“Allen Pinkerton:
Cooper, Abolitionist, Private
Eye,
Spy, Feminist, & Savior of a
President”
Greg Roth
Associate Professor
Criminal Justice
Tuesday, November 05, 2013
Alan Pinkerton
Born: August 25, 1819
 Glasgow, Scotland
Died: July 01, 1884
 Chicago, IL
William Pinkerton – father
Police Sergeant
 Glasgow Scotland
 Mother – Islabell
 Father killed during political raid in
city square
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/pinkerton/1.ht
ml
Alan Pinkerton
Left home – runner for pattern
maker
Apprentice – McCauley Cooperage
Works
Joined Chartist movement
The People’s Charter (1838)
 William Lovett
 London Working Men’s Association
Chartist movement
 THE SIX POINTS OF THE CHARTER
1. A vote for every man twenty one years of age,
of sound mind, and not undergoing punishment
for crime.
 2. The ballot
 3. No property qualification for members of
Parliament
 4. Payment of members, thus enabling an
honest tradesman, working man, or other
person, to serve a constituency
http://www.chartists.net/The-six-points.htm
Chartist movement
 5. Equal constituencies securing the
same amount of representation
 6. Annual Parliaments, thus
presenting the most effectual check to
bribery and intimidation
http://www.chartists.net/The-six-points.htm
Constabulary underground
ID’d some of the most vocal and
active members of Chartist
 Including Pinkerton
 Arrest warrant!
 Oh the irony?
Married
Joan Carfrae of Edinburgh
 March 13, 1842
 No honeymoon! Soldiers to arrest
 Next morning off to Quebec
Rocky road to America
Ship in storm – off course
Rammed on rocks – Nova Scotia
All possessions lost – few silver
pieces in Allen’s vest pocket
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/pinkerton/1.html
Survived to be robbed
Swam to shore
Collapsed on beach
Robbed by Indians – wedding
ring
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/pinkerton/1.html
Change of destination
Ship picked up survivors
Decided to go to America after
hearing about fast growing
Chicago
 Good place for a barrel maker
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/pinkerton/1.html
Fellow Scotsmen
From Detroit to Chicago
Heard of barrelmaker from fellow
Scotsmen – Lill’s Brewery
 Downtown Chicago
Moving on
Heard of Dundee – Scottish town
40 miles
 Local farmers complaining of
barrel prices out of Chicago
 “Pinkerton’s One and Original
Cooperage of Dundee”
Growth and Costs
Business grew faster than
expected
Wanted to cut costs of raw
materials
Not pay for poles for barrel
hoops, natural resource available
[Is]Land of Opportunity
Raw materials - island - Fox River
Island thought uninhabited
Pinkerton notice grass and brush
bent – path
Followed path – found campsite
The law
Pinkerton knew counterfeiting in
area
Told Sheriff
America
Cooper
Abolitionist
Cooper in America
Abolitionist
 friend - John Brown
Underground Railroad
Detective?
Accident!
 After Island adventure
 Asked to investigate counterfeiting
by private businessmen
Chicago PD
PD - 1847
1st detective - 1849
 Solved major cases for railroads
Chicago PD
When wanted to start own agency
approached Rock Island and
Illinois Central railroad
President
George B. McClelland
Pinkerton’s Agency
Opened 1st office – Chicago
(80 Washington St.) - 1850
Solved many
cases involving
murders and thefts
Much press
Pinkerton’s Agency
Pinkerton created logo to publicize
agency
“We Never Sleep”
 Pinkerton became
known as “the Eye”
“Private Eye”
Pinkerton Code
 Accept no bribes
 Never compromise with criminals
 Partner with local law enforcement agencies
 Refuse divorce cases or cases that initiate scandals
 Turn down reward money (Agents were well paid)
 Never raise fees without the client’s pre-knowledge
 Keep clients apprised on an on-going basis
Pinkerton Philosophy
Those who commit crimes have a
need to talk about it.
Provide someone for them to talk
to –operative!
Intelligence – situation and person
VERY SUCCESSFUL!
