Woodford County, Kentucky, minister, professor, and surgeon. Baltimore County, Maryland, native. Son of William Pinkerton and Elizabeth Letig Pinkerton. Married to Sarah A. Ball Pinkerton in Butler County, Ohio, on March 19, 1833. Father of William W. Pinkerton, Virginia Pinkerton, Burnett S. Pinkerton, James P. Pinkerton, Samuel D. Pinkerton, Lewis M. Pinkerton, and Mary B. Pinkerton. Resident of Hamilton County, Ohio, from 1836 to 1839. Attended Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1841. Founded the Kentucky Female Orphan School in Woodford County, Kentucky, in 1847. Minister in Woodford County in 1850. Owned five enslaved persons in Woodford County in 1850. Minister in Woodford County in 1860. Household owned four enslaved persons in Woodford County in 1860. Professor at Kentucky University in Mercer County, Kentucky, from 1860 to 1866. Served in the 11th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (U.S.A.) as assistant surgeon and surgeon from August 13, 1862, to May 22, 1863.