By Jennifer Uhlarik
Last month, I shared with you about Allan Pinkerton and the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, which he founded. In that article, I promised to share about Kate Warne, the first female detective. So let’s explore this remarkable woman’s life.
Kate was born in Erin, New York in 1830, although her exact date of birth is not known. Her early life is a bit of mystery. Her obituary supposedly stated that her parents were honest and industrious people, but also poor. Through other records, it is known that she hoped to become an actress, though that dream never materialized in her performing on stage. By the age of twenty-three, Kate had already been married—and widowed. Soon after that, she moved with her parents and brother to Chicago where she went to work cleaning houses. However, the work didn’t challenge her. She desired a job where she could use her mind. It was in 1856 that this bold woman saw an advertisement in a Chicago newspaper for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Allan Pinkerton was looking for help, and Kate decided to apply.
She marched herself into the office, advertisement in hand, and told Pinkerton she was there to apply. At first, the famed detective thought she meant for a secretarial position, though she quickly corrected him by showing him the newspaper ad. She wanted to be a detective.
While Pinkerton considered himself to be open-minded, he is on record as having stated, “It is not the custom to employ female detectives!” Kate Warne argued that women have a great eye for detail, were great observers, could get into places men couldn’t, would easily win the trust of the wives or girlfriends of their suspects, and could also cause men to become braggarts with only a little encouragement. In addition, her childhood desire to become an actress was an asset, in that she assured Allan Pinkerton she could play any role asked of her. Her passionate arguments convinced him, and she became his first female detective.
At the time of her hiring, there were nine detectives in the agency’s employ—among them Pinkerton himself, as well as a former police officer, a former watch maker, a former bookseller, a fine English gentleman, an athletic sort, and even an extremely handsome gent they employed specifically to flirt and woo the women from whom they were trying to gain information. Within two days of her hiring, Kate was given her first case, and she and these men teamed up to work their magic for the next eleven years together. (Tune in next month when I’ll share the specifics of one of their intricate cases).
As the country headed into 1861 and the Civil War, Kate Warne was one of the detectives who investigated threats by various secessionists to do damage to the railroads. She was particularly good at infiltrating these southerner’s social gatherings, playing the role of a wealthy Southern woman. She was able to secure specific information that, not only were they attempting to harm the railroads, but they were planning to assassinate newly elected president Abraham Lincoln during his “whistle stop tour” of the nation on his way to the inauguration. The weakest point in the journey was Baltimore, Maryland, where the President-Elect would have to disembark one train, travel approximately a mile via carriage, and board another train to complete the journey. But with knowledge of the plot ahead of time, Kate Warne was able to dress President-Elect Lincoln as her invalid brother, usher him to a different train, and slip past the secessionists undetected. During the entire operation, Warne stayed awake, earning the agency their iconic tagline: “We Never Sleep.”
Throughout the Civil War, Kate Warne worked closely with Allan Pinkerton and other agency operatives to ferret out information of Southern troop movements and tactical plans. Again, Kate used her acting ability to play the role of the rich Southern socialite and infiltrate social gatherings. She proved most helpful in spying and gathering intel to help the Union.
During this time, Allan Pinkerton also made her the head of his Female Detective Division, giving her the title of Female Superintendent of Detectives. While Kate was the first female detective, she was not the last. But Pinkerton so trusted her, he made her the trainer for every female detective who came along after her—right up until her death in 1868.
Kate continued to work with the Pinkertons until she contracted and succumbed to “congestion of the lungs” (or pneumonia). She was buried in Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Years later, upon his passing, Allan Pinkerton was buried next to her, with his wife’s grave on the other side.
Very little of Kate Warne’s life is documented, outside of her work with the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, and even that information suffered a great loss when agency records burned in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Despite these facts, Warne’s legacy lived on in the Pinkerton Detective Agency, where she was said to be a source of inspiration, and where female detectives continued to be hired after her passing.
It's Your Turn: Were you familiar with this trailblazing woman? What do you find most inspirational about her?
Jennifer Uhlarik discovered the western genre as a pre-teen when she swiped the only “horse” book she found on her older brother’s bookshelf. A new love was born. Across the next ten years, she devoured Louis L’Amour westerns and fell in love with the genre. In college at the University of Tampa, she began penning her own story of the Old West. Armed with a B.A. in writing, she has finaled and won in numerous writing competitions, and been on the ECPA best-seller list several times. In addition to writing, she has held jobs as a private business owner, a schoolteacher, a marketing director, and her favorite—a full-time homemaker. Jennifer is active in American Christian Fiction Writers, Women Writing the West, and is a lifetime member of the Florida Writers Association. She lives near Tampa, Florida, with her husband and fur children.
Coming April 1, 2025
Love and Order by Jennifer Uhlarik
Separated as children when they were adopted out to different families from an orphan train, the Braddock siblings of Callie, Andie, and Rion have each grown up and taken on various jobs within law enforcement and criminal justice. When the hunt for a serial killer with a long history of murders reunites the brother and sisters in Cambria Springs, Colorado, they find themselves not only in a fight for justice, but also a fight to keep their newly reunited family intact. How will they navigate these challenges when further complicated by unexpected romances?
I've heaard of Kate before but had no idea she died so young. You upcoming book sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting about this very interesting and talented woman! Not sure whether I've heard of her before or not, but I'd love reading more about her!
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