Detectives?
McClelland brings Pinkerton to
Washington to find spies
 Gives Pinkerton specific
assignment
Detectives?
Assignment - Watch female
 Rose O’neal Greenhow
Who ends up in jail?
Famous spy?
 Nope!
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
Beautiful widow (Dr. Robert
Greenhow)
Grande Dame of Washington society
The queen of the Democratic
administration
Cherished advisor to the President
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
398 West 16th St.
 Washington City
 4 blks from White House
 1856 - 1860
 Visitor! At least once a week &
always at night (sometimes until
well past midnight)
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
Visitor – James Buchanan –
President
 1845 Buchanan Sec. of State –
Rose’s late husband served under
him
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
Describe in newspapers as “the
most persuasive woman in
Washington”, “a woman of almost
irresistible seduction powers” that
would do anything to get ahead.
 Did she seduce the President?
Detectives? August 22, 1861
Pinkerton & two Operatives on the
case!
 Surveil! 398 West 16th St.
 Two story, 1st floor ½ story up
 Night, pouring rain
 Pinkerton removes shoes, held up to
window my operatives.
Detectives?
Pinkerton & two Operatives on the
case!
 Every time person passes…
 Observe…
Detectives?
Pinkerton observes Greenhow and military
officer
Military officer opens maps
Discusses them with Greenhow – off
points out particular points and positions
Pinkerton recognizes maps – fortifications
in and around Washington
Detectives?
Maps folded
Two leave room (hand-in-hand?)
Return in about 1 hour
Detectives?
Pinkerton hears enough to believe off
betraying country
 Follow…pursuit…! Off. runs…to
Provost-Marshal Station…off. disappears
inside
 4 soldiers with bayonets rush out, grab
Pinkerton, escort him to guardhouse
 Arrest!
Detectives?
Taken to see Captain of the Guard!
Who is it?
Pinkerton gives name E. J. Allen
Refuses to answer any other
questions
Detectives?
Return to cell
Bribes guard – message to Thomas
Scott (war department)
Pinkerton before Captain – “The
secretary of war has been informed of
your arrest, and you will be conducted to
him at once, and then we shall see if you
will remain silent any longer.”
Detectives? August 23, 1861
At least not until later!
 Pinkerton arrests Greenhow
 Placed under “house arrest”
 Doesn’t work!
Detectives?
Search of house finds…
 Burned papers of ciphered military
info
 Drawings of fortifications
 Bundle – 13 steamy letters to “H”
Excerpts from 4 letters
“For the last few days every
movement and act of mine have been
watched with Hawk-eyed vigilance.
For your sake more than my own I
have been compelled to be cautious.
But tomorrow at 10 a.m. I will see
you at all hazards. H.”
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
“H”
“You know I love you – and will
sacrifice anything. I have feared
bringing you into trouble – for I
repeat to you that spies are put upon
me, but I will try to elude them
tonight, and once more we can have a
happy hour in spite of fate. H.”
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
“H”
“We are…considering the Pacific
Railroad Bill…I will not fail tonight,
and will bring you the thing of which
we spoke last night. Bless you always.
H.”
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
“H”
“You know that I do love you. I am
suffering this morning, in fact I am
sick physically and mentally, and
know nothing that would soothe me
so much as an hour with you. And
tonight, at whatever cost, I will see
you. Yours, H.”
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
“H”
“H” believed to be Senator Henry
Wilson of Massachusetts
 Chairman – Senate Military Affairs
Committee!
