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Born in upstate New York in 1830, Kate Warne challenged gender expecta-
tions and took on the boys to become a detective for the Pinkerton National
Detective Agency at the age of 26. PINKERTON

A DAILY DOSE Abraham Lincoln arriving in Washington with
his valet and bodyAbraham Lincoln arriving in
Washington with his valet and bodyguard William
H. Johnson (left hand corner), 1861. Lincoln, FEATURE
OF HISTORY Johnson, and detectives travelled a secret route
from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to Washington,
D.C. to prevent an assassination attempt.
During the Civil War, Warne and the female
detectives under her supervision conducted
numerous risky espionage missions, with
Warne’s charm and her skill at impersonating a
Confederate sympathizer giving her access to
valuable intelligence. After the war she continued
to handle dangerous undercover assignments
on high-profile cases, while at the same time
overseeing the agency’s growing staff of female
detectives.

Kate Warne, America’s first female detective, died
of pneumonia at age 34, on January 28, 1868,
one hundred fifty-five years ago today. “She never
let me down,” Pinkerton said of one of his most
trusted and valuable agents. She was buried in
the Pinkerton family plot in Chicago.

The Pinkerton logo, thought to be inspired by Kate
Warne’s insistence on staying awake throughout
the night while protecting Lincoln on his way to
Washington. The “we never sleep” motto and a
stylized version of the logo are still in use today,..

National Park Service website
https://www.nps.gov/foth/learn/historyculture/
kate-warne-private-detective.htm

CIVIL WAR:
INTELLIGENCE WORK FOR THE UNION, 1861–1865

During the American Civil War, Allan Pinkerton and Kate Warne were used as a covert war intelligence-gathering bureau. Warne could easily
penetrate into Southern social gatherings. She said that women are most useful in worming out secrets in many places which would be impossible
for a male detective. Believed to be a mistress of Pinkerton, Warne would often pose as his wife while undercover. She also had an assortment of
alias names: Kay Warne, Kay Waren, Kay Warren, Kate Waren, Kate Warren, Kitty Warne, Kitty Waren, Kitty Warren, Kittie Waren, Kittie Warne,
and Kittie Warren. Warne was known as “Kitty” to Robert Pinkerton, Allan’s brother. Robert Pinkerton often argued with Warne over expenses
turned over to the agency, but her relationship with Allan continued for years.

After the quelled assassination attempt on president-elect Abraham Lincoln, Kate Warne continued to travel with Allan Pinkerton as his Female
Superintendent of Detectives. On April 12, 1861, the Confederate States of America’s cannons in Charleston began firing on Fort Sumter. These
cannon shells marked the beginning of the American Civil War. Within nine days, Pinkerton wrote to President Lincoln offering the services of
the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. However, before Lincoln could respond, Major General George B. McClellan asked Pinkerton to set
up a military intelligence service for McClellan’s command.[18] Therefore, by the end of July 1861, Pinkerton took Warne, Timothy Webster, and
later George Bangs west to set up a headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio, to follow McClellan’s Ohio division (see also Cincinnati in the Civil War).

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