Hi, !
Do you like mysteries? Have you ever wanted to be a detective and solve real life puzzles? Maybe you've thought about joining a police force one day, or helping people solve mysteries and finding the answers to the crime. It sounds like an exciting life, doesn't it? Two 19th century private eyes thought so too: Allan Pinkerton and Kate Warne. "Who were they?" you might be thinking. Read on and find out!
👁️THE PINKERTON DETECTIVE AGENCY
Allan Pinkerton was America's original private eye. Born into a poor family in Scotland, Allen's life didn't offer many opportunities. Work was scare and times were hard. After his marriage, Allan decided to come to America. He quickly found work as a barrel maker (sometimes called a cooper) and stumbled into a real-life mystery while going about his daily routine.
During a wood-scouting trip (gathering wood to make barrels), Allan went to a small, secluded island. There he found the hideout of a group of counterfeiters. Counterfeiters were people who printed fake money and tried to use it like the real thing. He hurried for the sheriff and helped catch the crooks. Allan discovered he enjoyed being a detective . . . way more than he enjoyed making barrels. Maybe, he thought, it was time to start a new career.
In 1849, Allan became the first detective on the Chicago police force. A few years later, he decided to head out on his own and formed the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Their motto was: "The Eye that Never Sleeps." He soon had more clients than he could handle on his own and hired other men to become detectives.
🔎 THE FIRST FEMALE DETECTIVE
As the Pinkerton Agency grew, Allan realized they needed another secretary to handle all of the office work. In 1856, he put an ad in the newspaper. A beautiful young widow answered the ad. However, to Allan's surprise, Kate Warne did not want the secretary job. She wanted to become a detective too!
"It is not my custom to employ women detectives," Pinkerton told her in a gruff voice.
Kate argued back that women have an "eye for detail and are excellent observers." To prove her point, she told Mr. Pinkerton that women could be most useful in worming out secrets in many places that would be impossible for a male detective. There were places a woman could go where a man couldn't.
Allan Pinkerton was convinced, so he gave her idea a try. Kate became America's first female detective. Before long, Kate Warne had successfully helped solve several cases.
One of the most famous of Allan and Kate's cases was known as the Baltimore Plot. It was 1861, and feelings in the southern part of the United States were ready to explode. News soon reached Allan Pinkerton that a plot was underway to assassinate the president elect, Abraham Lincoln. Allan sent Kate, "a master of disguises," to Maryland to pose as a wealthy Southern lady. Kate's investigation turned up many crucial clues. It was through Kate's detective skills that the Pinkerton Agency knew several Southern sympathizers planned to assassinate President Lincoln as his train stopped in Baltimore on the way to Washington, D.C.
The Pinkerton agents, including Kate, met with President Lincoln and discussed a plan to foil the would-be assassins. Kate and another detective dressed the president to disguise him as an invalid. He wore a soft hat pulled low over his face, along with a shawl. The detectives slipped the disguised president into a railroad car Kate had previously reserved for her "invalid brother." Instead of stopping in Baltimore as planned, the president's train traveled straight from Pennsylvania to Washington, D.C., with Kate standing guard.
Allan Pinkerton later bragged that Kate "never slept a wink" until the president had been successfully slipped into the White House. Maybe this statement is what inspired the motto for the Pinkerton Detective Agency: 👁️The Eye That Never Sleeps.👁️
Kate Warne and Allan Pinkerton worked on many successful cases during the Civil War. Pinkerton often said that Kate was one of the five best detectives he had ever known. She later became the Pinkerton Agency's Female Superintendent of Detectives. Because of Kate, many other women joined the Pinkerton Agency as "private eyes" (one of Allan's nicknames for the detectives).
In Jenny Cameron and the Cattle Rustling Catastrophe, the main character, Jenny, talks about being like Kate Warne when she and her friend are trying to stop Annie O'Banyon, the female cattle rustler, from stealing the ranchers' cattle.
America's first detectives left behind a rich legacy. So next time you dream about becoming a detective or solving a mystery, remember Allan Pinkerton and Kate Warne. They started it all!
SECRET MESSAGE
Here's a secret message Kate Warne sent to her boss, Allan Pinkerton. Can you decode it?
. . . wanted to be a cowgirl when she was growing up. That never happened, but she found the next best thing was writing about characters who lived in the Old West and got to experience all the fun adventures she never had. Her New Classics middle-grade novel, Jenny Cameron's Cattle Rustling Catastrophe, is one such book. It comes with a free study guide to download for your homeschool. Visit her website for more middle-grade books your kids will love!
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