Stealing Secrets – How a Few Daring Women Deceived Generals, Impacted Battles, and Altered
the Course of the Civil War, H. Donald Winkler
The “Picnic Battle”
Bull-Run (Creek) – Manassas (Virginia)
– July 1861
 North expecting quick victory
 Wilson, senators, representatives,
newspaper reporters, and members of
Washington society rode out to see
victory
 Wilson brought sandwiches for soldiers
http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_Henry_Wilson.htm
The “Picnic Battle”
Bull-Run (Creek) – Manassas
(Virginia) – July 1861
 Confederates routed Union
 Wilson’s carriage was crushed
“H”
Also involved in Credit Mobilier
(railroad stock scandal)
Purchased stock in wife’s name, later
returned it
Cleared of wrong doing
Became 18th Vice-president (Grant)
Old Capital Prison
Built 1800(12?) – tavern &
boarding house, failed
Capital building burned during
War of 1812
Capital housed in building until
new built
Old Capital Prison
When vacated referred to a Old
Capital
Boarding house, school
Civil War - building empty and in
disrepair
Old Capital Prison
Old Capital Prison Plan
with Carrol Prison
Old Capital Prison
Used for both north & south
prisoners
Bars put in…prisoners brought in.
William P. Wood – superintendent
of prison
 First director of U. S. Secret Service
 Dispatched to hunt for Booth
http://www.samuelmudd.com/4231865-colonel-william-p-woods-reports.html
Old Capital Prison
Prisoners and hangings
 Spies, Political Prisoners,
 Famous Prisoners – Rose Greenhow &
Belle Boyd (spies) & Capt. Henry Wirz
(commander Andersonville prison)
 Hangings - conspirators to Lincoln
assassination
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
She WAS personally acquainted
with all of Washington’s leading
men
Became known as The Wild Rose
Rose O’Neal Greenhow
Developed spy network of 48
women and two men.
The Detective Agency!
The Pinkerton Detective Agency spent a great deal of
funds on letterheads and reporting forms. This example
of an 1880 letterhead shows a very expensive one for it's
time.
SOURCE: http://www.pimall.com/nais/pivintage/pinkertonletterhead.html
Timothy Webster
Most successful detective
Caught due to rescue
mission and arthritis
from repeatedly forging
cold river in line of duty
Hanged as spy.
Kate Warn(e)
1856 - Believed
1st female detective
in United States!
Spy
Supervisor
Trainer
Kate Warn(e)
“In my service you will serve your country better than
on the field. I have several female operatives. If you
agree to come aboard you will go in training with the
head of my female detectives, Kate Warne. She has
never let me down.” - ALLAN PINKERTON
Kate Warn(e)
 1st female detective
 Talked her way in!
 2 visits w/Pinkerton
 Told Pinkerton how she
could help!
 No known photos (?)
 Controversy!
Pre-Civil War
Lincoln Inauguration trip to D.C.
 Baltimore, Maryland!!!
Threats!
There had been very open threats
against Lincoln
 Not make it to Washington in time
for inauguration
 Not make it to Washington alive
Pinkerton to Baltimore
Samuel Morse Felton (president Philadelphia, Wilmington, and
Baltimore Railroad
 Saved railroad from financial ruin
(President 1851)
 Made railroad major Union troop
transport
Samuel Morse Felton
Felton (1809-1889)
 Born: Charlestown,
MA. - 17 July 1809
 Died: Philadelphia, PA.
- 24 January 1889
SOURCE: Felton Family Papers, Collection 1151, Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Pinkerton to Baltimore
Samuel Morse Felton (president Philadelphia, Wilmington, and
Baltimore Railroad
 Reports secessionists in Baltimore
planning to cut Baltimore off from
Washington - burning bridges &
sinking the Susquehanna River train
ferry.
 Hired Pinkerton to protect RR
The Plot
Pinkerton convinced plot to
assassinate President-elect
Lincoln
Feb. 23, 1861
The Plot
Between Calvert St. station
(Northern Central Railroad) and
Camden St. station (Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad)
President-elect have to take
carriage from station to station.
The Plot
Plan - surround carriage with
crowd and have one person kill
Lincoln.
Disappear in crowd.
The Plot
Pinkerton tried to get Lincoln to
skip stop in Harrisburg PA. and
travel straight through Baltimore
early.
Lincoln insisted keeping to
original schedule.
Meanwhile…
Lincoln not want military escort.
1) Not feel necessary
2) Give wrong impression
- Wanted issue resolved coming
together, non-violence
Friends
R. A. Hunt sent letter warning
Lincoln of threats dated Jan. 18,
1861.
