One of America's most notorious criminals, John Dillinger showed his soft side in letters to his young bride, Beryl Hovious. Here is information about their short marriage and how it ended.
Born:
John Herbert Dillinger: June 22, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Beryl "Berlie" Ethel Hovious: August 6, 1906 in Monroe, Indiana.
Died:
John Dillinger: July 22, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. Dillinger was killed in an ambush by federal agents as he was leaving the Biograph Theatre.
He was buried in Indianapolis at the Crown Hill Cemetery.
Beryl Hovious Dillinger McGowen Byrum: November 30, 1993 at Millers Merry Manor in Mooresville, Indiana. She was buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Hall, Indiana.
Wedding Date:
Beryl and John were married on April 12, 1924 in Martinsville, Indiana at the Morgan County courthouse by Reverend V.W. Tevis. John was 20 and Beryl was 17 when they wed.
Divorce:
After John was incarcerated at the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, Beryl visited about once a month. But by 1927 the visits stopped. Beryl filed for divorce on April 25, 1929. John and Beryl were divorced on June 20, 1929. The divorce devastated John.
Occupations:
John: Robber, murderer, machinist, upholsterer, US Navy (went AWOL.)
Beryl: Waitress.
Other Marriages:
Beryl had two other marriages:
Quotes About the Marriage of John and Beryl Dillinger:
Elliott Gorn: "Beryl's happy version of their married life was not the whole story. In addition to spending time with her, by the summer of 1924 Dillinger frequented pool halls in Mooresville and nearby Martinsville and hung around with some unsavory local characters."
Source: Elliott J. Gorn. Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One. 2009. pg. 11.
Jeffrey King: "Actually, the couple stayed for a short time at the Dillinger farm and did move in with Beryl's parents, but after John got a job as an upholstery worker at a Mooresville furniture shop, they rented a house in Martinsville. According to Beryl, John liked to spend quiet evenings with her at home and was always very nice to her. The couple had little money, and their favorite pastime was going to the movies."
Source: Jeffrey S. King. The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang. 2005. pg. 6.
"Upon his return [after the Navy] to Mooresville in April 1924, John Dillinger met and married 16-year-old Beryl Ethel Hovious and attempted to settle down. With no job or income, the newlyweds moved into Dillinger's father's farm house. Within a few weeks of his wedding, he was arrested for stealing several chickens. Though his father was able to work out a deal to keep the case out of court, it did little to help his relationship with his father. Dillinger and Beryl moved out of their cramped bedroom and into Beryl's parents' home in Martinsville, Indiana. There he got a job in an upholstery shop."
Source: "John Dillinger A.K.A. Public Enemy Number One." Biography.com.
John, in a letter from prison to Beryl, August 18, 1928: "Dearest we will be so happy when I can come home to you and chase your sorrows away and it won't take any kids to keep me home with you always. For sweetheart I love you so all I want is to just be with you and make you happy."
Source: G. Russell Girardin, William J. Helmer. Dillinger: The Untold Story. 1994. pg. 18.
Elliott Gorn: "Decades later Beryl's great-nephew interviewed her about her time with Dillinger. She was very old and in poor health, but she recalled him as polite and well-mannered, upbeat and with a good sense of humor. She described their time together as quiet and domestic. Occasionally the young couple went to the movies or visited with family; mostly they stayed home, ate the meals that beryl cooked, read the newspapers, and played cards. Half a century after their marriage, and forty years after his death, she was still quite fond of him."
Source: Elliott J. Gorn. Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One. 2009. pg. 10.
Francis Healy: "As time went by, Beryl says, she began to realize that she was visiting a John Dillinger who was a stranger. It was not the john whom she had married. Prison had changed him. It was a hardened John, a tough guy, a smart guy. When Beryl kissed him, he sneered and told her not to be a softy, that the guards were watching them ... Beryl finally gave John up and divorced him."
Source: Francis F. Healy. "Dillinger First Went to Prison a Callow Youth, Came Out a Hardened Criminal Study Discloses: How He Was Turned Into Outlaw Is Told." Mansfield News-Journal. 3/27/1934. pg. 4.
Born:
John Herbert Dillinger: June 22, 1903 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Beryl "Berlie" Ethel Hovious: August 6, 1906 in Monroe, Indiana.
Died:
John Dillinger: July 22, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois. Dillinger was killed in an ambush by federal agents as he was leaving the Biograph Theatre.
He was buried in Indianapolis at the Crown Hill Cemetery.
Beryl Hovious Dillinger McGowen Byrum: November 30, 1993 at Millers Merry Manor in Mooresville, Indiana. She was buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery in Hall, Indiana.
