Montgomery, Alabama, is beautifully situated on the Alabama river, near the centre of the State. Its situation at the head of navigation, on the Alabama river, its connection by rail with important points, and the rich agricultural country with which it is surrounded, make it a great commercial centre, and the second city in the State as regards wealth and population. It is the capital, and consequently learned men and great politicians flock to it, giving it a society of the highest rank, and making it the social centre of the State. From 1858 to 1860, the time of which I treat in the present work, the South was in a most prosperous condition. "Cotton was king," and millions of dollars were poured into the country for its purchase, and a fair share of this money found its way to Montgomery. When the Alabama planters had gathered their crops of cotton, tobacco, rice, etc., they sent them to Montgomery to be sold, and placed the proceeds on deposit in its banks. During their busy season, while overseeing the labor of their slaves, they were almost entirely debarred from the society of any but their own families; but when the crops were gathered they went with their families to Montgomery, where they gave themselves up to enjoyment, spending their money in a most lavish manner. There were several good hotels in the city and they were always filled to overflowing with the wealth and beauty of the South. The Adams Express Company had a monopoly of the express business of the South, and had established its agencies at all points with which there was communication by rail, steam or stage. They handled all the money sent to the South for the purchase of produce, or remitted to the North in payment of merchandise. Moreover, as they did all the express business for the banks, besides moving an immense amount of freight, it is evident that their business was enormous. At all points of importance, where there were diverging routes of communication, the company had established principal agencies, at which all through freight and the money pouches were delivered by the messengers. The agents at these points were selected with the greatest care, and were always considered men above reproach. Montgomery being a great centre of trade was made the western terminus of one of the express routes, Atlanta being the eastern. The messengers who had charge of the express matter between these two points were each provided with a safe and with a pouch. The latter was to contain only such packages as were to go over the whole route, consisting of money or other valuables. The messenger was not furnished with a key to the pouch, but it was handed to him locked by the agent at one end of the route to be delivered in the same condition to the agent at the other end.

A provocative love story, conjuring up the passionate life of the Civil War era's legendary private eye, his dramatic exploits, and his clandestine affair with his partner, the first female detective.

The Original Private Eye.

The story of the legendary detective credited with the defeat of the Molly Maguires gang and Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch offers insight into his innovative "cloak-and-dagger" methods and his investigation into the Western Federation of Mines for the assassination of Idaho's former governor. 25,000 first printing.

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A biography of Kate Warne, the first woman detective in the U.S after being hired by the Pinkerton Agency in 1856.

This wonderfully illustrated children’s biography of the great nineteenth-century detective “evokes a mysterious and exciting old-fashioned tale of espionage” (School Library Journal). Everyone knows the story of Abraham Lincoln, but few know anything about the spy who saved his life on the way to his 1861 inauguration! In The Eye That Never Sleeps, award-winning author and illustrator Marissa Moss reveals the true story of Allen Pinkerton. A poor Scottish immigrant, Pinkerton became the first police detective in Chicago before opening the country’s most successful detective agency. He solved more than 300 murders and recover millions of dollars in stolen money. However, his greatest contribution was foiling an assassination plot against Abraham Lincoln. The Eye That Never Sleeps is illustrated with a contemporary cartoon style, mixing art and text in a way that appeals to readers of all ages. The book also includes a bibliography and a timeline.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "By the mid-1850s a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system. In February 1855, Allan Pinkerton, after consulting with six midwestern railroads, created such an agency in Chicago." - Frank Morn, historian The private detective looms large in popular culture, both in the United States and around the world. From Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes to Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and even 1980s' Thomas Magnum, private detectives have been a staple of novels, movies, and television shows for well over a century. The loner for hire, trying to solve a mystery or right a wrong using nothing but their own brain (in Holmes' case), brawn (in Marlowe's case), or boy next door charm (in Magnum's case), is deeply rooted in the collective psyche of generations of men and women. The fact that today's private detective is more likely to be chasing a cheating spouse than tracking down a desperate criminal is beside the point. Holmes, Marlowe, and Magnum owe their existence to the first private detective-and if not the first, certainly in the United States the most famous. The name Allan Pinkerton was for decades synonymous with private detective; indeed, the work "Pinkerton" was generally used for any private detective whether or not they were associated with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. The all-seeing eye that served as the symbol of his company and the slogan-"We Never Sleep"-projected an image of a detective working tirelessly to pursue a desperate criminal and bring them to justice. Through his career, Pinkerton went after bank robbers and railroad theves, both relatively unknown and infamous like Frank and Jesse James. During the Civil War, he was instrumental in preventing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and ran an extensive intelligence operation against the South. As America industrialized, his detectives were brought into labor disputes by management seeking to break attempts at unions. This last put a stain on Pinkerton's legacy, a legacy he tried to establish by publishing numerous books about his exploits and the exploits of his detectives. A self-promoter as much as a detective, Allan Pinkerton and his story is a quintessentially American one. The Pinkerton Agency: The History of Allan Pinkerton and America's First Major Private Detective Organization looks at the life story of the man who formed the detective agency, and the important milestones in the organization's history. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Pinkertons like never before.