Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire   Appel had many other duties besides handwriting analysis. He provided regular training to New Agent groups, including a hands-on lesson using a dummy murder victim and contrived crime scene. He also initiated many of the Bureau’s early reference collections, pursuing samples of inks, dyes, tread marks, etc. The New York Office contributed to the effort as well by overseeing a typist who copied a watermark file held by a private individual.[18]

Under Appel, the lab also began providing forensic services to other law enforcement officials. Hearing of the new lab, Sherriff Ross Smiley of Red River County, Texas, wrote to say that he had a bloodstain from the scene of a burglary and a suspect with a suspicious cut. He wanted to know if the suspect and the sample could be linked. Appel wrote the sheriff that it was possible to determine if the stain was human blood and what type the blood was, but the state of the art in blood science at that time could not prove whether a specific suspect had left the stain.

Another goal of Hoover’s and Appel’s vision, though, was not met immediately. Forensic science research was severely limited at first. Tight appropriations prevented the Bureau from obtaining equipment it desired and personnel to work with Appel. Even if he had the time, certain pieces of lab equipment had been sent to Chicago for exhibition at the 1933 World’s Fair and would not be returned to the Bureau for several months. Given the number of investigations Appel was then performing, his ability to pursue other research was minimal. Still, he worked on not only submitted evidence, but research and writing projects as he could. During the summer of 1933, he began compiling frequency tables for use in cases involving ciphers and pursued research into marking bills for ransom drops.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Another project was delayed by a lack of staff too. During the summer of 1933, Appel began, writing an “Introduction to the Use of Science in Investigations.”When it was finally completed in the spring of 1934, it was titled “Scientific Aids in Crime Detection.”Hoover was especially interested in this project and regularly prodded Appel to get it done. On an October 1933 note reporting Appel’s progress, Tolson wrote “Christmas Present!”Hoover replied “I fear we will all be dead of old age before Rip Van Winkle gets this done.”The criticism was in jest; Hoover realized the amount of work Appel was doing and by December had arranged to assign more personnel to the lab to aid his lone lab examiner in the rapidly increasing workload.[19]

The handling and control of evidence submissions was a more pressing concern. In an extortion case at Kansas City, the Bureau, and Hoover specifically, were criticized because evidence in the case being tried was not at the trial in Kansas City, but in Washington, D.C. The judge threatened to throw out the charges if the material was not obtained by the next day. In reviewing the matter, Appel said that the lab work had not been finished as he was preparing the exhibits for the trial. He had phoned Kansas City with the results and it was based on that the US Attorney had proceeded with the prosecution. Appel argued that it was typical practice for an expert examiner to maintain control of the original evidence until such time as he was called to testify. The examiner would then bring the evidence and exhibits detailing his findings to the trial. This, Appel said, was the procedure he had been following. Hoover amended the earlier policy and ordered that original evidence, when fully examined, should be returned to the originating office along with exhibits created based on the evidence.[20]

With additional personnel, the Lab pursued a wider research agenda. Mr. Samuel F. Pickering came on board first and specialized in chemical analysis. By the summer of 1934 Appel had two additional colleagues in the lab, SA’s Conrad and Parsons. Appel continued to handle handwriting and typewriter analyses and pursued research related to ballistics. Conrad investigated frequency tables for ciphers, infra-red ray research, and dyes for extortion packages. Parsons investigated the chemical development of latent fingerprints, the marking of ransom money, and blood grouping.[21]

It was at this point that the Bureau began to move to the new Justice Department Building between 9th and 10th Streets and Pennsylvania Avenue. The lab acquired two large rooms on the 7th floor of this new building, sharing the floor with the Identification Unit, the Single Fingerprint Section, and the Photographing, Photostating, and Printing Section. Appel’s lab had evolved from the former break room to a state-of-the-art facility that fulfilled Hoover’s and Appel’s vision of a facility providing investigative assistance to the Bureau and other law enforcement agencies and pursuing cutting-edge research into the application of scientific insight to the detection of crime.[22]

[1] Memo, Appel to Director, 7 December 1933, 80-11-276.

[2] Charles A. Appel was born in 1895 and served as an aviator in World War I. He entered on duty on October 24, 1924 and served in the Bureau until retiring in December of 1948. From 1932 to 1948 Appel was assigned to the FBI’s laboratory, where he specialized in document examination. [67E-HQ-966].

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid. She was subsequently found to be insane and likely was not tried for the murder.

[5] The official date set by E. P. Coffey, the Assistant Director in charge of Division 5. [Note by E. P. C. on Memo, Appel to Director, 11/26/1932, 80-11-86]. Existing records indicate that the lab was in operation as early as September of that year. Evidence also indicates that Appel was performing document analysis in his office even earlier.

[6] The nickname “G-Men”came to be used with reference to Bureau agents ca. 1934. Congress officially assigned the name FBI to the Bureau in 1935. During the range of years covered by this article, the official name of the Bureau was, successively, the Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Bureau of Investigation, and the Division of Investigation. “Bureau”is used throughout to avoid confusion.

[7] Letter, Hoover to SA Hardy, 1/10/1930, 80-11-1.

[8] “History of the Bureau of Investigation,”by Charles A. Appel, 11/18/1930, typecopy by RCU/OPCA,, FBI, 2/2002. Moulage entailed the use of a moulding compound to make exacting 3-D models of objects for comparison and courtroom exhibits.

[9] The relationship between the Bureau and Goddard began with contention but quickly became cooperative. By the summer of 1935, though, this cordial relationship disappeared.

[10] The Goddard picture was from the Washington Star, 28 July 1931, clipping in 94-1-15294-81X.

[11] Newsclipping at 94-1-15294-53X.

[12] Ibid. The quote is from a newsclipping, Washington Daily News, 5/15/1930, at 94-1-15284-75X [was 62-14949075X]

[13] 94-1-15294, Sec.1

[14] Memo, Tolson to Director, 26 May 1932, 67-19269-6.

[15] Memo, Appel to Director, 12 July 1932, 80-11-4.

[16] Memo, Appel to Director, 26 July 1932, 80-11-6.

[17] Memo, Appel to Director, 14 September 1932, 80-11-34.

[18] The picture of Appel is from The Washington Evening Star, 13 February 1933, clipping in 80-11-NR.

[19] Memo, Appel to Director, 18 August 1933, 80-11-201; Memo, Appel to Director, with comments by Tolson and Hoover, 9 October 1933, 62-29799-1.

[20] Memo, Coffey to Tolson, 21 December 1933, 80-11-292; Letter, Conroy to Hoover, 29 December 1933, 80-11-293; and Memo, Hoover to Edwards, 3 January 1934, 80-11-290.

[21] Memo, Coffey to Tolson, 4 August 1934, 80-11-552.

[22] Chart, August 1934, 80-11-552.