Pinkerton, Allan (1819-1884), an American detective, in 1850 established one of the first detective agencies in the United States. He first won fame for exposing the activities of a band of counterfeiters. In 1861, Pinkerton guarded Abraham Lincoln as he journeyed from Springfield, Illinois, to Washington, D.C., to be inaugurated as president. Soon after the outbreak of the American Civil War (1861-1865), Pinkerton helped organize a federal secret service, of which he became chief. During this time, he operated his own organization in Chicago, and established branches in several cities.
After the Civil War, Pinkerton organized groups of armed men known as “Pinkerton Men,” whose services were available to employers at a daily fee. These forces broke labor strikes that occurred during the Reconstruction period. Members of labor unions hated the “Pinkerton Men” because these men were employed on the side of management against the unions.
Pinkerton also smashed several Western gangs. His earliest “Wild West” case ended with the capture of the Reno brothers, a gang of train robbers, in 1868.
Pinkerton was born on Aug. 25, 1819, in Glasgow, Scotland, and moved to the United States about 1842. In Illinois, he became deputy sheriff of Kane County and later of Cook County. Pinkerton wrote several autobiographical books. His writings included Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches (1879), The Spy of the Rebellion (1883), and Thirty Years a Detective (1884). Pinkerton died on July 1, 1884.
