Franklin Delano Floyd had an interesting and quite tragic upbringing himself alongside his family. The story involves his parents who weren’t with him after he turned 2, getting in trouble with the law before he turned 18, and his relationship with his siblings. We briefly unfold it all here.
Learn about his family including his parents, siblings, and his children.
Who Are Franklin Delano Floyd Family Members?
Franklin Delano Floyd came from a family of seven members. He was born in Barnesville, Georgia on 17 June 1943. He was the youngest of five children born to his parents.
Meet Franklin Delano Floyd Parents
Thomas and Della Jewel Floyd (nee Fowler) are the parents of Franklin Delano Floyd. His father worked in a cotton meal and he liked to drink homemade moonshine while at home. Thomas wasn’t a great father. He abused his wife and children up to the point where they would hide under the bed.
In 1944, when Thomas was 43 years old, he died of kidney failure. So, the responsibility to take care of the five children fell on Della’s lap.
She had no money so they moved into Della’s mother’s apartment which was very overcrowded. Desperate Della, who was asked to leave by her parents, had nothing to support her family. She contacted the local welfare office and they suggested placing the children in the Georgia Baptist children’s home.
Della was forced to surrender her parental rights. Because only the children who were orphaned by death or circumstances were kept there. Franklin and his siblings were admitted there in January 1946. He was only 2 years old when he was taken from his mother.
Franklin Delano Floyd was quarantined from his siblings. He was kept in a room with other toddlers. Children were cared for by mostly husband-and-wife teams who had no experience in child care. As reported discipline was harsh and it included beatings with a belt these are two and three-year-old kids.
Days were structured with breakfast at 6:00, followed by school till noon, peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, afternoon working in the neighbor’s fields, and picking fruit and vegetables.
Della did visit once or twice a year and wrote often to request more visits but the home always denied the requests. They told her the children are well and happy.
Franklin and his siblings were at the same place but he wasn’t allowed to be around them. He later recalled being bullied by some other boys in the home and he said when he was six he was rap*d with a broom handle by some boys. Franklin started getting into trouble for stealing food, fighting, and running away.
In 1948, Della Floyd married in Broward County, Florida. Four years later, her husband divorced her. Then, in May 1952, she married another man in West Palm Beach, Florida. The couple divorced eventually, and he re-married another woman in 1960 in Minneapolis, Indiana.
Meet Franklin Delano Floyd Siblings
Franklin Delano grew up with three sisters and a brother named Billy in an orphanage in Hapeville. The sisters were Dorothy, Shirley, and Tommye. Later Dorothy is moved to an orphanage in Pinewood, GA.
In the 1950s, the Floyd children left the orphanage one by one as they turned 18. Billy, Franklin’s brother joined the army and was married. Billy’s wife Betty once reportedly shared that her husband had the same mean streak as Franklin but he wasn’t as smart.
In 1957, Dorothy lived in Sumpter, SC and Della came to visit her. Dorothy tried sending her mother home by bus, but an unpleasant incident occurred and Della was arrested for drunk and disorderly and jailed in Sumpter for several months in 1956.
Franklin ran away on 11 June 1959 (before he turned 18) broke into a house and stole some food. The homeowner called his sister Dorothy. She and her husband took him in and lived with them for only a few weeks. Later local domestic relations judge tried to help him out but five months later he took off from that house too-looking for his mom.
Franklin got out and met his Della in Indianapolis, only to find her working as a prostitute. Two weeks later, he convinced her to sign the paper so that he could join the army. In December 1959, he was thrown out because he wasn’t 18 yet. Franklin is sent by bus to his sister Dorothy’s house in Gainesville, GA. Her husband sends him away.
On New Year’s Day 2007, Dorothy was attacked in her Florida apartment by her ex-daughter-in-law Lynn. Dorothy stated that another woman was present when this attack occurred and this other woman had stated that the attack on her was for Franklin. Lynn is arrested. There is no way to verify if the other woman was present or not. The other woman was formerly “The Mystery Photo Woman”.
His sister Tommye, 1973, was living in Weston, Connecticut. Franklin was seen around his sister’s home which was later burglarized later that night. Two years later in 1975, Tommye got divorced. A year later, she moved into a Stamford, Connecticut townhouse. On 14 December 1990, Tommye’s ex-step-daughter got murdered in Dallas, Texas.
There isn’t much about Shirley Floyd.
How Many Children Does Franklin Delano Floyd Have?
As far as the record shows, Franklin Delano Floyd didn’t have any children of his own.
Related FAQs
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Where Do Franklin Delano Floyd Family Members Live?
Franklin Delano’s mother was living in Chicago, Illinois before her death on 2 July 1968 at the age of 52. Sister Dorothy was living in Stamford, Connecticut, and Tommye later moved to Stamford. There is no information about Shirley.
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Is Franklin Delano Floyd In Speaking Terms With His Family?
Franklin Delano Floyd stayed connected with his brother and two sisters Dorothy and Tommye at least until the 1990s. But, there is no information on his speaking terms with sister Shirley.
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Has Franklin Delano Floyd Family Spoken On Netflix’s Girl In The Picture?
No, none of the family members of Franklin Delano Floyd appeared on Netflix’s Girl In The Picture.