20 h 46 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 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 love this if you enjoy historical fiction with a vivid sense of place, strong women, eccentric heroes, and a lively cast of villains drawn from the old Chesapeake country.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Two men in Princess Anne are known by hats
- A moneylender names his price to the Judge
- Vesta weighs her family against her freedom
- A sickbed gives the marriage a gentle start
- Kidnappers circle the households of Teackle Hall
- Levin Dennis is lured away from his mother
- Patty Cannon rules a den at Johnson's Crossroads
- A raid threatens free Black families
- The hat measures pride, fashion, and freedom
Who’s who
- Meshach MilburnA lonely moneylender from the forest who wears his ancestor's steeple hat and wants to be loved by the singer he has watched for years.
- Vesta CustisThe beautiful, devout daughter of Judge Custis, who steps forward to save her family from ruin.
- Judge Daniel CustisA charming, drinking Virginia gentleman who loses his fortune in an iron furnace and must learn to be a better man.
- Samson HatMeshach's strong, funny, free Black servant who loves a good fight and slowly comes to love a girl in Vesta's household.
- Jimmy PhoebusA brown-skinned pungy captain and loyal friend who swears by smoke and hunts kidnappers for the woman he loves.
- Levin DennisA gentle, easily led young sailor whose missing father haunts him and whose conscience slowly wakes.
- HuldaPatty Cannon's granddaughter, who grows up in a den of crime and keeps a pure heart.
- Patty CannonA bold, cunning tavern keeper who leads a gang of kidnappers across the Maryland and Delaware line.
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 8 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 USD 0.14 a day in your first year on the yearly plan and USD 0.27 a day after, or USD 0.66 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.
The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times
by George Alfred Townsend · 1884
A miser in a steeple-crowned hat buys a judge's daughter with her father's debts in Princess Anne.
ChallengingOver 20 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
- Read or listen
- Print and large print at cost
- 5 accounts for the price of one
Free for 3 months · starts right away, on any device
Read free3 months free · cancel anytimeFree for 3 months, then USD 0.14 a dayCancel anytimeHow it works
In short
Why would a rich man wear a hat that looks a century old? On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, a miserly moneylender named Meshach Milburn walks through Princess Anne in a steeple-crowned hat that the whole town mocks.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two men in Princess Anne are known by hats
Princess Anne is a gentle old town of proud families, and two of its men are known only by what sits on their heads. Jack Wonnell wears bell-crowned beaver hats from a lot he bought cheap at an auction. Meshach Milburn wears a tall, stiff, steeple-shaped hat that looks a hundred years old.
Meshach is a lender with hazel eyes, delicate fingers, and no friends. His only servant is Samson, a free Black man who brushes the hat and fights one strong man every year for the joy of it. Boys shout Steeple-top after him in the street. One May morning the little daughter of Judge Custis asks to pin a white rose on the hat. Meshach asks why she offers it, then lets her decorate the hat and offers her a gold coin, which she refuses.
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 8 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 1884
- Language
- English
- 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
USD 580 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
USD 170FREE - Every audiobookIn 25 languages, any device
USD 120FREE - 15-minute summariesRead or listen, in 25 languages
USD 60FREE - Print at cost, no markupPaperback, hardcover, large print
USD 60FREE - 5 accounts for the price of oneA shelf for everyone at home
USD 170FREE - A part in rebuilding the libraryNew languages and books for all
FREE
Questions about The Entailed Hat; Or, Patty Cannon's Times
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 Maryland moneylender in a strange old hat, who marries Judge Custis's daughter Vesta to settle her father's debts. Around that marriage runs the real story of kidnappers along the Delaware line.
Who was Patty Cannon?
Patty Cannon was a real woman who led a gang of kidnappers on the Maryland and Delaware border in the early 1800s. The novel draws her character from local tradition and old newspaper accounts.
Why is the hat called entailed?
An entail is a legal rule that passes property to one heir. His great-grandfather leaves the hat to an earlier Meshach and gives him nothing else. Meshach's father later sells it to Peale's Museum, where Meshach finds and reclaims the family relic.
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
