The survival - for it was years before the Pinkerton Agency could be properly described as an established "success" - of the brothers' enterprise was largely due to two factors, sheer hard work and demonstrable honesty and probity. From the earliest days, it was almost literally a matter of day and night working so far as Robert and Allan and their employees were concerned. Immense fortunes were there for the making in 19th century America - but although, as always, brains and flair lay at the root of success, it was still recognised that only those who rolled up their sleeves and buckled down to backbreaking activity were likely to be rewarded.

A second factor in the success of the venture was undoubtedly the code of conduct drawn up by the brothers for all their operatives, including themselves. At an early date in the partnership, both Robert and Allan agreed that no operative chosen ever accepted a gratuity even a well deserved one from a client. Clients were told in advance the cost of a Pinkerton operative on a per diem basis; it was therefore possible to reckon the full tariff for any investigation by calculating beforehand the number of days such an inquiry would take and the number of operatives required. All travel or other expenses were also agreed upon in advance and a daily report of how the investigation was proceeding furnished. No variation of such arrangements was permitted without first notifying the client involved. Nor were Pinkerton men allowed to relate their experiences in newspaper or magazine articles. Above all, no Pinkerton man was allowed to "frame" evidence to suit a client.

Surprisingly, the Pinkerton brothers decided to steer clear of one of the most lucrative areas of "investigation" for a private-eye divorce - which proved to be an important and wise judgement.

Shortly after the foundation of the partnership, the firm adopted its famous symbol or logo - a wide-open eye with its simple but compelling caption, "We Never Sleep".

* * * *

One of the earliest successes scored by the infant Agency arose from the old connection between Robert Pinkerton and Edward S. Sanford, vice-president of Adams Express and one of the great pioneers of the express business in the United States.

The expansion of the Adams Express business had begun as far back as 1843 with the merger of the Adams company and the express line between Philadelphia and New York pioneered by Sanford. By 1850, freight was moving quickly between New York and St. Louis, utilising railroads, canals or river passages and ordinary waggons; in normal weather conditions, freight could be shifted from point to point within ten days at maximum. Four years later, Adams Express had become a gigantic concern, its tentacles spreading far and wide throughout the most heavily-populated regions of the United States.

It was with surprise and delight, therefore, that one day a fat letter from Sanford, with the address of the Adams' New York office at its head arrived in the Pinkerton office. The letter explained that ten thousand dollars had been lost from a locked money case enroute between the Adams HQ at Montgomery, Alabama and an office in Augusta, Georgia.

Listing all the details of the incident, Sanford inquired if the Pinkerton Agency could possibly indicate who the thief might be.

It was the kind of request that could only come from someone who naively considered that the mysteries of detection lay in a realm not far from magic and at first the Pinkerton office was inclined to treat the request with amusement. However, an inquiry from such an important person and such a prestigious organisation could scarcely be ignored. After a brief consultation with his brother, Allan decided that an analysis of Sanford's information should be made at once. The brothers therefore decided to sacrifice their week-end to study the information and see if anything might emerge.

By this stage each brother's role had become more sharply defined. Although Robert had pioneered the idea of guarding and protecting railroads and express services and running down the miscreant who preyed on them, his health had tended to make him less and less active than his brother so far as field work was concerned. Robert also showed a greater capacity for organisational detail and routine and with the finances of the still infant agency constantly teetering on the edge of disaster, he had had his work cut out just to keep everything afloat. Although he was always on hand to help and advise Allan on knotty problems such as that which Sanford had presented Allan has to be given full credit for the subsequent extremely smart bit of detective work. By Monday morning and with the benefit only of the details in Sanford's letter, he had a full report ready for despatch to New York. He told Sanford that the thief was a man called Nathan Maroney, manager of the office in Montgomery, Alabama. He made it clear, however, that he could not produce any evidence that would stand up in court but advised that Maroney should be kept under "strict surveillance before he bites you twice."

And that seemed that! The Pinkertons heard no more from Sanford and dismissed the problem until suddenly a year later, a telegram arrived saying, "Can you send a man, half horse, half alligator? I got bit once more." It was signed Edward S. Sanford.

Allan later claimed that he hesitated for a week-end before deciding to take on the Sanford assignment. His explanation is that the Agency was prospering and that he already had more than enough work on hand. But the fact is that the Adams Company was America's biggest carrier and that only a fool would have turned down the chance to become associated with it. A letter was therefore sent to Sanford accepting the case and suggesting that Pinkerton and his representatives should meet the Express chief in Montgomery.

