Three TLSs, two 8 x 10.5 letters and one 7.25 x 10.5 U. S. Bureau of Investigation and person letterhead, dated between May 17, 1934, to March 7, 1945, each addressed to the same concerned citizen after receiving vehement suggestions about “substantial rewards and appropriations to suppress crimes…of gangsters,” and each signed by the respective FBI agent: “M. H. Purvis,” “S. P. Cowley,” and “Herbert Hoover,” who writes, in full: “I wish I were able to pull you out of your difficulty for I feel it keenly when my long-time friends fall into difficulties. However, all I can do is to wish some solution will come to you.” Intersecting folds to Hoover’s letter, one lightly affecting the signature, a uniform block of toning covering the top half of Purvis’ letter, and a mailing fold lightly affecting the last letter of Cowley’s signature, otherwise fine condition. Accompanied by the three original mailing envelopes, a clipping and photo featuring the concerned citizen, Robert N. Carson, and the original letter of complaint from Carson to Purvis. Purvis and Cowley were Inspectors in the FBI during its early days, and took their charge of tackling the notorious crime sprees and bank robberies that plagued the 1920s and 1930s very seriously. They were the men who tracked down “Baby Face” Nelson in Barrington, Illinois on November 27, 1934, engaging in a short gun fight that left both agents mortally wounded. Nelson followed, as their equally fatal shots brought down one of the most infamous criminals of the prohibition era. RRAuction COA.
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