Title:
The Pinkertons
Subtitle:
The Detective Dynasty That Made History
Author:
James D. Horan
Publisher:
Crown Publishers, Inc, 1967
Library of Congress Catalog:
68-9098

It would have been surprising if men like the Pinkertons didn't generate their own legends. In fact, it would have been downright unbelievable. But Horan, in writing his historical account, shows that human nature cannot be denied. Legends abound in a story like that of the Pinkertons.

Already in the first few pages of the book, Horan recounts how Pinkerton and his young wife missed their boat to Chicago, on account of a new bonnet Joan had ordered. The boat sank when a boiler exploded, killing all aboard. The usually careful Horan does not provide details of the ship's name, drawing this information from Pinkerton's notes only. It left me wondering.

If you want to know how a radical supporter of the Scottish chartists became a union buster, the next couple of paragraphs tell that the Pinkertons went to Warsaw, Illinois, and there were robbed of everything they had. We all know that a Republican is only a Democrat who has been robbed...

Another AFU classic appears in the Pinkerton's involvement in the USAn Civil War. Pinkerton had contrived to break up a Washington DC spy ring, and the ring's leader, Rose Greenhow, was imprisoned. But she still managed to get information to the confederates. Horan admits that Pinkerton doesn't say how, but mentions that Pinkerton "writes vaguely" of Rose's making tapestries.

Pinkerton apparently was able to prevent Lincoln from being assassinated before he was even inaugurated. When Booth killed Lincoln, Pinkerton wrote, "If only I had been there to protect him as I had done before." Horan indicates that the President's guard had left his post, allowing Booth to enter the theater box. He says he doesn't believe that Pinkerton would have allowed a policeman with a drunk and disorderly conduct record to be the president's only guard.

The Pinkertons were intimately entwined in USAn folklore when they took on the gangs of post Civil War North America. Particularly the story of Jesse James and his gang, who's story is told by many as paralleling the story of Robin Hood, becomes a story of rough men who cared not who suffered just so they would get their way. The Pinkertons, at least, did not see anything noble about these brutal murderers.

When Bob Ford murdered Jesse James, Frank surrendered to the law. Lots of lofty speeches were made, but the Pinkertons didn't see much that was praiseworthy about the proceedings. As I mentioned before, Frank James, in the face of certainly overwhelming evidence, was acquitted by his jury of the charge of murder.

A curious bit of myth arises around the frustrations of trying to fight these gangs. Not only was the local law ineffectual, but the gangsters were getting supported as homeboys. So the well organized lynchings that followed the capture of several of these gangsters raise not a few eyebrows. Pinkerton, who went by the motto "the end justifies the means," did not admit complicity.

The Pinkertons have been accused of being strike breakers. Horan, as a historian, must conclude that, although they did not actively set out to bust unions, their activities certainly made it possible for management to combat unions more effectively than they could have otherwise.

But the story itself is more complex than that. Horan tells of the Pinkertons' campaign against the Molly McGuires, a ruthless gang of thugs and murderers in Pensylvania's mining country. He tells of the Pinkerton's involvement in the Homestead strike, which resulted in a congressional investigation of the Pinkerton's tactics, and left them exonerated.

Eventually, after another congressional investigation, the Pinkertons stopped any activities that might interfere with employees' ability to organize.

Of course, no account of the Pinkertons would be complete without mentioning Susan Mudgetts distant cousin, Herman Mudgett, aka Dr. Holmes. Ask Susan sometime about this worthy. Just be sure to be polite when you do, and be careful about getting into any insurance scams with her.

The book was a great read. My training as a historian or a folklorist is admittedly rather informal, but I would say that the book is not a waste of time.