Allan Pinkerton was born on August 25th 1819 as the son of a police officer in British Glasgow. Since his father had to retire from work quite early due to medical reasons, the responsability of taking care of the family fell on Allan Pinkerton, who was working as a cooper.

As required by his socially modest position, Pinkerton became involved in politics at a young age and became a member of the Chartists. This was a political reform movement in Great Britain at the beginning of the 19th century. They stood for the right to vote of all individuals and for social reforms.

His wedding with Joan Carfrae took place on March 13^th 1942 and the couple was shortly after warned that, due to Pinkerton’s political activities, he would soon be placed under arrest. Allan Pinkerton and his wife therefore fled to the United States, where they settled down in Chicago.

He was soon employed as a deputy sheriff and, after catching a band of counterfeiters in 1948, he became the county sheriff. Four years later, however, Allan left the police force and founded together with his partner, Edward Rucker, a former district attorney bureau, the North-Western Police Agency, who was renamed to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency two years later.

The Pinkerton Detective Agency is now considered one of the first private detective agencies in the USA. Their logo contained a large open eye on a black/white background, as well as the famous saying “We never sleep”.

What Pinkerton did was yet unknown to the USA. He organized security for his customers, among which railway companies, banks, fabrics and industrial societies. He furthermore established a group of security guards, which aimed to guarantee the protection of their clients.

Pinkerton’s detectives solved a series of train attacks, which provided a lot of public exposure and, thus, also established their good reputation in the States. In the year 1861, the Pinkerton Detective Agency received the order of ensuring President Abraham Lincoln’s protection. Pinkerton’s detectives succeeded in protecting the president from an attack and even saved his life.

Pinkterton was good friends with General McClernand, who ordered him during the American Civil War to spy on the enemy troups. However, upon General McClernand’s dismissal, Pinkerton finished his services for the army and focused intensively on the expansion of his detective agency. His main concern was the battle against the unions and he became increasingly involved in the services offered by the company, especially those against strike breakers. This continued to become the main focus of the detective agency after Allan Pinkerton’s death.

Allan Pinkerton passed away at the age of 65, on July 1^st 1984, due to an infection he contracted after biting his tongue while tripping.

It is wrongly often considered that the term “private eye”, the colloquial term for „detective“ in the USA, has appeared due to Pinkerton’s agency logo. However, the origin of the term “private eye” lies in the English „private investigator“. The “I” that stands for investigator has an identical pronunciation in English to the word „eye“. And since a detective usually sticks his eye everywhere, the term “private eye”, inspired by “private i”, gained much popularity.

Pinkerton’s great success is also owed to the fact that they he had been using modern techniques against the prevention of crime from the very beginning, among which photography, telegraphy and criminal records. Due to his professional approach and the use of modern techniques, Pinkerton became a model for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a federal authority founded at the beginning of the 20^th century.