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 1856 —Kate Warne Is Hired By Pinkerton And Becomes The First Female Detective In The U.S.  ~Speculation online that the above photo is a picture of Kate with Pinkerton. (There is no evidence to support this claim) or identify the person with their hand on the pole. There are no photographs of Kate Warne. 

Described by Allan Pinkerton as a slender, brown haired woman, there is not much else known about Kate Warne prior to when she walked into the Pinkerton Detective Agency in 1856.  

"was surprised to learn Kate was not looking for clerical work, but was actually answering an advertisement for detectives he had placed in a Chicago newspaper. At the time, such a concept was almost unheard of. Pinkerton said " It is not the custom to employ women detectives!" Kate argued her point of view eloquently - pointing out that women could be "most useful in worming out secrets in many places which would be impossible for a male detective."  ~Allan Pinkerton

The Plot to Kill Lincoln~

She was one of several operatives sent to Baltimore to uncover the plot to kill Lincoln, going undercover as a Southern belle and infiltrating the Barnum Hotel’s social circle, allowing her to confirm a plot wand offer key details. She then coordinated the operatives and devised a scheme to get Lincoln safely to Washington. Allan Pinkerton specifically thanks two people in his memoirs; Kate Warne and Timothy Webster,  Pinkerton constantly showed a deep trust in the work that Warne performed and acknowledges so in his memoirs.

Kate Warne did not survive long after the Civil War. She suddenly caught pneumonia on New Year’s Day, 1868, and died on the 28th with Pinkerton at her bedside. She is buried in the Pinkerton  family Plot in Chicago Illinois’  Graceland Cemetery. She was 38. buried January 30, 1868.

More on Kate Here: http://www.pimall.com/nais/pivintage/katewarne.html 

http://ralphdthomas.blogspot.com/2010/06/lincolns-guardian-angel-kate-warne.html WIKI:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Warne 

Find a Grave :http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6425