Compiled by Russell Bastedo
State Curator
1998

Charles Floyd (1907-1909). Born Derry; Manchester clothier/factory owner. In state politics from 1899.

Charles Floyd (1861-1923) got his general education at Pinkerton Academy, Derry, then went to work at age 14 (1875). He worked on a farm, then in a shoe shop and (1881) as a clerk in a hardware store. United with his brother in a retail clothing store in Manchester, Floyd in 1888 operated Manchester One Price Clothing Store. This business incorporated as Charles M. Floyd Company (1914). Floyd also was part owner of F.M. Hoyt Co., one of the largest individually owned companies in New England.

Floyd was an important business man in Manchester. He was a trustee of Amoskeag Savings Bank, and a director of Manchester Building & Loan and the Board of Trade.

Floyd was a Mason and a member of the Congregational Church. He served in the State Senate (1899-1901) and on the Executive Council (1905/07), before winning a bitter fight for the Republican gubernatorial nomination (1906). He won the popular vote and was elected by the legislature (Jan. 2, 1907).

Governor Floyd supported building good roads, and road building continued with several hundred miles of construction during his term in office. He established a state Tax Commission, signed acts incorporating reforms and new rules for the State Prison, and abolished the custom of free railroad passes for the legislature.

In retirement Floyd was chairman of the New Hampshire delegation at the 1912 Republican National Convention. He served as the state's Fuel Administrator during World War One, and as chairman of the Tax Commission (1921/3).

Location: State House, Second Floor
Portrait by Frank Townsend Hutchens, 1912; Presented by Governor Floyd