It was, true, in fact that the Agency was busy and thriving and that already the nucleus of the great Organisation that was to become world famous had come into being. Allan Pinkerton was a man of great drive and ambition and had seemingly limitless energy. Three years after he and Robert entered into partnership, he began hiring his first staff. The first appointments arose out of a visit to New York. Allan first hired a man called George Bangs who claimed that his family had arrived on the Mayflower. Bangs was a tall, relatively distinguished-looking figure with cultivated manners and Allan, still very much the rough-hewn Glasgow tenement boy, decided that Bangs was just the type to act as Pinkerton representative in New York. He decided to bring Bangs to work in Chicago but Robert firmly opposed the move.

He did not trust Bangs and was opposed to allowing him more say in the running of the company than was necessary. In the end, the brothers reached a compromise - Allan could hire Bangs, provided he kept him out of Chicago.

Through a friend, Captain James Leonard of the New York Police Department, Allan was then introduced to a man called Timothy Webster, an Englishman born in Newhaven, Sussex who had emigrated to the US some twenty years earlier with his parents. Webster's ambition was to join the police but lacking the right connections, he found it difficult to land such a plum job. Allan thought he had possiblities and offered him a job as a detective. This turned out to be an excellent appointment.

Timothy Webster

Allan Appointed two other Britons to the staff - a Welshman called Pyrce Lewis and a man called John Scully. Both proved to be excellent detectives indeed, Lewis, operating behind enemy lines during the Civil War (as did Timothy Webster) proved an outstanding appointment. Scully, despite his abilities, rapidly revealed a weakness for the bottle and this proved a tragic handicap. Other early appointments were John R. White (said to look more like a con-man than a detective), a New Englander called John Rox, a tenacious young man called Rivers and finally a pipe-smoking German called Adam Roche, a former lumberjack.

None of these men, it should be emphasised, had any previous experience with a law enforcement agency and had to be trained from scratch. Indeed, the Chicago offices of Pinkerton and Co. have been likened to a theatre at times with Robert and Allan busy passing on their accumulated lore and theories to the newcomers. Newcomers were taught, as at a dramatic school, to pass themselves off as members of various trades and the brothers kept a ready supply of "disguises" (plumber's clothes, tram conductor's uniform, etc) in a closet ready to be pressed into duty whenever needed.

The brothers continued to quibble over the appointment of Bangs who, in the end, was forced to spend the major part of his time in New York where he was appointed "office manager". It was not the only clash between them. One afternoon in 1856, the office secretary walked into Allan's room to announce that a young woman wanted to see him about a job. She turned out to be a Mrs. Kate Warne, a widow, a slim, brown-haired woman who, although not particularly pretty, was undoubtedly an attractive female. She explained that she wanted to become a detective - or so Allan claimed. Whether she asked for a job as a detective or not, it is no longer possible to determine; more likely, she hoped for employment as a secretary - but this appointment had already been filled. After a night turning over the problem, Allan dreamed up the bright idea of appointing Mrs. Warne who became America's first woman private detective.

The appointment was vigorously opposed by Robert who believed that Mrs. Warne would prove a disturbing influence in the company's affairs. In fact, Allan was smitten with the woman and she very soon became his mistress. When, following the outbreak of the American Civil War, Allan became active as a federal intelligence agent, Mrs. Warne accompanied him on several forays; indeed, there were bitter arguments between the brothers over the expenses claimed by Allan on Mrs. Warne's behalf. Robert made a point forcefully that it was wrong for the company to finance what was, in effect, a sordid relationship. I should add, though, that Kate Warne, although she became Allan's mistress, was not really a "loose woman" and indeed, her relationship with Allan was to survive for many years.

The brothers despite such clashes remained indissolubly together in a close fraternal relationship until Robert's death, but there is no disguising that they did not always see eye to eye and both being men of strong character (although Allan was the more flamboyant of the two) never hesitated to give vent to their feelings. It is now not possible to say whether Allan nurtured a deep resentment against his brother which might have been a factor in his later decision to obliterate all traces of Robert's connection with the founding of Pinkerton and Company but it is a fact that he did not behave with real generosity towards Robert's widow and sons, his assistance being of a nature which can only be described as minimal at a time when they were at their most needy. It is not unlikely that Allan's friendship with Kate Warne, if it did not destroy fraternal bonds, certainly was a cause of serious friction nor is there any doubt that Robert's wife openly expressed her disapproval - a point which might later have weighed heavily with Allan.

