20 h 46 minAudiobook14 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 20 h 46 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What happens when a county line offers criminals more protection than the law gives their victims?
In The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times, George Alfred Townsend takes you to the Eastern Shore before the Civil War. Among its creeks, pine woods and marshes, Patty Cannon leads a gang that kidnaps Black people, free and enslaved, and sells them into the Deep South.
Around this brutal trade, Townsend weaves local legend and the tensions between rich planters and poor whites. Old Maryland families cling to land and name as their money drains away. In this borderland between Maryland and Delaware, crime and inheritance reveal a society where protection depends on where you stand.
What you’ll discover
- A dangerous borderland Enter a landscape of creeks and marshes where county lines mark the limits of law.
- The woman behind the legend Meet Patty Cannon, the real criminal at the center of Townsend's dark regional novel.
- Freedom under threat Confront a kidnapping trade that targets both free and enslaved Black people.
- Names without wealth Explore families holding tight to inherited status while the money that supports it disappears.
- A reporter's eye Discover Chesapeake country life through a novelist whose fiction keeps the habits of a newspaperman.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this if you like American regional fiction, old courthouse towns, and tangled families with money troubles. It suits readers who love a romance wrapped around real history.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two Men Known by Their Hats
- A Proud Judge Borrows from the Outcast
- The Creditor Names His Price
- Vesta Weighs Pride Against Her Father's Ruin
- A Bridegroom Falls Sick and a Niece Arrives
- Superstition Gathers Around the Hat
- Kidnappers Work Along the State Line
- Jimmy Phoebus Follows the Trail to Pangymonum
- What the Story Says About Class and Slavery
- A Chorus of Voices and a Hat That Stands for Everything
Who’s who
- Meshach MilburnA miserly Somerset moneylender who wears an ancient steeple-crowned hat and wants the respect, and the love, that the town has always refused him.
- Vesta CustisThe Judge's beautiful, singing daughter, who tries to save her father's name and finds that duty may lead to something like love.
- Judge Daniel CustisA genial, drinking Virginia gentleman whose iron furnace fails and who wants to keep his family's honor and comfort.
- Samson HatMeshach's free Black servant, a champion fighter and brusque friend who cleans the hat and looks after his master.
- Jimmy PhoebusA sturdy bay captain who swears by smoke, loves a widow, and sets out to rescue people stolen by kidnappers.
- Levin DennisA gentle, brandy-weak young boatman whose father vanished at sea and who is drawn into a slave trader's plans.
- Rhoda HollandMeshach's chattering niece from the ocean shore, a shrewd girl who wants to see the world.
- Patty CannonThe tavern keeper at Johnson's Crossroads, a strong, cunning woman who rules a gang of kidnappers.
Formats and delivery
- eBook
- On your phone, tablet or computer, once the book texts are online.
- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, once the book texts are online.
- Audiobook
- Read by Lucas Linden, complete. It opens once the recording is online.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 14 minutes, to read today.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
Every printed copy is made when you order it and shipped worldwide; shipping is shown at checkout. The eBook and the audiobook open when the book texts go online.
How it works
- Start free. Nothing to pay today; the eBook of this book is yours to keep.
- Read, listen and print. 200,000+ classics as eBook, large-print eBook, audiobook and 15-minute summary, and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print, 5 accounts for the price of one.
- We remind you first. Free for 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment. Then 0,14 USD a day in your first year on the yearly plan and 0,27 USD a day after, or 0,66 USD a day on the monthly plan. Cancel online in two clicks.
Bought on its own? Every eBook, audiobook and printed book you buy without the plan carries our 30-day money-back guarantee.