Baltimore
No night railroad through town.
Lincoln’s cars towed through
town by horse.
The Secret Trip
Pinkerton devised a plan secretly
smuggled Lincoln into the nation's
capitol on another train. Other than
a couple of Pinkerton's agents, no
one on the train even knew Lincoln
was aboard.
The Secret Trip
Pinkerton stood guard on the porch
of the last train car all night while
Lincoln stayed just inside the last car
in a lower booth.
Kate Warn had booked the ticket
for Lincoln under the pretext that he
was her sick brother.
The Result
“Plums delivered Nuts safely.”
 Telegraph message sent by Pinkerton
after Lincoln smuggled through
Baltimore safely.
http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000015/html/t15.html
United States Secret Service
Today! Has nicknames for all
people the protect!
 Obama – Renegade
 Mrs. Obama – Renaissance
 Biden – Celtic
 Mrs. Biden - Capri
The Result
Large crowd formed to see
Lincoln but President-elect
already passed through.
Crowd only got to see Mrs.
Lincoln, sons, and John Hay
(Lincoln’s private secretary – set
up entire trip)
The Result
Lincoln criticized for slipping
through Baltimore –”like a thief in
the night” and for leaving wife and
sons to the danger!
“Passage Through Baltimore”
Adalbert Volck
- Dentist
- Caricaturist
http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000015/html/t15.html
“He reached the Capital as the poor, hunted fugitive
slave reaches the North, in disguise, seeking
concealment, evading pursuers … crawling and
dodging under the sable wing of night. He changed his
programme, took another route, started at another
hour, travelled in other company, and arrived at
another time in Washington. We have no censure for
the President at this point.
He only did what braver
men have done.”
—Frederick Douglass,
Life and Times (1881)
Off to Washington
Lincoln - regretted slipping into
the capital “like a thief in the
night.”
But did it really happen?
After the civil war, there were
rumors that Pinkerton made the
complete story up in order to
better his detective agency.
But did it really happen?
New York City police, Superintendent
John A. Kennedy published a book
stating that he knew "nothing" about
the Lincoln assassination implying
that Pinkerton made the story up.
John A. Kennedy was jealous of
Pinkerton and appeared to be
attempting to destroy his reputation.
But did it really happen?
At first, Pinkerton remained silent
Rumors became so wild about it,
he published the above 18 page
investigative report.
But did it really happen?
Report contained:
 Eyewitness statements - including a
proven statement Lincoln himself had
made on the subject.
 The Investigative Report was sent to
all governmental officials - all
members of congress and the senate
and anyone else with an interest.

http://www.pimall.com/nais/pivintage/ppassage.html
But did it really happen?
At time of report attorney for
Pinkerton Agency – Clarence A.
Seward
 Nephew of William H. Seward (?)
 Secretary of State under Lincoln
 First part of Johnson’s term –
Clarence filled in as Asst. Sec. of St.
Pinkerton’s Report
Special Allen Pinkerton
Investigative Report
History And Evidence
Of The Passage Of
Abraham Lincoln From
Harrisburgh, PA
To Washington, DC
22nd And 23rd of
February, 1861
Congressman Lincoln
Initially wanted end to all slavery.
Adopted idea of preventing spread
 After Pearl disaster…
 Charles Torey – helped slaves escape
to Canada
 Died – Tuberculosis 1846 – Maryland
penitentiary – 6 yrs aiding runaways
Congressman Lincoln
After Pearl disaster…
 William Chaplin – replaced Torrey
 Purchased slave freedom with support
of Gerrit Smith – organizer Liberty
Party
 Daniel & Mary Bell & 9 children
 Owner going to split up family
Congressman Lincoln
After Pearl disaster…
 Chaplin recruited Daniel Drayton
(experienced ship Captain)
 Drayton recruited Edward Sayres operating
150-ton schooner Pearl

$100 for Pearl – equivalent to ½ yr wages now!
