Published in 1884, The Entailed Hat is a historical novel by journalist George Alfred Townsend, set in the Delmarva Peninsula of the early nineteenth century. The story unfolds against the real backdrop of Patty Cannon, notorious for running a kidnapping and slave-trading operation along the Delaware-Maryland border.
Vivid, dark, and grounded in regional history, the novel is a significant if lesser-known piece of American historical fiction. This free public-domain EPUB is available for download at Better Gutenberg.