Volume 7 , Issue 31

The Pinkerton Detectives...

"Allan Pinkerton was born in Scotland on August 25, 1819 in a tenement flat on the 3rd floor in one of the worst slums of Glasgow. His father was William, a weave. When Allan was eight years old his father died and his mother had to go back to work. Little Allan quit school and went to work as an apprentice in a pattern-making shop to help his mother. In March of 1842, Allan married Joan Carfrae and that same year they boarded a ship to America. They later settled in Chicago where Pinkerton did detective work and soon he became a deputy Sheriff. After solving a major crime, he became a celebrated hero in Chicago. At age 31, he started his own detective agency and hired what he believed to be honest men but one of Pinkerton's main rules -- no drinking. He wanted his men sober and alert at all times and even hired a woman. He taught his detectives how to do investigative work and showed them how to dress in disguise. His office was filled with costumes and wigs. His slogan painted on his door was an open eye with the writing "We never sleep," written underneath it. This gave Pinkerton the nickname, "Private eye." Criminals soon hated and feared the name Pinkerton. In February 1861 he and his detectives uncovered a plot to kill newly elected President Lincoln. Pinkerton, growing older with ailing health, retired to his Chicago mansion and wrote 18 books. He died on July 1, 1884 at age 65." -- http://va.essortment.com/pinkertonnation_ooz.htm   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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