Biography of Allan Pinkerton

Biography of Allan Pinkerton:

CJS 250

April 4, 2010

Allan Pinkerton commanded the respect of those who knew him and carried himself with dignity. He was born in Scotland in the year of 1819. Pinkerton's father was a former police officer who had to leave the service due to an injury during the chariot riots. His being put out of work caused much hardship for his family. When Pinkerton’s father passed away, shortly after the accident, Pinkerton was forced to support his family at a young age. (Pinkerton, 1976)

Pinkerton got a job as an apprentice to a barrel maker. He did not stay with this line of work because of his involvement in the chariot movement. He became fearful for his life due to all the social unrest that existed an decided to immigrate to the U.S. in 1842. Pinkerton settled in a Scottish town in the Chicago area and became an outspoken abolitionist. Pinkerton is credited with being a local conductor for the Underground Railroad. Pinkerton married and settled down in Dundee, where the story we are familiar with began. (Pinkerton, 1976)

Pinkerton only became interested in police work at this late stage in his life. The story goes that he was walking in the forest in search of wood to make barrel staves. He saw there a band of counterfeiters. His courage and honesty in this situation landed him a job keeping an eye out for more counterfeiters. Due to the dangerous nature of the work, he remained cautious. It was this work that gained him employment as a part-time deputy. Later, he became Chicago’s first detective. His agency was known to have the largest collection of criminal database and mug shots in the world by 1870. Its logo was the “Sight-Seeing Eye”, from which the term ‘private eye’ was coined. (Pinkerton, 1976)

In 1861, while Pinkerton was investigating a railroad case, he came across a plot to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. The assassin's plan was to kill Lincoln in Baltimore on the way to his inauguration. In...