Pinkerton and Company, of course, needed an increasing number of operatives as the business of the Agency rapidly advanced. Robert's earlier experience with the railroads had pointed the way to a really lucrative source of income and the contract signed between Pinkertons and the Illinois Central railroad on February 1, 1855, shows the kind of considerable sums involved. This one contract allowed for a retainer of ten thousand dollars a year - which was an extremely large sum at that time.

In fact, it was the railroad which eventually underwrote the whole concept of the Pinkerton business and we find all the main lines in the region forking out substantial annual retainers. Among them was the Michigan Central, the Michigan Southern and Northern Indiana, the Chicago and Galena Union, the Illinois Central, the Chicago and Rock Island and the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy - each enterprise paying substantial sums to the Pinkertons. In all, retainers totalled twenty thousand dollars a year. In addition, the Pinkertons also had a contract with the United States Post Office to prevent or clear up cases of pilfering or thieving from mail cars and post offices throughout the mid-West. In return the Pinkertons had to provide sufficient operatives to deal expeditiously with any call made on their services by the railroads. As part of the deal, Pinkerton men were given free railroad passes and blank tickets.

The work proved anything but a sinecure. Although many Hollywood films have made the lawlessness and disorder of the West familiar to cinema goers throughout the world, they have tended to emphasis only the adventurous and romantic aspects of the legend. In particular, films such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid have tended to cast a glamorous aura over the nasty deeds of thieves and outlaws. In fact, whole communities of hard-working and law-abiding people had to fight back desperately against such villains and at times the idea of establishing civilised life in the West appeared nearly impossible. Payrolls could not be protected and foremen and other employees who resolutely tried to guard them were often brutally beaten to death. Sheriffs were either too frightened or too corrupt to do much to stem the wave of crime and there was therefore a genuine need for a brave and resolute band of men who would investigate and deal with trouble.

As I made clear earlier, the basis of the Pinkerton's success was the various contracts obtained to guard and protect the railroads and express services - the whole concept of such business arising largely out of Robert Pinkerton's earlier experience.

But Robert's had been a limited experience and Allan unquestionably brought immense new resources of energy and imagination to the business. In seeking to redress the long-accepted story of the Pinkerton success which has given Allan almost the entire credit, I do not want to downgrade his contribution, which was crucial, but to remind the world that for all his genius, he was merely the co-founder of Pinkerton's and that his brother also played a vital role.

In fact, Allan had established his reputation as a detective mainly through his work in uncovering the Bogus Island forgers - and forgery, fraud, counterfeiting, even murder, all quickly became part and parcel of the sort of work the Agency was prepared to take on. The arrest of Jules Imbert, the notorious French forger who had played fast and loose with a number of important Wall Street entrepreneurs, was a particular feather in Allan's cap.

Contact with important sources had largely arisen out of the Pinkerton success in the Adams Express Investigation which brought the brothers to the attention of many Easterners who still wielded much of the power and influence in the United States. The Adams investigation is still held by criminologists to be a model of pioneering detective technique although, as might be expected, the technique appears somewhat crude and theatrical nowadays.

When Allan met Sanford in Montgomery, he was told that the whole business was threatening to end in a fiasco. He, Sanford, had had Maroney arrested on a charge of stealing the forty thousand dollars but instead had found that he had merely stirred up a hornet's nest. Maroney had many influential friends and was well-known in social circles and there had been immediate uproar. Important citizens had come forward to put up the forty thousand dollars bail demanded by the court.

At a preliminary hearing, Sanford had been unable to produce anything other than some unconvincing circumstantial evidence - and accordingly, the court had reduced Maroney's bail to four thousand dollars. Sanford now feared that he had made a terrible blunder and was badly in need of help.

The Pinkerton brothers decided that half-measures would make things worse and so a strong team was assembled in Philadelphia, led by Allan himself. Assisting at the temporary headquarters were George Banks from New York, Roche, White, Fox and of course Kate Warne along with other junior helpers. Robert remained in Chicago in charge of the back-up arrangements and to keep the rest of the Pinkerton business running smoothly.

