This collection consists of statements and correspondence relating to the Pinkerton National Detective Agency investigation into the arson of J. Warren Goddard's properties on North Lake St., Litchfield, on May 3, 1884. A barn was destroyed and a house was damaged. There are a total of five statements, two of which were made by African-Americans, and five reports signed "Allan Pinkerton" mailed to Goddard. It cannot be determined if Pinkerton actually wrote the reports or if his name was routinely used to close them. All of the documents are contemporaneous copies: two are typewritten and ten are letterpress copies, for which there are transcriptions.

Goddard, a prominent New York City businessman who specialized in tailoring accessories, owned a large property in Litchfield and had planned to hire Italian workers from his native New York City "to make an improvement on his grounds," according to a May 7, 1884, article in the Hartford Courant. It suggested that a motive for arson may have been resentment towards the Italian workers, as the properties that were torched would have provided housing for them. On May 8, The Lichfield Enquirer had an item on the fires, writing, "We also hear threats having been made because it was reported that Mr. Goddard was to send up a force of Italians from New York to grade his grounds instead of employing local laborers." On May 15, the Enquirer reported Goddard had hired thirteen Italians from New York to work on his property.

Goddard employed the Pinkerton National Detective Agency to investigate the fires. The Pinkerton operative in Litchfield, referred to only as "J.S.W.," took statements from five people, two of which, Henry Carter and William Foote, were African-Americans (on their statements, "colored" followed their names). Goddard received five reports, written every few days from June 6 to June 17, 1884, as J.S.W. conducted his investigation. They were quite detailed, and documented his interviews of residents of Litchfield and other towns, the crime scene, possible evidence, and other related matters. The June 10th report contains a hand-drawn map that shows the location of the burned buildings.

A continuing theme in the statements and reports is concern and anger among local Irish residents about Goddard bringing in Italians instead of employing local workers. In some statements and reports, the possiblity of arson or violence towards the Italians was noted. There are several references to the organization of a lodge of the Ancient Order of Hiberians, an action also written about in the Litchfield Enquirer on July 3, 1884.

J.S.W.'s reports indicate he conducted his investigation in Litchfield from June 4 to June 13, 1884. In his June 12th report, he notes that he was ordered to return to New York when he finished and he indicated he would be returing on June 13th. He was unable to determine who caused or set the fires, but he wrote, "I have come to the conclusion that someone was detailed to burn these buildings, who does not live in the immediate neighborhood." It is not known if the case was solved.

Following Goddard's death in 1890, his sons, Warren N. Goddard and F. Norton Goddard, inherited the property. Norton renamed the residence, Fernwood. The property stayed in the Goddard family until it was sold in 1915.