Pinkerton National Detective Agency

The original logo of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency.

Pinkerton National Detective Agency, American independent police force that was founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton (1819–84), former deputy sheriff of Cook county, Illinois. It originally specialized in railway theft cases, protecting trains and apprehending train robbers. It solved the $700,000 Adams Express Co. theft in 1866, and in 1861 it thwarted an assassination plot against President-elect Abraham Lincoln. It later participated in antilabour union activities (see Homestead Strike). It was instrumental in breaking up the Molly Maguires, a secret organization of coal miners.