Samuel Parkinson Cowley was born July 23, 1899 in Franklin, Idaho the son of Mathias Foss and Luella Smart Parkinson Cowley. (Mathias F. Cowley was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had numerous polygamous wives.) Around 1910 Samuel and his mother moved to Logan, Utah where he graduated from high school. The following year Cowley enrolled at the Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University). After graduating from the UAC, Cowley was called to serve as a missionary in Hawaii by the LDS Church and he labored there from 1914 to 1920. After completing his missionary service, Cowley enrolled at George Washington University and studied law. Upon graduating he took a position with the FBI in 1929. In 1934 Cowley was promoted to the rank of inspector.

In the early summer of 1934 J. Edgar Hoover assigned Cowley to preside over several agency operations to catch a string of notorious criminals. One of Cowley's investigations aimed to catch and arrest John Dillinger, then "public enemy number one." That summer Cowley and his team located and surrounded Dillinger as he exited the Biograph Theater in Chicago. A gun battle erupted and Dillinger was killed.

After this assignment Cowley next set out to catch Baby Face Nelson (alias Lester Gillis), an infamous criminal of the time who was wanted for murder and other criminal charges. In November 1934, Cowley and other FBI detectives discovered that Lester Gillis and his accomplices were hiding out near Barrington, Illinois. When the FBI attempted to make an arrest a gun battle erupted. During this firefight Cowley was mortally wounded and later died on November 28, 1934. National and local government officials attended Cowley's funeral in Utah.

Sources:

“Respect Paid to Cowley,”The Herald Journal, 8 May 1972.

Hoover, J. Edgar, “Samuel P. Cowley of the FBI,” Millennial Star, Special Sunday School Issue, Vol. 121 # 9 (Sept 1959), 368-370.