"The Eye That Never Sleeps": A History of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency

by Frank Morn

Book Overview

PREFACE: Private businesses frequently become centers of public controversy. Few, however, have touched American nerve endings as much as the private detective. Historic dichotomies developed early... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0253320860
• ISBN13: 9780253320865
• Release Date: January 1982
• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A History of Private Detectives

This book examines the social functions of the police from the 1850s to the 1920. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency filled the gaps of the inadequate public police and their limited jurisdiction. They would spy on workers for the "Robber Barons" and gather evidence in divorce cases. Because of their distrust by the working classes and the middle-class the Pinkertons projected an image of incorruptibility. The Bibliography has 14 pages that list relevant books. The 'Preface' says the Pinkertons were like a mercenary army (p.1). Writers of fiction developed "a private detective mystique" for adventure stories. The 'Introduction' traces the history of police work from Medieval England when all citizens were involved to the 17th century when volunteer citizens became scarce (p.2). The Bow Street Runners were created to handle the problem of crime detection. In 1829 Robert Peel organized a new police force (p.6). Morn compares the French police system (political spying) to the English constabulary (crime prevention). Police forces began in the big cities around the 1850s (pp.12-13) Part One tells of their beginnings. The new crime of embezzlement was created to control theft by wage earning clerks and agents (p.18). [An owner-operated business did not have this problem.] Private detectives were created to oversee employees when the owner was away. Allan Pinkerton was a Chartist who sought democracy and who fled Scotland to avoid political persecution (p.19). Pinkerton discovered and arrested a gang of rural counterfeiters, and became a professional detective as a deputy Sheriff (p.21), then worked for the Treasury Department (counterfeiters) and the Post Office (mail thefts). The railroads brought many changes to America, one was the need for protection of railroad property (p.25). This chapter explains the early history of police departments and the features recognizable today. The Civil War gave Pinkerton new experiences and acquaintances with business and military leaders. When Pinkertons spied on conductors, they were being spotted by union representatives (p.63). The depression of the 1870s found new business: searching for Communists and the Molly Maguires (p.66). Private organizations were created to fight vice and gambling. Pinkertons refused rewards, their operatives worked for a set wage (p.73). Detective stories date from the 1840s, and Allan Pinkerton's books added to the true crime genre (pp.80-81). Part Two tells how the sons of Pinkerton ran the agency during the next decades. Robert expanded the Protective Patrol to watch private businesses like race tracks (a steady income). The consolidation of railroads led to company police (p.94). The Depression of 1877 saw increased railroad strikes (p.96). One response was the National Guard movement, controlled by businessmen rather than the traditional town and county militias (p.97). Pinkertons provided scab workers to destroy a major strike in 1888 (p.101). From 1889 to 1899 24 state