Pryce Lewis
Pryce Lewis (February 13, 1831 – December 6, 1911) was an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency and Union spy during the American Civil War. His activities in Charleston, Virginia and the surrounding area heavily assisted the Union Army during the early years of the war. Lewis was later captured and played a part in the trial and execution of fellow agent Timothy Webster. Early life Lewis was born in 1831 to a family of wool weavers living in Newtown, Wales. As a young man, Lewis had no interest in inheriting the family trade, and in May 1856 emigrated to the United States in search of a new life. After arriving in America, Lewis got a job as a traveling salesman for the London Printing and Publishing Company which he held for nearly two years until quitting it and moving to Chicago in the spring of 1859. After working there for almost a year as a grocery store clerk, Lewis grew restless again and began to make plans to head west as part of the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. A day before he was scheduled to leave Chicago, Lewis encountered an old friend of his who persuaded him to abandon his attempt at prospecting and instead apply for a position with Allan Pinkerton's growing detective agency. This friend arranged an interview with one of Pinkerton's employees, and Lewis began working for the organization in the spring of 1860. Pre-war work with the Pinkerton agency After a brief period of training, Pinkerton assigned Lewis to several surveillance jobs throughout the northeastern United States, and in late 1860 invited him to assist in a more in-depth case in New York. The two men bonded over their shared European background and abolitionist sympathies, and in 1861 Pinkerton thought highly enough of Lewis to entrust him with investigating a murder in Jackson, Tennessee. The chief suspect was a respected citizen of the town, and Pinkerton instructed Lewis to travel to Jackson disguised as a "gentleman of leisure" and gain the suspect's trust to secure information that might assist in building a case against him. Lewis remained in Jackson for five months, cultivating the appearance of an "English gentleman" which allowed him to earn the trust of secessionist locals who were more willing to talk to a foreigner than a suspected "Yankee." After several meetings with the chief suspect, Lewis determined that he was not guilty of the murder, discovering instead that a local horse thief had killed the victim. Lewis left the city on June 9, a day after the state of Tennessee voted to become the eleventh state to secede officially from the Union. Lewis made observations of the strength and number of Confederate troops he encountered during his return trip to Chicago, which he relayed to Pinkerton after relocating to the agency's new headquarters in Cincinnati. Mission to Charleston, West Virginia During Lewis' stay in Jackson, Pinkerton had begun gathering intelligence for General George McClellan of the Union Army. Upon his return