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Tuesday, April 18, 2023

The Pinkerton Line in America & My Ancestry Intersect

 If you are a student of American History you will recognize the surname of Pinkerton.

Allan J Pinkerton, born in 1819 in Glasgow, Scotland, was a cooper by trade who left Scotland for America in 1842.  The timing of his departure from Scotland may or may not have had anything to do with his participation in the Chartist Movement in the United Kingdom at that time as he was a young man during it's heyday.

Pinkerton was a rather sloppy detective, playing spy among his ring of undercover information gatherers for the North during the War Between the States.  He went on after the war to form what would become known as the Pinkerton Agency and was working on a centralized criminal database at the time of his death that the FBI maintains to this day.  It is said that he died of gangrene having fallen on the pavement/sidewalk and thus nearly biting his tongue off, which became infected, leading to his  demise.  May be true or not(others feel a stroke did him in)but he died nonetheless.

As I've talked about before, I am related to Ellen Lewis "Nell" Herndon.


Post about her HERE.  Ellen was married to Chester Alan Arthur, the 21st POTUS but she died before he was the 20th VP under James Garfield and ascended to the Presidency when Garfield was assassinated.  However Ellen did give birth to three children before passing away-William Lewis Arthur, born 1860 who passed away from convulsions at age 2.5 years, Chester Alan Arthur II who lived 1864-1937(my chihuahua is named after Chester II's son Chester Alan Arthur III)and Ellen "Nelllie" Hansbrough Herndon Arthur who lived 1871-1915.  "Nelllie" Arthur is my 7th cousin 3 x removed........


To bring this back around not quite full circle, "Nellie" married a man in 1907 named Charles Downing Pinkerton(1871-1974).

"Nellie" Arthur Pinkerton died at age 44, leaving no heirs.  Charles remarried to Sarah Hunter Harrison in 1918 in Bel Air, Maryland.  First off  this second wife of Pinkerton is also my cousin as was his first wife, 
"Nellie" Arthur...

This second wife and Charles Pinkerton's were 2nd cousins(haven't found the exact pathway yet there)and his second wife Sarah Harrison was also a cousin to Benjamin Harrison the 23rd POTUS(again, I don't have the exact pathway mapped out for their cousinry).

Here's a much younger portrait of old Ben Harrison.  Currently my line to his is showing up as thus.........
As I have a metric ton of FFV(First Families of Virginia)Harrisons in my maternal lines I am sure there is a more direct pathway from Ben Harrison POTUS to me but this is what I have right now.

But I digress.......
Back to the Pinkertons.  I have done pretty thorough research and the conclusion is that the Pinkerton that married my Arthur and my Harrison cousins is NOT the same line of Pinkertons that Alan Pinkerton is from.
Charles Downing Pinkerton's surname line goes back to Ireland, not Scotland.

But in a twist of fate(irony perhaps?)there is a connection between Alan J Pinkerton and my ancestry.
One of Pinkerton's greatest failures which haunted him through his last years was his inability to track down and kill one of my other ancestral cousins, Jesse Woodson James, after Jesse shot and killed one of the Pinkerton agents.  Pinkerton had what seemed like a personal vendetta against Jesse James since when the company that was paying him to pursue Jesse stopped paying him for his services he continued to chase him at his own financial expense.  Talk about holding a grudge! lol


But Jesse James, my 5th cousin 4 x removed, is another story for another time.

Sluggy
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12 comments:

  1. Practical ParsimonyApril 18, 2023 at 10:18 PM

    That is pretty astounding!

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  2. LanaApril 19, 2023 at 10:06 AM

    I love genealogy! My late MIL was a descendant of Stonewall Jackson's second wife Anna Morrison. The Morrison line is so important in the family that our middle sons middle name is Morrison. Interestingly my late MIL father's name was Stonewall although that had nothing to do with his future wife's (Susan Morrison) heritage.

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    Replies
    1. slugmamaApril 19, 2023 at 11:32 AM

      An almost cousin! Stonewall Jackson was the stepson of my 2nd cousin 7 x removed, Julia's second husband, Blake Baker Woodson. Woodson is said to have hated his stepkids and thus had his wife send them off to live with relatives....but even know with second husbands that is a "thing" but so wrong. Men don't want to raise another man's children. I haven't researched the Morrisons of NC much but how knows? we might have a closer connection there. 8-)

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    2. LanaApril 19, 2023 at 3:33 PM

      The Morrison family founded Rocky River Presbyterian Church in the Charlotte area. They used to have a big reunion there every other summer with dinner on the grounds on Sunday. The Morrison sisters who organized it are gone now so it has ended but it was an awesome event.

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    3. slugmamaApril 20, 2023 at 9:40 AM

      Very interesting Lana, thanks for the info.

      Delete
  3. LaurieSApril 19, 2023 at 10:33 AM

    Wow, Sluggy that's so interesting! How rewarding to know your ancestors.

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    1. slugmamaApril 20, 2023 at 9:44 AM

      It's sort of become an obsession now. I didn't take any interest in it until I was about 50. I wish my mom was still alive because I am sure she didn't know any of this and these people and stories were lost to history.

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  4. Anne in the kitchenApril 19, 2023 at 11:39 PM

    I am now obsessed with the name Ensley Euseby Isham

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    1. slugmamaApril 20, 2023 at 9:42 AM

      Of course you are! How about an ancestor named Lancelot Bathurst? At least it's not Lancelot Link(the chimp kids show from the '60s)...lol

      Delete
  5. ChristyApril 20, 2023 at 10:12 AM

    Do you have any Canadian relatives? My late MIL's maiden name was Harper. Her family was from the Niagara region.

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  6. slugmamaApril 20, 2023 at 2:53 PM

    Well could be related but it would either be back in Europe(way back)or if her Harpers came to the US and were Tories during the Revolutionary way and fled to Canada. I find tin my experience that most people have no clue even as recent as 2 generations back where their family went or came from unless someone is a good "keeper of the family history" or has the genealogy itch. 8-)

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  7. ChristyApril 20, 2023 at 6:34 PM

    I personally can name back to my 4x great grandparents on some branches of the family. I know that makes me strange ;) That branch of the family came to Canada via the US from Ireland in 1812. Unfortunately my MIL passed away in 2020.

    ReplyDelete

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