Allan's first decision was to have Maroney's wife "tailed" to see if she might be up to some sinister business on her husband's behalf. Roche, the Pinkerton's so-called "Flying Dutchman", masquerading as a slowwitted, pipe-smoking Hollander, was deputed to trail her. In the event, it proved to be an extraordinary assignment. The woman took off all over the South, moving from Montgomery to Atlanta and then to Orleans and finally back again, employing several methods of transport including railroads and stage coaches. It soon became apparent that she was taking great care to ensure that she was not followed which in itself was an obvious reason for suspicion. Her behaviour meant that Roche had to use considerable ingenuity to avoid being spotted but he managed to shadow her without mishap.

In a series of coded telegrams, he kept Philadelphia informed of the woman's movements but all the same for a long time nothing concrete was to emerge. Eventually one day, when he saw the woman hand a hotel clerk a letter for posting, he managed to catch a glimpse of the address on the envelope - in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania - and at once wired Philadelphia.

The Pinkerton response was quite theatrical. Allan decided to set up one of his operatives (in this case Fox) in Jenkintown, masquerading as a watchmaker. On arrival in Jenkintown, Fox soon discovered that Maroney had relatives living in the village. Allan quickly moved in Mrs. Warne, who took rooms in a local boarding house and spread the story that she was the wife of a wealthy forger. To aid the pretence, she flaunted rich furs and other expensive clothes. Her assignment was to make "friends" with Mrs. Maroney and discover as much about her as possible.

The first break, however, arrived on another front when George Banks caught a glimpse of the address on a letter which Maroney had sent to new York. It transpired that the address was that of a locksmith and enquiries revealed that Maroney was having a copy of a key made which Banks was able to identify as belonging to Adams Express. Damning as this piece of evidence was, a defence could always be offered that there was nothing unusual in employees possessing keys to Adams mail pouches.

By now, in fact, the case was lagging and Sanford was eventually told by his lawyer that a conviction against Maroney would be very hard to achieve. Told of this, Pinkerton rapidly changed his tactics dreaming up a ruse straight out of a melodramatic novel. He suggested that Maroney should be re-arrested on a conspiracy charge and then that a Pinkerton man, in this case, John White, should be inserted as his cell-mate on a supposed charge of forgery. White's "lawyer" would be George Bangs and together it was hoped that they could work on Maroney and get him to reveal everything. This was duly done.

The plot rapidly thickened. Allan stirred it up by sending a succession of unsigned notes to Maroney telling him that this wife was having an affair with another man in Jenkintown. When Mrs. Maroney was allowed to visit her husband in prison, the latter immediately accused her of being unfaithful but the woman, although admitting that she had been seeing a good-looking man, denied that she had done anything wrong. Her protestations did little to relieve Maroney who poured out his troubles to White.

In the meantime, Banks took to appearing in the prison, letting it be known that he was quite a fixer and that for a certain sum of money, the courts could be manipulated. When the "lawyer" one day finally appeared carrying a release for White, Maroney broke down and pleaded with White for assistance. He was certain his wife was being seduced and he simply had to get out. White made the point that a fix would take a great deal of money and after a brief consideration, Maroney said he would order his wife to pay what was necessary, the money in fact being the proceeds of his defalcations.

White duly proceeded to Jenkintown where he contacted Mrs. Maroney who at first proved reluctant to pay over anything. She was not sure that she should hand over the Adams pouch, containing almost forty thousand dollars in stolen bonds, to a man who had simply got to know her husband through being a cell-mate.

However, Kate Waren, in whom she confided, assured her that it was the right thing to do and when the bonds had been cashed and the agreed sum to obtain Maroney's release had been deducted, there would still he enough left for them all to go to Texas together and have a high old time.

Eventually Mrs. Maroney gave in and fetched the Adams express pouch which was duly handed over to White. The latter wasted no time in getting back to New York where he handed over the pouch to Sanford in the presence of Allan Pinkerton and some of his assistants. Most of the forty thousand dollars stolen money was still in it.

Sanford, however, was not prepared to let the matter rest there, It was essential from his point of view, that all employees should know that any defalcations or thefts would be severely punished. He wanted a trial.

The Pinkerton agency, therefore, continued to pursue the matter with the intention of convicting Maroney and his wife. Later that year, indeed the Maroneys stood trial in Montgomery. It turned out to be quite a show trial with an assortment of socialites in court to swear to Maroney's good character. Everything, indeed, appeared to be going swimmingly for the thief, despite the excellent case being presented by the prosecution when, on the morning of the second day of the hearing, White was called as the first witness.

