Read Online The Hour of Peril: The Secret Plot to Murder Lincoln Before the Civil War by Daniel Stashower - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Daniel Stashower
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strain of derring-do that he likely gleaned from Eugène-François Vidocq, the legendary French detective. A criminal in his youth, Vidocq later turned his talents to law enforcement, helping to create the Sûreté, the detective bureau of the French police, in 1811. The French detective, whose story would serve as inspiration for the character of Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, was still active in Paris when Pinkerton opened his doors in Chicago. Widely credited as the first investigator to bring scientific rigor to the detection of crime, Vidocq introduced such innovations as rudimentary ballistics, plaster of paris molds of footprints, and a centralized criminal database. At the same time, he pioneered the use of disguises and cover identities, a technique that Pinkerton would employ in nearly every major operation of his career. Vidocq’s dramatic, often fanciful memoir had been a publishing phenomenon both in Europe and the United States, and Pinkerton seems to have studied it closely. Pinkerton would have been especially amused by a chapter in which Vidocq matched wits with a duplicitous cooper from Livry, who was suspected of stealing a fortune in jewels. Posing as a fellow thief, Vidocq plied the cooper with alcohol and eventually wormed his way into the suspect’s confidence.
Pinkerton, for his part, advised his operatives against coercing statements by means of alcohol, as these tended to “shake the strength of evidence” when brought into court. The example of Vidocq, however, gave him a firm belief in the possibility of redemption for even the most hardened criminals. Pinkerton believed that lawbreakers were “capable of moral reform and elevation” if treated properly, and he advised his men to “do all in their power” in the interests of rehabilitation. “Unfortunately,” he noted, “under our present system, this is too little thought of.” If these views were progressive, other aspects of Pinkerton’s philosophy reached back to the ancients by way of Machiavelli. Again and again, Pinkerton insisted that “the ends justify the means, if the ends are for the accomplishment of Justice.” He understood, however, that this was not a universal view. “Moralists may question whether this is strictly right,” he said, “but it is a necessity in the detection of crime.”
During his first year of business Pinkerton spent much of his time assembling and training a core team of operatives. From the start, he demonstrated a strong eye for talent, beginning with his first employee, twenty-five-year-old George H. Bangs, a former newspaper reporter, who became Pinkerton’s right-hand man. Tall and reserved, Bangs traced his lineage to the Mayflower and could mix easily with the rich and powerful. Bangs proved “very able and efficient” as a detective, according to Pinkerton, and even more talented as a businessman. As general superintendent, Bangs oversaw the agency’s finances and rapid growth, leaving Pinkerton to concentrate on detective work.
With Bangs minding the store in Chicago, Pinkerton was free to travel wherever his latest case happened to take him. In 1853, when an investigation took him to New York City, Pinkerton spotted a man he felt would make an outstanding addition to the team. Pinkerton, who had never been to New York before, had carved out some time to take in the spectacle of America’s first world’s fair. Characteristically, he was less interested in the soaring Crystal Palace exhibition than in the special police force detailed to guard it. Pinkerton was particularly struck by the efficient and courteous manner of a young police sergeant on duty inside the main hall. His name, Pinkerton learned, was Timothy Webster; a thirty-two-year-old native of England, he had emigrated with his family as a boy. Webster had set his sights on a career as a New York policeman, but his advancement had been thwarted, he believed, because he had no political connections.
Pinkerton, for his part, advised his operatives against coercing statements by means of alcohol, as these tended to “shake the strength of evidence” when brought into court. The example of Vidocq, however, gave him a firm belief in the possibility of redemption for even the most hardened criminals. Pinkerton believed that lawbreakers were “capable of moral reform and elevation” if treated properly, and he advised his men to “do all in their power” in the interests of rehabilitation. “Unfortunately,” he noted, “under our present system, this is too little thought of.” If these views were progressive, other aspects of Pinkerton’s philosophy reached back to the ancients by way of Machiavelli. Again and again, Pinkerton insisted that “the ends justify the means, if the ends are for the accomplishment of Justice.” He understood, however, that this was not a universal view. “Moralists may question whether this is strictly right,” he said, “but it is a necessity in the detection of crime.”
During his first year of business Pinkerton spent much of his time assembling and training a core team of operatives. From the start, he demonstrated a strong eye for talent, beginning with his first employee, twenty-five-year-old George H. Bangs, a former newspaper reporter, who became Pinkerton’s right-hand man. Tall and reserved, Bangs traced his lineage to the Mayflower and could mix easily with the rich and powerful. Bangs proved “very able and efficient” as a detective, according to Pinkerton, and even more talented as a businessman. As general superintendent, Bangs oversaw the agency’s finances and rapid growth, leaving Pinkerton to concentrate on detective work.
With Bangs minding the store in Chicago, Pinkerton was free to travel wherever his latest case happened to take him. In 1853, when an investigation took him to New York City, Pinkerton spotted a man he felt would make an outstanding addition to the team. Pinkerton, who had never been to New York before, had carved out some time to take in the spectacle of America’s first world’s fair. Characteristically, he was less interested in the soaring Crystal Palace exhibition than in the special police force detailed to guard it. Pinkerton was particularly struck by the efficient and courteous manner of a young police sergeant on duty inside the main hall. His name, Pinkerton learned, was Timothy Webster; a thirty-two-year-old native of England, he had emigrated with his family as a boy. Webster had set his sights on a career as a New York policeman, but his advancement had been thwarted, he believed, because he had no political connections.
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