Scanned newspaper page from Image 5 of L'Italia (San Francisco, Calif.), September 14, 1907, 1907-09-14 (Library of Congress, Chronicling America)

People

Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton was a Scottish-born cooper who emigrated to Dundee, Illinois, around 1857 and went on to found one of the most prominent private detective agencies in American history. His early years in Dundee — a small frontier town approximately thirty miles from Chicago — shaped his career in law enforcement and laid the groundwork for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which by the early twentieth century employed over 1,500 people with branches across the United States, Canada, and Europe. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Scanned newspaper page from Image 5 of L'Italia (San Francisco, Calif.), September 14, 1907, 1907-09-14 (Library of Congress, Chronicling America) | Source: Library of Congress, Chronicling America

Known Activities

Cooper and Early Resident of Dundee

According to the Italian-language San Francisco newspaper L'Italia, Pinkerton arrived in Dundee around 1857 and initially worked as a cooper — a maker of barrels and casks. At the time, Dundee was described as a frontier community troubled by horse thieves, cattle rustlers, and counterfeiters operating in the region. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Election as Sheriff of Dundee

Pinkerton reportedly began combating local criminal activity in and around Dundee and, as a result of his efforts, was elected sheriff of the town. The precise dates of his tenure as sheriff are not confirmed in currently available local records, but the account in L'Italia places this role firmly within his Dundee years. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Establishment of the Pinkerton Detective Agency

After his time in Dundee, Pinkerton relocated to Chicago, where he established the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. The agency grew substantially over the following decades, eventually operating offices in major American and Canadian cities and maintaining agents in Europe as well. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Agency Involvement in Labor Disputes

The Pinkerton Agency became a controversial figure in American labor history. According to the L'Italia account, in 1894 the agency's forces engaged striking workers at Carnegie steel facilities in Pittsburgh. The strikers — described as being of various nationalities — reportedly had access to two Maxim cannons. The confrontation resulted in violent combat, with the agency's forces prevailing. This event drew widespread attention and criticism of the agency's role in suppressing organized labor. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Timeline

Year	Event
c. 1857	Allan Pinkerton emigrates to Dundee, Illinois; works as a cooper
c. 1857–?	Elected sheriff of Dundee after combating local criminals
Post-Dundee	Moves to Chicago; founds the Pinkerton National Detective Agency
1894	Pinkerton Agency forces clash with striking Carnegie steel workers in Pittsburgh
By 1907	Agency employs over 1,500 people across U.S., Canadian, and European offices

Note: Specific dates for Pinkerton's sheriff tenure and the founding of the Chicago agency have not been confirmed from local Dundee records and should be treated with caution until additional primary sources are located.

Family

Two of Allan Pinkerton's sons continued his work after his death:

Robert Allan Pinkerton — Served as head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. He died in September 1907 aboard the steamship Bremen, en route from New York to Plymouth, England. The cause of death was reported as heart disease. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)
William Pinkerton — Headed the agency's Western United States operations and was active as of 1907. (Source: l_italia_1907-09-14_image5)

Notes on the Source

The primary source for this article is a notice published in L'Italia, an Italian-language newspaper based in San Francisco, California, on September 14, 1907 (Image 5). The article appears to have been occasioned by the death of Robert Allan Pinkerton and includes retrospective information about Allan Pinkerton's origins in Dundee, Illinois. Because this is a foreign-language newspaper account written approximately fifty years after Pinkerton's arrival in Dundee, some details — particularly the date of emigration and the timeline of his sheriff tenure — may reflect the newspaper's own reconstruction rather than direct documentation. Researchers are encouraged to consult local Kane County records, Dundee township documents, and contemporaneous Illinois newspapers to corroborate these claims.

The full digitized page is available through the Library of Congress Chronicling America project: https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85066408/1907-09-14/ed-1/?sp=5

Sources

l_italia_1907-09-14_image5 — L'Italia (San Francisco, Calif.), September 14, 1907, Image 5. Library of Congress, Chronicling America. [https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85066408/1907-09-14/ed-1/?sp=5](https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85066408/1907-09-14/ed-1/?sp