Pinkerton (detective agency) a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system. In February 1855, Allan Pinkerton, after consulting with six midwestern railroads, created such an agency in Chicago." In 1871, Congress appropriated $50,000 (about ) to the new Department of Justice (DOJ) to form a sub-organization devoted to "the detection and prosecution of those guilty of violating federal law." The amount was insufficient for the new DOJ to fashion an internal investigating unit, so they contracted out the services to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. However, since passage of the
Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency The Baldwin–Felts Detective Agency was a private detective agency in the United States from the early 1890's to 1937. Today, it is most remembered for its violent confrontations with labor union members as part of the Coal Wars in such places as the Pocahontas Coalfield region of West Virginia, the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike of 1912 in West Virginia, the Ludlow Massacre in 1914 and the Battle of Matewan in 1920. Members of the agency were also central actors in the events that led to the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. The agency was founded in