had served time. Would you like to suggest this photo as the cover photo for this article? By the time he was 21 years old he had accumulated a prison sentence of 362 years. Hamilton was involved in the killing of Deputy Sheriff Eugene C. Moore[3] when Moore and Sheriff Charlie Maxwell became suspicious of the men at an outdoor country dance in Stringtown, Oklahoma. Afterwards he was sitting alone in the fellowship hall and I went over and sat down and talked with him. After having unsuccessfully tried to escape in 1943, he was placed in Cell Block D, cell 13 (pictured above) in which he was held in solitary confinement. Hamilton was a founding member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, but transferred his credentials into the Presbyterian Church, U.S. (aka, Southern) in 1955 and served his last pastorate, 1964-1969, in a Reformed Presbyterian, General Synod church in Indianapolis. GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas -- Floyd Garland Hamilton, a childhood friend of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow who himself was named the FBI's Public Enemy No. According to his wishes, there was no funeral service, his body was cremated and his ashes were spread near the grave of his wife in Irving, Texas. Decker had vouched for Hamilton, who freely admitted his criminal past, because Decker truly believed that Floyd had reformed. Floyd Hamilton served 22 years in prison, 18 of those years in Leavenworth and Alcatraz, for armed robbery. My grandmother was Lucy, Floyd and Raymond Hamilton’s sister. He was born in Oklahoma and raised in Dallas, Texas, where he received his minor public education. After serving some of his Texas sentence, he also was pardoned by Texas Governor John Connally in the 1960s. His father abandoned the family when he was 10. He was humble and gracious. Floyd was not with the duo in 1934 at the time of their death, and continued robbing banks until his arrest and incarceration four years later. Posted by Texoso on October 27, 2016 in biography, bonnie and clyde, outlaws and crimes, Tags: biography, bonnie and clyde, history, outlaws and crimes, texas. However, as time passes there is a strong chance that he might become as well known for the way he reformed and lived out the rest of his life, in no small part due to the handful of people who took an interest in him. She continued to maintain a relationship with the family and later asked her Dallas pastor, W. A. Criswell, to go to Alcatraz and speak with Floyd, and Criswell complied. The City of Dallas has since recognized Mrs. Moore for her efforts in West Dallas by naming a park after her (Hattie Rankin Moore Park) and co-naming a community center also after her (Wesley-Rankin Community Center).