Allan Pinkerton

Birth Name:

Allan J. Pinkerton

Birth Date:

August 25, 1819

Birth Place:

Glasgow, Scotland

Death Date:

July 1, 1884

Place of Death:

No. 554 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois

Age:

Cause of Death:

Gangrene (disputed)

Cemetery Name:

Graceland Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Crime and their Victims

Associates:

Abraham Lincoln

Allan Pinkerton was a Scottish cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency during his time in the United States. When the Civil War began, Pinkerton served as head of the Union Intelligence Service during the first two years, heading off an alleged assassination plot in Baltimore, Maryland while guarding Abraham Lincoln on his way to Washington, D.C. as well as identifying troop numbers in military campaigns. His agents often worked undercover as Confederate soldiers and sympathizers to gather military intelligence. Pinkerton himself served on several undercover missions as a Confederate soldier using the alias Major E.J. Allen. Following Pinkerton's service with the Union Army, he continued his pursuit of train robbers, including the Reno Gang. He was hired by the railroad express companies to track outlaw Jesse James, but after Pinkerton failed to capture him, the railroad withdrew their financial support and Pinkerton continued to track James at his own expense.

Fun Fact:

In 1861, while investigating a railway case, Pinkerton uncovered an assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln. The conspirators intended to kill Lincoln in Baltimore during a stop on his way to his inauguration. Pinkerton warned Lincoln of the threat, and the president-elect’s itinerary was changed so that he passed through the city secretly at night. Lincoln later hired Pinkerton to organize a “secret service” to obtain military information in the Southern states during the Civil War. In Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi, he performed his own investigative work and traveled under the pseudonym “Major E.J. Allen.”

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Graceland Cemetery

4001 N Clark Street

Chicago, Illinois, 60613

USA

North America

Map:

Map of Graceland Cemetery, Chicago, Illinois

Graceland Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois courtesy of Jake Coolidge and Joe Collier

Grave Location:

Section C, Lot 554, Space 25

Grave Location Description

After entering the cemetery, head northeast on Main Avenue for about 750 feet. Then turn left on Center Avenue, and head north for about 720 feet until you reach the intersection. Allan Pinkerton’s grave will be on your right, about 50 feet east from the intersection.

Grave Location GPS

41.95776099206102, -87.66026858708979

Visiting The Grave:

Photos:

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FAQ's

Allan Pinkerton was born on August 25, 1819.

Allan Pinkerton was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

Allan Pinkerton died on July 1, 1884.

Allan Pinkerton died in No. 554 West Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois.

Allan Pinkerton was 64.

The cause of death was Gangrene (disputed).

Allan Pinkerton's grave is in Graceland Cemetery

Videos Featuring Allan Pinkerton:

The Secret Plot to Kill Lincoln (That Failed!)

How the Pinkerton Agency Laid the Foundation for the FBI and CIA

Pinkerton's National Detective Agency Documentary

America's Private Eye - The Pinkertons - One Minute History

10 Exciting Adventures of the Pinkertons

How the Pinkertons Became the Most Infamous Detective Agency

See More:

J. Edgar Hoover

popular name: J. Edgar Hoover

date_of_death: May 2, 1972

age: 77

cause_of_death: Heart attack

claim_to_fame: Crime and their Victims

best_know_for: J. Edgar Hoover was an American law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). President Calvin Coolidge first appointed Hoover as director of the BOI, the predecessor to the FBI, in 1924. After 11 years in the post, Hoover became instrumental in founding the FBI in June 1935, where he remained as director for an additional 37 years – serving a total of 48 years leading both the BOI and the FBI under eight presidents. In the years before his death, he was seventy-six and showing his age, napping for hours in his office in the afternoons. He was also showing increasing levels of vitriol and instability, informing the White House, for instance, that the four student demonstrators shot to death by National Guardsmen at Kent State had “invited and got what they deserved.” Upon his passing only then did it come to light that Hoover was a horrible choice as the nations top law enforcement officer. Under his direction, the FBI relentlessly harassed Martin Luther King Jr., which included wiretapping his hotel rooms and sending him an anonymous letter urging him to commit suicide. Hoover viewed King and the civil rights movement as a communist-inspired threat to the social order. Hoover was also known for his personal bigotry. He actively pushed LGBTQ+ individuals out of government service (despite persistent rumors about his own sexuality and close relationship with Deputy Director Clyde Tolson) and initially refused to hire Black agents. And for decades, Hoover publicly denied the existence of the Mafia, likely to avoid diverting FBI resources from his anti-communist crusades or because he lacked the legal tools to effectively combat them until much later in his career.

Allan Pinkerton