Timothy Webster

Timothy Webster was known as Allan Pinkerton’s best and most famous active agent he was daring and yet very effective. He was born on March 12, 1822 in New haven, Sussex county, England. Webster and his family immigrated to America in 1830 and they settled in Prince Town, New Jersey. He was married to Charlotte Sprowles they had four children, two died young. Their son timothy junior was born in 1843. He joined the Union Army from Onarga, Illinois in July 30, 1862 and was wounded and captured in the battle of Brices. He had his leg amputated and he died on July fourth 1864. After finishing school in 1853 he became a policeman, he did very good. About 1854 a friend of Allen Pinkerton noticed him and suggested him for detective work. After accepting to work as a detective he quickly became there best agent.
I like Tim Webster because he was a good hard working man that tried very hard at what he did. He was also a good observer that’s what he was so good at detective work and at being a spy. Being a good observer is a good characteristic to have. Especially if you have a job like if you work at walmart and you purchase all the supplies if you are not a very good at observing than you may get some supplies when you could have got for a lower price and better value. You would have just wasted your money there right.
After Timothy Webster became a spy Allen Pinkerton thought it would be best if Webster and his family moved form Chicago. So he and his family moved to Onarga Illinois. In 1861 Tim Webster was assigned his first assignment as a spy. Timothy Webster and Hattie Lawton pretended to be husband and wife. He traveled to Tennessee and Kentucky and he was about to be arrested by a suspicious counterspy and took a train North. He pretended to be secessionist and joined the Son’s of Liberty where they discussed many battle plans and important documents. They had plans to murder President Lincoln before the next election, but Webster got word to him before he was assassinated and President Lincoln switched trains. If Tim Webster had not got word to Abraham Lincoln of the plot to assassinate him who knows how the war would have turned out. He was trusted with many of the Confederate battle plans and important documents. He also trapped and had many secessionists put into jail. He also joined a group called the Knights of liberty he arranged a federal troop raid on one of there midnight meetings he himself was allowed to escape and continue on gathering information.
Yes it was Timothy Webster who foiled many confederate’s plans without them figuring out who it was. After a while Timothy Webster became sick(the result of crossing the Potomac river a few times in frigid weather) and could no longer send information back to Allen Pinkerton. Allen Pinkerton became worried and sent two agents to find out what had happened to Timothy Webster they were recognized as Union spies and were put in jail, but they were released later. Before they were released they tortured them to try and find out their business and eventually cracked and tolled everything they knew about Webster. After a while they did and Webster, was put under arrest along with Hattie Lawton (she was eventually released in a prisoner trade). This was a big embarrassment to for the Confederates to find out that Timothy Webster was a spy since they had trusted him with many important battle plan’s and many of there vital documents.
Timothy Webster is also a hero because the spies like himself did the most dangeruos work he knew this from the start. He selflessly put others before himself he went right into enemy territory and gather information from some of the most powerful people. He could have just as easily quit and no one would have thought anything of it. Or he could just not have become a spy and stayed as a detective but instead he put his country before himself. All the men who went into the army were selflessly putting there country first, but not like the spies did. Some of them went into enemy territory and were captured and killed . Most likely the only thing they had to defend themselves with was there fists. These men were patriots and without them we probably would not have won the war.
When President Lincoln and Allen Pinkerton heard of the death sentence of Timothy Webster they tried to save him by telling the confederates if they killed Timothy Webster then they would kill one of there spies but they ignored they threat and on April 29, 1862 Richmond Virginia Timothy Webster climbed the stairs of the gallows and a black bag was put over his head and a noose was fitted around his neck and the trap door, opened but the knot came loose he fell to the ground. They picked him back up and they retied the noose and once again it was fitted around his neck and he said "I suffer a double death". The trap door opened but this time it worked. Timothy Webster was dead, he was hung twice. Allen Pinkerton’s best active agent was dead. after his death he was buried in Richmond Virginia. In 1871 his wife Charlotte ,hearing of his death, pleaded with her son-in-law to go find the body and bring it to her so it could be buried next to his fathers. His body was found and he was transferred and was buried next to his father and next to his son Timothy Webster Junior. There his body lay unappreciated.
After all he did this was how he was rewarded, after all that information he gathered he was hanged by that same country, his country, your country and my country. These men who hanged him where not bad men they were men who thought they were doing what was necessary by hanging this great man and a great spy.
I hope we can learn a lesson from people like this who do everything they can for their country and future generations and not even think about themselves. It was once said that bad things happen to good people. This is a true statement even thought it may seem like it is backwards because good things should happen to good people because they do good things right. Not necessarily because that is not how the world works. This is another reason I think he was such a good man because even thought he may have known this he did what he thought was right anyway even thought it meant death for him.
We should all read on these types of people and see what we can learn from them. We should all have a hero and try to become more like them. We will ourselves become better and others around us by the examples we set.