WRITER

Allan Pinkerton

1819 - 1884

Photo of Allan Pinkerton

Icon of person Allan Pinkerton

Allan Pinkerton (August 21, 1819 – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish-American cooper, abolitionist, detective, and spy, best known for creating the Pinkerton National Detective Agency in the United States and his claim to have foiled a plot in 1861 to assassinate president-elect Abraham Lincoln. During the Civil War, he provided the Union Army – specifically General George B. McClellan of the Army of the Potomac – with military intelligence, including extremely inaccurate enemy troop strength numbers. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Allan Pinkerton has received more than 1,832,390 page views. His biography is available in 28 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 27 in 2019). Allan Pinkerton is the 1,332nd most popular writer (down from 1,088th in 2019), the 1,014th most popular biography from United Kingdom (down from 869th in 2019) and the 121st most popular British Writer.

Allan Pinkerton was a detective who founded the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He is most famous for his role in the Lincoln assassination.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.8M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.51

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 28

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 4.60

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.12

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Thirty years a detective
Detectives, Biography, Crime
1884
The expressman and the detective
Detectives, Case studies, Biography
1874
The spy of the rebellion
Accessible book, History, Personal narratives
1883
Bucholz and the Detectives
1880
The Burglar's Fate and The Detectives
1883
Criminal reminiscences and detective sketches
Detectives, Accessible book, Biography
This book is a collection of autobiographical stories of investigations by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant who became Chicago’s first detective in 1849. In 1850 he formed a partnership later known as the ‘Pinkerton National Detective Agency’. He developed some investigative techniques such as ‘shadowing’ a suspect and ‘assuming a role’, or undercover work. This book appeared nine years before the first Sherlock Holmes stories.
1879

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Allan Pinkerton ranks 1,332 out of 7,302. Before him are Blaise de Vigenère, Odo of Cluny, Artemidorus, Pierre Drieu La Rochelle, Ivan Kotliarevsky, and Lin Yutang. After him are Władysław Tarnowski, Catherine de Bourbon, Yan Fu, Callinus, Christine Nöstlinger, and Ida Laura Pfeiffer.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1819, Allan Pinkerton ranks 26. Before him are Franz von Suppé, Stanisław Moniuszko, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia, Gottfried Keller, Louise Marie Thérèse of Artois, and Francis V, Duke of Modena. After him are Johan Jongkind, Théodore Chassériau, Annibale de Gasparis, Milan Obrenović II, Prince of Serbia, Elias Howe, and Abner Doubleday. Among people deceased in 1884, Allan Pinkerton ranks 16. Before him are Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, Hermann Kolbe, Fanny Elssler, Charles Adolphe Wurtz, Alfred Brehm, and Karl Richard Lepsius. After him are Hans Makart, Alexander, Prince of Orange, Jules Bastien-Lepage, Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal, Paul Abadie, and Hermann Schlegel.

Others Born in 1819

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Others Deceased in 1884

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In United Kingdom

Among people born in United Kingdom, Allan Pinkerton ranks 1,014 out of 8,785. Before him are Alasdair MacIntyre (1929), Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1505), James Mason (1909), William Whewell (1794), Phil Neville (1977), and Henry (1100). After him are Michael Smith (1932), Harriet Martineau (1802), John Mayall (1933), David Warner (1941), Saint David (512), and Princess Hélène of Orléans (1871).

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Among WRITERS In United Kingdom

Among writers born in United Kingdom, Allan Pinkerton ranks 121. Before him are Thomas Chatterton (1752), Alma Reville (1899), Matthew Lewis (1775), P. G. Wodehouse (1881), Neil Gaiman (1960), and Lee Child (1954). After him are James Murray (1837), Robert Browning (1812), Jane Hawking (1944), Seamus Heaney (1939), Winifred Wagner (1897), and Colin Dexter (1930).

British born Writers

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