PINKERTON

Allan . b. Glasgow 25 Aug. 1819; a chartist, escaped to America 1842; first detective for Chicago 1850; established Pinkerton’s national detective agency 1850, and a isted in the escape of slaves; organised the United States secret service division of the National army in 1861 in Virginia and was its first chief; added to his detective agency in Chicago a corps of night watchmen called Pinkerton’s preventive watch 1860; had branches at New York and Philadelphia; author of Molly Maguire and the detective 1877; Criminal reminiscences 1878; The spy of the rebellion 1883; Thirty years a detective 1884; and other books. d. Chicago 1 July 1884. Applet on’s American biography v 25 (1888); Harper’s Mag. xlvii 720–7 (1873).