When Maroney saw his erstwhile cell-mate enter the court, he realised that the game was up and hastily spoke to his lawyer. After a brief consultation, the lawyer stood up to announce that his client was changing his plea - he was now prepared to plead guilty.

In the event, Nathan Maroney received ten years imprisonment. His wife, in an age when women generally received more chivalrous treatment, was given a suspended sentence.

The whole affair proved a great coup for the Pinkertons. The firm had demonstrated a skill and perceptiveness beyond anything hitherto achieved by regular law enforcement agencies and as a reward, the Adams Express company took the decision to follow the lead of the Illinois Central Railroad and put Pinkerton and Company on a retainer!

The decade until the advent of the Civil War proved one of tremendous growth for the Pinkerton business. The destruction of files and records "in the great fire" however, means that many of the details concerning this period, which are full of colour and romance, at least in hindsight, have been lost for ever. Imprecise recollections and memories and tales have come down to us though, and images of Pinkerton men relentlessly tracking down thieves and criminals, riding hell-for-leather on horseback, jumping from trains to stage coaches in their pursuit, have not been dimmed. The Pinkerton "Eye" became a feared symbol among the criminal elements who infested the burgeoning frontier towns of America for the agency, not only like the Canadian Mounties, inevitably got their man, but also invariably recovered the loot.

Robert Pinkerton rarely, if ever, made any forays into the field. Although the whole concept of protecting railroads and express services had begun with him, his administrative capacities and his growing ill-health meant that his contribution to the agency became more and more office-centered. As the business expanded, office staff was recruited to deal with the growing mountain of paper work and Robert oversaw the bulk of this, allowing Allan the freedom to engage in personal detective work and adventures. We have no idea of the number employed in the office nor, indeed, of the total number of detective "operatives" working for the business in this decade, although it is thought likely that the total was not above twenty. What is true is that driven by that tremendous Scottish energy and belief that hard work was the essence of God's kingdom, everybody involved in the enterprise worked themselves tremendously hard and were prepared, if the eventuality arose, for all sorts of personal risks in the interests of their clients. The whole organisation knew a dedication and devotion to duty more and more rarely seen today, at least in British life. The integrity of the Pinkerton brothers became widely recognised - and the tremendous loyalty they gave to clients and the loyalties they gained from clients, friends and staff in return, can now stand as a symbol of Victorian virtues. Allan in particular, gained the enviable reputation of being a man of fierce loyalties - but one who never forgot an injury or betrayal.

None of the fierce dedication to duty nor all the hard work in the field would have paid the dividends they did without the back-up provided by the office staff largely led and administered by Robert Pinkerton. This work was a great deal more than a matter of mere clerical routine. Today, the secret of the great law enforcement agencies of the world, such as the FBI and Britain's Scotland Yard is in the possession of detailed files on all known criminals. Between them the Pinkerton brothers came up with the most advanced techniques then known in America. The brothers devised a system for disseminating relevant information about criminals, plus photographs of the miscreants, to every local and governmental police force or agency in the country. Every little detail that might aid in identification was included, including personal habits, whether a wanted man had physical marks or scars and any idiosyncracies.

This Rogues' Gallery, in turn, largely depended for its efficacy on the superb intelligence network built up by Pinkerton's. There was hardly a police precinct office or the Sheriff of some remote cow town in the West which did not contribute to it. The agency itself collated all the information which, in turn, it passed on to local police and law agencies throughout the entire country. It was the pioneer of the concept of distributing photographs of the wanted men, first using daguerreotypes, then tintype and eventually, wet-plates. The reverse side of these representations listed all the identifying details of a rogue which would enable a force to nail its man. Where Pinkertons were directly involved in an arrest, they always saw to it that the local police noted every last detail of a prisoner's appearance and character, even down to the way he spoke or an idiosyncracy such as spitting frequently while talking. Perhaps the key point in ensuring successful co-operation was that the local agencies quickly became aware that Pinkertons never claimed any award, even where they were almost wholly responsible for any arrest, and allowed the local people to collect.

By 1860, Pinkerton business had grown to such an extent that there were no rivals in sight when the problem of establishing security guards to protect Chicago's great packing plants and other important commercial houses arose. Six uniformed Pinkerton "police" were recruited - and this one branch of activity was eventually to lead to possibly the most lucrative side of the whole business.