Pinkerton in United Kingdom

Pinkerton

Introduction to Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton (1819-84), Scottish-American detective. Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Pinkerton came to the United States and settled near Chicago in 1842. While engaged in business as a barrel maker in 1846, he captured a gang of counterfeiters and was consequently elected county sheriff. In 1850 he organized Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency and was appointed the first city detective in Chicago. The recovery of a large sum of money stolen from the Adams Express Company and the discovery of a plot to murder Abraham Lincoln in 1861 made his reputation. During the American Civil War he organized the secret service of the U.S. Army. During the railroad strikes of 1877, his agency provided strikebreakers. His books include Strikers, Communists and Tramps (1878) and Thirty Years a Detective (1884).” (1)

Resources

Notes and References

Guide to Pinkerton