Colonel Hiram C. Whitley (August 6, 1834 – April 19, 1919) was the second

Chief of the United States Secret Service The director of the United States Secret Service is the head of the United States Secret Service, and is responsible for the day-to-day operations. The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Departm ...

Early life

Whitley was born in

Camden, Maine Camden is a town in Knox County, Maine, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The population of the town more than triples during the summer months, due to tourists and summer residents. Camden is ...

on August 6, 1834 to Dr. William Whitley, a

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-born doctor and surgeon, and Hannah D. McCoombs, a Maine local. In 1840, his family moved to

Lake County, Ohio Lake County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 232,603. Its county seat is Painesville, and its largest city is Mentor. The county was established on March 6, 1840, from land given by Cuyahoga a ...

, where he became a pupil at the Western Reserve Teachers' Seminary, a

Mormon Mormons are a religious and cultural group related to Mormonism, the principal branch of the Latter Day Saint movement started by Joseph Smith in upstate New York during the 1820s. After Smith's death in 1844, the movement split into several ...

teaching school in Kirtland. Leaving school at the age of fifteen, he became a drover for two years, after which he moved to

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

where he worked for his uncle in the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity that takes, cultures, processes, preserves, stores, transports, markets or sells fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including recreational, sub ...

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. In 1856, Whitley married Catherine Webster (Katie) Bates of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

; they subsequently had two daughters, Katie and Sabra. The following year, the Whitleys moved to the recently founded

Lawrence, Kansas Lawrence is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Kansas, United States, and the sixth-largest city in the state. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70 in Kansas, Interstate 70, between the Kansas River ...

, where he worked in the grocery trade. In 1859, being drawn to Pike's Peak Gold Rush, Whitley sold out of his grocery business and moved to

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

, where he failed to strike gold. Moving on, the Whitleys settled in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, with Whitley working the Red River as a

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

man.

American Civil War

In the year from April 1861, when the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

commenced, through to April 1862, Whitley continued to work the Red River. He professed some sympathy for the

Confederacy A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

, and drilled with local companies without seeing active service. He was on the ''Starlight'' at

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

, from New Orleans when it was seized by a Confederate committee, who aimed to use it to blockade the river against Union forces. Having heard of the Union Army's

capture of New Orleans Capture may refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Capture", a song by Simon Townshend * Capture (band), an Australian electronicore band previously known as Capture the Crown * ''Capture'' (TV series), a reality show Television episodes * "Chapter ...

on April 25th, Whitley, the "

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" second cook, and another "liberty loving African", stole the steamer's

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast ...

. Travelling mainly by night, they reached New Orleans in seven days. There, Whitley reported to Major General B.F. Butler. Butler referred him to the provost-marshal of the

Department of the Gulf The Department of the Gulf was a command of the United States Army in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and of the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War, Civil War. History United States Army (Civil War) Creation The ...

, Colonel Jonas H. French, who employed Whitley as a detective. Whitley declined an offer of a

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

in the Fifth Louisiana Regiment by the General in charge of New Orleans's defence,

William H. Emory William Hemsley Emory (September 7, 1811 – December 1, 1887) was a prominent American surveyor and civil engineer of the 19th century. As an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers he specialized in mapping the United States ...

. Instead, he was appointed as a

Major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the Seventh Louisiana Regiment.

Chief of the Secret Service

Whitley was appointed chief of the United States Secret Service by President

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was the 18th president of the United States, serving from 1869 to 1877. In 1865, as Commanding General of the United States Army, commanding general, Grant led the Uni ...

in 1869, four years after its inception. Under Whitley, the Secret Service introduced criminal files, a written

Code of Conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the social norm, norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is comm ...

, and an official badge for its agents. Whitley, whose successful arrest of 12 Klansmen in Georgia for the murder of a leading local Republican official had led to his appointment by Grant, used talented detectives who infiltrated and broke up KKK units in North Carolina and Alabama. However they could not penetrate the main hotbed of KKK activity in upstate South Carolina. Grant sent in Army troops but Whitley's agents learned that KKK members were lying low until the troops were withdrawn. Informed of this by Whitley, Grant's Attorney General

Amos T. Akerman Amos Tappan Akerman (February 23, 1821 – December 21, 1880) was an American politician who served as United States Attorney General under President Ulysses S. Grant from 1870 to 1871. A native of New Hampshire, Akerman graduated from Dartmou ...

convinced Grant to declare martial law and send in US marshals backed by federal troops to arrest 500 Klansmen; hundred more fled the state, and hundreds of others surrendered in return for leniency. Whitley was allegedly part of the so-called 1874 safe burglary conspiracy. He resigned as chief (being succeeded by Elmer Washburn) and faced trial for conspiracy, which ended with a hung jury. The D.C. Supreme Court subsequently found the grand jury which indicted Whitley and others to have been illegally drawn, and the Attorney-General ordered ''

nolle prosequi , abbreviated or , is legal Latin meaning "to be unwilling to pursue".Nolle prosequi
. refe ...

'' for the case.

Later life

He retired to

Emporia, Kansas Emporia is a city in and the county seat of Lyon County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 24,139. Emporia lies between Topeka, Kansas, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas, Wichita ...

where he became a leading businessman. Whitley died aged 84 in Emporia on April 19, 1919, from an "inflammation of the bladder".

References

* * *

Works

''In It''
(1894) * Lane, Charles. Freedom's Detective: The Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America's First War on Terror. (Toronto, Canada: Hanover Square Press, 2019) . {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitley, Hiram 1834 births 1919 deaths People from Emporia, Kansas People from Camden, Maine American law enforcement officials Law enforcement officials from Washington, D.C. United States Secret Service agents American people of Scottish descent Heads of United States federal agencies Directors of the United States Secret Service Grant administration personnel Union army officers People from Lawrence, Kansas