Il cappello vincolato; ovvero, I tempi di Patty Cannon
by George Alfred Townsend · 1884
A shunned moneylender in a steeple-crowned hat claims a judge's daughter while Patty Cannon's kidnappers prowl.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readItaliano
Excellent
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then 0,14 USD a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
In short
What would you do if a shunned moneylender in a steeple-crowned hat walked into your ruined house and named his price? He wants your daughter, and he holds every note you signed.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two Men Known by Their Hats
The story opens in Princess Anne, a courthouse town in Somerset County, Maryland, where society takes itself very seriously. Two eccentric men live there, and each is known by his hat. Jack Wonnell, a poor drifter, wears out one bell-crown after another.
The other man is the real mystery. Meshach Milburn wears a tall, wavy-brimmed hat that looks a century old, and the children jeer Steeple-top at him in the street. He is a miser and a moneylender with almost no friends. His helper is Samson, a free Black man who brushes the ancient hat.
Free for 3 months · Cancel anytime
You looked at
Which edition is right for me
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 14 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1884
- Language
- Italiano
- Reading time
- 13 h 30 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Townsend, George Alfred. The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-entailed-hat-or-patty-cannons-times.
Townsend, G. A. (2026). The entailed hat; or, Patty Cannon's times. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-entailed-hat-or-patty-cannons-times (Original work published 1884)
Townsend, George Alfred. The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-entailed-hat-or-patty-cannons-times.
@book{townsend2026entailed,
author = {Townsend, George Alfred},
title = {The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-entailed-hat-or-patty-cannons-times},
note = {First published 1884}
}
Free gifts
580 USD in free gifts when you start
Every book in every format and in 25 languages, 5 accounts for the price of one. Nothing to pay today.
- 200,000+ classic eBooksIn 25 languages, side by side
170 USDFREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
120 USDFREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
60 USDFREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
60 USDFREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
170 USDFREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about Il cappello vincolato; ovvero, I tempi di Patty Cannon
Can I read it free?
Yes. The first key idea of the 15-minute summary is free with no sign-up. Start free and the whole book is yours for 3 months, with the eBook to keep, plus 200,000+ more classics and any book printed at cost as a paperback, hardcover or large print. Nothing to pay today: we email you 7 days before your first payment, and you can cancel online in two clicks.
Can I buy the printed book?
Soon. The paperback, hardcover and large print editions are being prepared. Choose Paperback or Hardcover above, leave your email, and we tell you the day you can order it, printed at cost.
How many accounts do I get?
Five, for the price of one: you and 4 more people, each with their own login, shelf and their own place in every book.
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel online in two clicks at any time and nothing more is charged. Nothing is charged in your first 3 months, and we email you 7 days before your first payment.
What is The Entailed Hat about?
It follows Meshach Milburn, a shunned moneylender who wears an ancient hat, and Vesta Custis, the judge's daughter he marries to cancel her father's debts. A second plot follows kidnappers who steal free people along the Delaware line.
Who was Patty Cannon?
Patty Cannon was a real woman of the Maryland and Delaware border, remembered in local tradition as the head of a gang that kidnapped free Black people. Townsend uses her legend, and her tavern at Johnson's Crossroads, as the center of the crime story.
What does the entailed hat mean?
The hat is a family heirloom that came down from a Milburn ancestor who left his son nothing else. For Meshach it stands for lost dignity and ancestry, and for the town it is a joke, a charm, and a quarrel.
The author
George Alfred Townsend
1841–1914 · American journalist
George Alfred Townsend (1841–1914) was an American journalist and novelist born in Georgetown, Delaware. He reported on the American Civil War and wrote under the pen name Gath. His novel The Entailed Hat appeared in 1884. He later lived at an estate near Gapland, Maryland.
More like this
Our mission
The library burned once. We are building it back.
Every great book, in every language and every format, for every family. Every plan helps pay for new languages, new audiobooks and books for readers who have never had them. Join the movement.
Read our story- Every language25 languages today, side by side, and more every year
- No wastePrinted on demand: no warehouses, no unsold stock, no pulped copies
- For everyonePaperback, hardcover and large print at the cost of printing
Popular in classics
See all
