The Man Who Got Dillinger Confronts a New Enemy

Melvin Purvis gained national fame after the shoot out with Dillinger. But that fame and his popularity was short-lived, when that fame began to eclipse the light of Hoover. The two men had been close as was reflected by a review of the exchange of letters between them. By February 1935, the tone of Hoover's letters had changed. Instead of "Dear Melvin," they now began "Dear Mr. Purvis." They were rife with petty criticisms, of the neatness of his office, for example. Hoover also chastised Purvis for sending a gun to a private laboratory for analysis, rather than to the FBI lab in Washington. For granting a four-day, four-hour leave to a fellow agent without permission from headquarters; and for giving a ride to some prison guards in a bureau car while transporting a convict. He passed along a rumor, never substantiated, that Purvis had gotten drunk and pulled out his gun at a party.

Prior to this time Hoover supported Purvis even when things went wrong at "Little Bohemia".The criticism was relentless. "Urge Purvis Ouster," read one headline. "Demand Purvis Quit in Dillinger Fiasco," screamed another. Even Purvis admitted he had failed miserably. "At Little Bohemia, we had probably the largest aggregation of modern desperadoes ever bottled up in one place," he wrote. "There seemed no avenue by which they could escape, and yet they did escape." Purvis offered to quit the bureau. But the files show that J. Edgar Hoover had taken a shine to Purvis-his letters typically began "Dear Mel" and were signed, warmly, "Edgar" or "Jayee"-and he wouldn't allow him to resign. "Well, son, keep a stiff upper lip and get Dillinger for me and the world is yours," he wrote at the end of one particularly chatty, handwritten note in 1934. Within a year the relationship had begun to change. The split between the two men had become so great that Purvis felt some action had to be taken. He finally resigned on July 10, 1935. The press wanted an explanation. Frank Fay, the man in charge of the FBI's New York office, had also resigned, fueling speculation that the agents were dissatisfied with Hoover's leadership. Hoover called Purvis, telling him "the rumors ought to be stopped if possible as they were not good for him or for the bureau." Purvis, characteristically, complied. Indeed, to his death, the son never heard his father criticize the FBI, or even knock Hoover.

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