 April 15, 1848 76 slaves entered Pearl
 Storm forced put ashore – owners discovered
Congressman Lincoln
After Pearl disaster…
 Posse of 35 armed men arrested Drayton
and Sayres
 Towed Pearl to Washington
 Slaves put in Slave Pens – within 10
days most sold to slave dealers
 Drayton & Sayres jailed
 Bail set at $1000 per slave
Congressman Lincoln
After Pearl disaster…
 Conscience Whigs believed involved
 Incident caused riots
 Washington more!
 $ needed for bail, and other issues, took
money from purchasing slave freedom
The Civil War
United States Secret Service
April 1861
 Gen. George B. McClelland
suggestion - org. system for intell.
from south
 From system created “Secret Service”
Alan Pinkerton?
E. J. Allen?
Most military and government
officials had no idea!
One of most famous pics.
Antietam (Maryland)
President Lincoln
Lincoln R –
Alan Pinkerton
Lincoln L –
Major Gen.
John A. McClernand
Photographer –
Alexander Gardner
Alexander Gardner
 Outset of the U.S. Civil War, Mathew
Brady sent photographers to document.
 Scottish-born immigrant - Alexander
Gardner.
 Gardner photographed Lincoln 7
occasions, the last one on February 5,
1865, only a few weeks before Lincoln’s
assassination.
Alexander Gardner
1866 he published Gardner’s
Sketchbook of the War,
commemorating Fredericksburg,
Gettysburg, and Petersburg – book
commercial failure.
Photographic historians suggest
Gardner staged
The Civil War
Union Spies

Who is that?
= Pinkerton
Who is that?
Intermittent brief periods of
exhaustive research…
Inescapable conclusion - the famous
crooning rebel
spy…
=
…Dean Martin!
?
The spy…
the info.
June 1861
Pinkerton & Secret Service?
Major Allan Pinkerton with his Secret Service Department friends Antietam, Maryland. For President Lincoln, Pinkerton was really
the head of intelligence gathering for the Civil War. They
unofficially called it the Secret service.
The Ralph D. Thomas PI Vintage Collection
Civil War
Intelligence Agents
The Ralph D. Thomas PI Vintage Collection
The Civil War
Confederate troop strength
 Oops!
McClelland
 Didn’t help McClelland’s curb
appeal!
For a fee!
The Ralph D. Thomas PI Vintage Collection
Strike Breakers!
Pinkerton guards escorting strikebreakers,
Buchtel, Ohio, 1884
Strike Breakers!
 The Battle of Homestead
 2 barges with 300 Pinkertons
 Thousands of strikers and towns people
met them
 Gun fire, cannon fire!
 Pinkertons surrender, beaten (over 1/23
injured) , removed by train, barges set on
fire
 7 strikers, 2 Pinkertons dead
 8500 troops called in
Author
Over a dozen books
Over 30 short stories
 The Expressman and the Detective (1874)
Claude Melnotte as a Detective and Other Stories (1875)
The Detective and the Sonambulust (1875)
The Model Town and the Detectives: Byron as a Detective (1876)
The Spiritualists and the Detectives (1877)
The Mollie Maguires and the Detectives (1877)
Strikers, Communists, Tramps and Detectives (1878)
Mississippi Outlaws and the Detectives (1878)
The Gypsies and the Detectives (1878)
Criminal Reminiscences and Detective Sketches (1879)
Bucholz and the Detectives (1878)
Professional Thieves and the Detectives (1881)
The Rail-Road Forger and the Detectives (1883)
Bank-Robbers and the Detectives (1881)
The Spy of the Rebellion (1883)
The Burglar's Fate and the Detectives (1884)
Thirty Years a Detective (1884, memoir)
A
u
t
h
o
r
Author
Book Spy of the Rebellion and ad.
Grave
Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, IL

In 2000 the Pinkerton National
Detective Agency celebrated 150
yrs.
 May of that year donated vast
archive to Smithsonian Institute
The Ultimate theft deterrent?
Next year?
Alexander Gardner?
Armor – Iron Clads to Abrams
tank?