John Dillinger

John Herbert Dillinger was born January 22, 1903 in the Oak Hill section of Indianapolis, in a residential neighborhood. John Wilson Dillinger, a hardworking grocer reared him in an atmosphere of disciplinary extremes, harsh and repressive on some occasions, but generous and permissive on others. John's mother, Mary Eliza Lancaster Dillinger, died when he was three. When his father remarried six years later, John resented his stepmother.

In adolescence, the flaws in his bewildering personality became evident, and he was frequently in trouble. Finally, he quit school and got a job in a machine shop in Indianapolis. Although intelligent and a good worker, he soon became bored and often stayed out all night. His father worried that the temptations of the city were corrupting his teenaged son, so he sold his property in Indianapolis and moved his family to a farm near Mooresville, IN. However, John reacted no better to rural life than he had to that in the city and soon began to run wild again.

A break with is father and trouble with the law (auto theft) led him to enlist in the Navy. There he soon got into trouble and deserted his ship when it docked in Boston. returning to Mooresville, he married sixteen year old Beryl Hovius in 1924. A dazzling dream of bright lights and excitement lead the newlyweds to Indianapolis. Dillinger had no luck finding work in the city and joined the joined the town pool shark, Ed Singleton, in his search for easy money. In their first attempt, they tried to rob a Mooresville grocer, but they were quickly apprehended. Singleton pleaded not guilty, stood trial, and was sentenced to two years. Dillinger, following his father's advice, confessed and was convicted of assault and battery with intent to rob, and conspiracy to commit a felony. He received joint sentences of two to fourteen years and ten to twenty years in the Indiana State Prison. Stunned by the harsh sentence, Dillinger became a tortured, bitter man in prison.

His period of infamy began on May 10, 1933, when he was paroled from prison after serving eight and one-half years of his sentence. While in Indiana State Prison, he met Frank Whitehouse, the son of John Berry Whitehouse and Minnie Lee Dever. Frank told Dillinger the Gravel Switch - Bradfordsville area would be a great place to hide out. Dillinger came to the Gravel Switch area and stayed in a log house owned by an uncle of Frank's, that was vacant at Hickory Corner on Kedron Road. Weeds were as tall as the house, and it was located in a wooded area. He parked his car on Buffalo Road in a barn. The gravel road ran through one side of the barn, and he covered his car and kept it on the other side. If the law came in on him at Hickory Corner, he could cut across a farm and get to his car. He would go from Hickory Corner across to Jones Creek Road, and then stayed with people on Jones Creek Road. While in the area he worked a little for George Shaheen, a local merchant in Gravel Switch, who had come from Syria. He stopped at the new home of Watt and Josie Dever and asked if Josie had any old gold jewelry or gold teeth. She told him no, and he went on his way.

He would visit Frank Whitehouse on Highway 49, out of Bradfordsville on Indian Creek, where they had a grocery. Frank had a dinner at his home and invited Mattie Taylor, a neighbor, and Dillinger came with his friends. After they left, Frank asked Mattie how she liked the guest, and she said fine, then he told her who she had dined with. The next time Dillinger came for dinner, Frank asked her to come, but she declined.

Dillinger visited at the home of John Henry Kirkland in Lebanon, and he had his car repaired in a garage in Lebanon.

They were having a school election on Jones Creek, and there was a crowd. Luther VanDyke, a youngster, was at Lankford's Grocery on Jones Creek, and Dillinger ran his fingers through Luther's curly hair and gave him a quarter.

Dillinger, "Was tall, real nice looking, and had a black mustache.", according to Geneva Whitehouse, who was ten years old in 1933 and was on the Jones Creek School playground. "He was slim and had neatly trimmed short hair." Dillinger was driving a big black car and Frank and his wife were sitting in the back seat when Geneva saw them. "He smiled a little bit, a smirky-like smile, and said a few words." All three were dressed up. According to Geneva Frank had on a suit and tie; his wife, a dress; and Dillinger wore a dark shirt.

Clifton Dever, a local historian, also recalled the day when he spoke with the notorious Dillinger. Dever said a Trustee meeting was held at the schoolhouse, and Dillinger arrived about the time the meeting ended. Dever recalls that Dillinger gave a false name and said he was from Iowa. He had a pleasant voice, "A little on the course side." He was five to six feet tall, had bony wrists and wore a light grey suit, Dever remembered.

Dillinger would go out at night with Frank. The big black car soon disappeared, and the men drove around in an old blue car. It was learned later that the black car and barn had burned. Some suspected that the vehicle had been used in an Indiana robbery. Dever said the theory was that Dillinger traveled in bordering states in the north and committed robberies, then returned to his hideout. On August 8, 1933, Dillinger and one of his men plus two local men, raided the People's Bank at Gravel Switch. The car had stolen license plates. Others say one man stayed in the car, while Dillinger and the two local men burst into the bank with weapons and took over the lobby. Dillinger jumped over the counter to get the money. A bank employee said that bonds were useless to robbers and Dillinger left them behind. The armed robbers took $1235.55. When they left, they were in an, "All-fired hurry." they were up the Fork and down Kentucky 49 and out of Marion County. When they passed the Rush Branch School, the children there said the car was flying. About that time, an alert went out by phone to Lebanon. A relative of Frank Whitehouse worked for the telephone exchange and delayed the call, giving the robbers time to get away. Dillinger never returned to Marion County, where he had a warrant for his arrest. The local men, involved in the Gravel Switch bank robbery were arrested. One was sent to prison and killed by the inmates while he was there.

John Dillinger was killed July 22, 1934 by five shots fired by FBI Agents in Chicago, IL.

Back to Local History