Kate Warne - Detective Extrodinaire!

I came across a mention of a female Pinkerton agent, the first who was hired long before women could serve in law enforcement.  A women who was more independent than the average woman.

Her name was Kate Warne.  In 1856, just a few years before the Civil War began, she convinced Allan Pinkerton, head of the Pinkerton Detective Agency to take a chance on hiring her.  Before this, female employees worked as secretaries, not as agents.

At the time of her hiring, she was just 23 years old and already widowed.  Faced with trying to make a living, she decided to walk into the agency and the rest is history.

Kate Warne could easily change her looks.  In addition she could be shy, bold, quiet, or loud based on what was needed.  She could sit quietly and pick up all sorts of information.  She could also go under cover as needed.

Just before the Civil War broke out, Pinkerton made her head of all female agents but when It began in 1861, she was promoted to head of the Union Intelligence Service, forerunner to the modern Secret Service.  The job of the Union Intelligence Service was to discover information about the Confederacy's resources and plans and keep that from reaching its destination.

She was best known for sneaking  Abraham Lincoln into Washington DC for his inauguration because a plan had been discovered to assonate Lincoln.  In fact, she was the one who uncovered the plot and she came up with a plan to transport him.  She helped disguise Lincoln as an invalid confined to a wheel chair.  At the same time, they arranged for the telegraph to suffer a fault so those who wished to assonate Lincoln could not do so.    She succeeded and he became president.

After the war, she continued working for Pinkertons as a senior employee where she continued helping to solve cases and to train new female detectives.  All told, she worked at Pinkertons for about 12 years before she died in 1869 from a lung illness possibly pneumonia.  Allan Pinkerton claims Kate Warne was one of his 5 best detectives of all times.

Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.