The Pinkerton Detective Agency

5 snips

Nov 17, 2025

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a historian and Pinkerton expert, dives into the life of Allan Pinkerton, who transformed from a poor Scottish immigrant to the founder of America's first detective agency. They discuss his innovative detective methods, his role in protecting Abraham Lincoln, and his clashes with notorious outlaws like Jesse James. The conversation also explores the Pinkerton's controversial shift to strike-breaking and the long-lasting impact on detective culture and private security.

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ANECDOTE

Bogus Island Discovery

Alan Pinkerton discovered a counterfeit mint on an island while searching for timber and reported it to the sheriff.
That event prompted him to leave cooperage and become a detective tracking counterfeiters.

INSIGHT

Private Policing Fills A Federal Gap

Pinkerton positioned his agency as a professional alternative to weak local police.
Businesses like banks and railroads hired him because he could cross jurisdictions and pursue criminals relentlessly.

ANECDOTE

Foiling The Baltimore Plot

Pinkerton uncovered a Baltimore assassination plot and smuggled Lincoln through the city in disguise.
Agents cut telegraph wires and used Kate Warne to help spirit Lincoln safely to his inauguration.

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The Private Eye has long been a fixture of popular culture - from Sherlock Holmes, to Philip Marlowe, to Jessica Fletcher. But behind the fictional detectives lies a real figure whose influence shaped the very idea of the private investigator: Allan Pinkerton. After fleeing Scotland for the US under murky circumstances in the mid-1800s, he reinvented himself as a crime fighter and founded America’s first detective agency. Soon, his name was everywhere. His agents guarded trains, infiltrated gangs, and uncovered a plot to kill a president.

But how did a poor Scottish immigrant build a private army more powerful than the police?

How did his methodologies shape surveillance, and influence the foundations of the FBI? And what happened when his agents went head-to-head with legendary outlaws like Jesse James or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid?

This is a Short History Of The Pinkerton Detective Agency.

A Noiser podcast production. Hosted by John Hopkins. With thanks to Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones, a historian, and author of Allan Pinkerton, America’s Legendary Detective and the Birth of Private Security.

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like to listen to the full story of the Baltimore Plot – when the Pinkerton Agency used cunning, guile, and disguise to foil an attempt on Abraham Lincoln’s life as he travelled to his presidential inauguration. You’ll find it as part of the Detectives Don’t Sleep series from the Noiser Network. Follow this link to listen right away: https://www.noiser.com/detectives-dont-sleep/the-baltimore-plot

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