Allan Pinkerton

Originally Aired: February 13, 1939 Cavalcade of America #152, "Allan Pinkerton," traces the life of the legendary Scottish immigrant who founded America's first private detective agency. The episode opens with young Alan Pinkerton witnessing a brutal mob attack on his father, a Glasgow police sergeant, an event that instills in him a lifelong passion for law and order. After immigrating to America as a cooper, Pinkerton encounters the rampant lawlessness of the 1840s frontier, where counterfeiters plague honest merchants and farmers. His first case involves trapping a smooth-talking Vermont counterfeiter at an unfinished church in Elgin, Illinois. This initial success leads Pinkerton from deputy sheriff to Chicago's first detective and eventually to establishing his own agency with strict rules: no bribes, no gratuities, no personal publicity. The episode follows Pinkerton through various thrilling cases, including a mysterious murder investigation in Columbia, Tennessee, where a faithful bank cashier has been killed and the vault rifled. The story also promises to reveal a little-known incident in which Pinkerton's detective work saves the life of Abraham Lincoln.