7:33 PM 8/30/2006Bryan Co., OK; Biography - Floyd Giles --------------------------------- Trudy Marlow --------------------------------- USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. ---------------------------------------------------- Floyd Edick Giles Floyd Giles born September 09, 1898 in Texas. As a young boy of twelve, he was working as a farm laborer on a horse farm in Oklahoma. Floyd was hard of hearing. As a child he may have been kicked in the head by a horse. About the age of twenty, Floyd married a young woman named Florence Marie Robinson. Floyd married Florence Marie Robinson of Finch, Oklahoma on January 23 of 1918, in Madill, Oklahoma. They had nine children. Floyd, Florence Marie, and their daughter, Ruthie are listed on the 1920 census of Oklahoma. Enumerated in January of 1920 in the Mulberry Precint, Township 5, Colbert Oklahoma in Bryan County. Floyd is living next door to his older brother Angus. Floyd is listed as a white male, age twenty-one, born in Texas. (Florence) "Marie", his wife is listed as white female, age 19, born in Oklahoma. Floyd owned his home in 1920. (He did not have it mortgaged.) He is listed as being able to both read and write. He lists his father as being born in Tennesse and his mother being born in Georgia. He is listed as being a farmer of his own farm. (Farm Schedule 91) Marie is listed as being able to both read and write. She lists her father as being born in Kansas and her mother as being born in Oklahoma. Floyd always wore overalls. He only wore a suit for funerals. The major source of transportation for the family was by horse or wagon. Later in life in the 1920's, Floyd bought an old Model A car. He very rarely drove it. He preferred to ride a horse to his destination, saying that at least they go in the direction you point them. His daughter Ruthie's husband did most of the driving until one day when they got the car stuck in Sandy Creek. To get to Ruthie's house from Floyd and Florences, one had to cross the creek. Well one afternoon the car got stuck in the creek, Floyd left the car till the next morning when he could get help to pull it out. However, during the night it rained and the creek rose filling the car with muddy water. Well, they got the car out of the creek but it never ran quite right after that incident. Ilene, Boyd and Ruthie went to school at Mulberry aka Coffee Bend for a while. All of the kids graduated from the Platter school in Platter, Oklahoma. Floyd and Florence lived in a log house that had two big rooms. One of the large rooms was divided into three sections to make bedrooms. The house didn't have running water. Water had to be carried from ??? for all watering needs. Older knowing family members, recall that the Giles family was a part of making southeastern Oklahoma what it is today. Family members recall that Floyd was a part of the two major changes to the area, the building of the Red River Bridge and the building of the Denison Dam which in turn created Lake Texoma. Family members say that Floyd was in the first wagon to cross the Red River Bridge. In addition, that same day that he hauled wood across the Red River in his wagon, he supposedly ate with Governor Alphia Bill Murray of Oklahoma. In addition, he was a part of the crew that built the Denison Dam and Lake Texoma, which were public works projects. Floyd worked on clearing land for the dam from Platter, OK to Gainsville, TX. The bulldozer would bulldoze the tree. Floyd would tie a chain around the tree then use his team of horses to move the tree into a pile. After making a pile of trees, he would then set fire to them. He would have to watch the fire to make sure it remained contained. There was a known Nazi prison camp, the prisoners worked on building the dam until citizens of the area where available to work. The camp closed in 1946. Floyd once received a letter in the mail from a German who was believed to have been working on the dam project. The postmaster tore up the letter because Floyd didn't know how to read German. Later in life, he moved to Oklahoma City and worked at the Packard Hide House. Floyd retired from the Packard Hide House, which was a slaughter house. His retirement years were spent at Lake Texoma in the Cartwright area. Dick Driskell owned some land that the government bought to build the dam. The government turned around and leased part of Driskell's land back to him. The lease was a one hundred year lease. In the mid 1960's, Dick Driskell then leased smaller portions of land to individuals to put houses upon. Floyd and Florence were one of the ones to purchase a lease. They had a one hundred year lease on a small section of land near the lake. They lived in a trailer house set deep in the woods with a large garden in front. Their son married the daughter of the couple living next door. That same son has a lake house which sits behind the houses of their parents. One might say Lake Texoma is a Giles family tradition.The monthly lease was for about 15 to 25 dollars. Floyd and Florence shopped around for a trailer to put on the land, had round septic tanks installed and a well for water dug. The trailer had propane installed for heat and a water cooler to keep it cool. The same land is still leased today. Floyd passed away June 20, 1971. About nineteen years later, Florence passed away on February 13, 1990. They are buried in the Garden of Memory Cemetery in Colbert, Oklahoma near several beloved family members.