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In the early 1850s, Scottish immigrant Allan Pinkerton stumbled upon a counterfeiting operation while gathering wood for his barrel-making business. After helping the authorities arrest the criminals, he was inspired to form a detective agency, to chase bank robbers and train bandits. His business grew quickly and in 1861 he was enlisted to prevent an attempted assassination of President Lincoln...
In the mid-1870s the Pinkerton Detective Agency’s fame was growing, and founder Allan Pinkerton began to pen bestselling books that promoted his and the agency’s crime-fighting image even more. But after Pinkerton died in 1884, his sons took over and expanded the business, providing guards and watchmen to protect railroads, mines, and factories. By the early 1900s, Pinkertons had become feared labor spies and strike-busters...