How Beryl and John Met:
John and Beryl met at a party in Mooresville, Indiana in December 1923.Wedding Date:
Beryl and John were married on April 12, 1924 in Martinsville, Indiana at the Morgan County courthouse by Reverend V.W. Tevis. John was 20 and Beryl was 17 when they wed.
Dary Matera: "Hovious lied about her age, bumping it up to eighteen to get around parental consent laws."
Source: Dary Matera. John Dillinger: The Life and Death of America's First Celebrity Criminal. 2005. pg. 20.
Divorce:
After John was incarcerated at the Indiana State Reformatory in Pendleton, Beryl visited about once a month. But by 1927 the visits stopped. Beryl filed for divorce on April 25, 1929. John and Beryl were divorced on June 20, 1929. The divorce devastated John.
"Six years later, while hiding in Chicago, he said, "I began to know how you feel when your heart is breaking. For four years I had looked forward to going back home, and now there wasn't going to be any home to go back to."
Source: "Public Enemy #1." PBS.org.
Occupations:
John: Robber, murderer, machinist, upholsterer, US Navy (went AWOL.)
Beryl: Waitress.
Other Marriages:
Beryl had two other marriages:
- Harold C. McGowen: Beryl and Harold, a mechanic, were married in 1929. They divorced in July 1931.
- Charles Byrum: Beryl and Charles married in 1932. They had one child.
"Although Dillinger never repented for his crimes, he did regret his chosen lifestyle. Before undergoing plastic surgery, he told O'Leary, "I want to live like other people. Billie and I would like to be married and settle down somewhere."
Source: "Public Enemy #1." PBS.org.
Quotes About the Marriage of John and Beryl Dillinger:
Elliott Gorn: "Beryl's happy version of their married life was not the whole story. In addition to spending time with her, by the summer of 1924 Dillinger frequented pool halls in Mooresville and nearby Martinsville and hung around with some unsavory local characters."
Source: Elliott J. Gorn. Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One. 2009. pg. 11.
Jeffrey King: "Actually, the couple stayed for a short time at the Dillinger farm and did move in with Beryl's parents, but after John got a job as an upholstery worker at a Mooresville furniture shop, they rented a house in Martinsville. According to Beryl, John liked to spend quiet evenings with her at home and was always very nice to her. The couple had little money, and their favorite pastime was going to the movies."
Source: Jeffrey S. King. The Rise and Fall of the Dillinger Gang. 2005. pg. 6.
"Upon his return [after the Navy] to Mooresville in April 1924, John Dillinger met and married 16-year-old Beryl Ethel Hovious and attempted to settle down. With no job or income, the newlyweds moved into Dillinger's father's farm house. Within a few weeks of his wedding, he was arrested for stealing several chickens. Though his father was able to work out a deal to keep the case out of court, it did little to help his relationship with his father. Dillinger and Beryl moved out of their cramped bedroom and into Beryl's parents' home in Martinsville, Indiana. There he got a job in an upholstery shop."
Source: "John Dillinger A.K.A. Public Enemy Number One." Biography.com.
John, in a letter from prison to Beryl, August 18, 1928: "Dearest we will be so happy when I can come home to you and chase your sorrows away and it won't take any kids to keep me home with you always. For sweetheart I love you so all I want is to just be with you and make you happy."
Source: G. Russell Girardin, William J. Helmer. Dillinger: The Untold Story. 1994. pg. 18.
Elliott Gorn: "Decades later Beryl's great-nephew interviewed her about her time with Dillinger. She was very old and in poor health, but she recalled him as polite and well-mannered, upbeat and with a good sense of humor. She described their time together as quiet and domestic. Occasionally the young couple went to the movies or visited with family; mostly they stayed home, ate the meals that beryl cooked, read the newspapers, and played cards. Half a century after their marriage, and forty years after his death, she was still quite fond of him."
Source: Elliott J. Gorn. Dillinger's Wild Ride: The Year That Made America's Public Enemy Number One. 2009. pg. 10.
Francis Healy: "As time went by, Beryl says, she began to realize that she was visiting a John Dillinger who was a stranger. It was not the john whom she had married. Prison had changed him. It was a hardened John, a tough guy, a smart guy. When Beryl kissed him, he sneered and told her not to be a softy, that the guards were watching them ... Beryl finally gave John up and divorced him."
Source: Francis F. Healy. "Dillinger First Went to Prison a Callow Youth, Came Out a Hardened Criminal Study Discloses: How He Was Turned Into Outlaw Is Told." Mansfield News-Journal. 3/27/1934. pg. 4.
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