Ervin A. "Erv" Kelley, Special Agent

Oklahoma Bankers Association

In January of 1932, Kelley retired after serving six years as Sheriff of McIntosh County. He was then hired as a Special Agent by the Oklahoma Bankers Association for the express purpose of hunting down and arresting bank robber Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd. The bankers presented Kelley with a new Thompson submachine gun. Kelley began a three month investigation that led him to Floyd’s wife, Ruby in Tulsa. Kelley placed Mrs. Floyd under surveillance. On April 8, 1932, Ruby Floyd drove to her father’s farm, three miles west and three quarters of a mile south of Bixby in Tulsa County, to meet her husband. Kelley and an eight-man posse that included State Crime Bureau Agent Crockett Long quietly surrounded the farm. Kelley was concealed near the front of the house with his submachine gun with a 21-round clip, a silencer and a .38 pistol. At 2:25 A.M. on the morning of April 9, a green Chevrolet occupied by Floyd and his partner George Birdwell drove up to the farm. The other officers soon heard several pistol shots and saw the Chevrolet drive off. When the officers checked they found Agent Kelley dead. He had been wounded five times with a .45, once under his right arm, twice in the left side and in both knees. Agent Kelley had fired a 14-round burst from his submachine gun as he fell wounding Floyd in his right leg and left ankle. The silencer on the machine gun prevented his possemen from hearing the shots and delayed their response. Agent Kelley was survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters.