Patty Cannon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c. 1759/1760 or 1769 |
| Died | May 11, 1829 (aged 60 to 70) Sussex County Jail, Georgetown, Delaware, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Disputed; possibly suicide by poisoning |
| Resting place | Sussex County Jail Cemetery, Georgetown, Delaware (later reburied in a potter's field near the same jail) |
| Other names | Lucretia P. Cannon, Patricia Cannon, Lucretia Hanly, Martha Cannon |
| Occupation(s) | Kidnapper, illegal slave trader, slave stealer |
| Known for | Illegal slave trading, co-leader of the Cannon–Johnson Gang of Maryland–Delaware |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Spouse | Jesse Cannon |
| Children | 2 |
| Criminal charge | Murder (4 counts) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 11 (confessed) 4 (charged) |
 Cannon–Johnson Gang, attacking legal slave traders, from the 1841 book, Narrative and confessions of Lucretia P. Cannon, who was tried, convicted, and sentenced to be hung at Georgetown, Del. ... | |
| Founded by | Patty Cannon and Joe Johnson |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Reliance (Caroline and Dorchester counties, Maryland) |
| Years active | Early 1820s–1829 |
| Territory | Maryland, Delaware, Delmarva Peninsula, Chesapeake Bay, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Georgia, Southern United States |
| Membership (est.) | 4 or more |
| Criminal activities | kidnapping, illegal slave trading, slave stealing, murder |
Patty Cannon, whose birth name may have been Lucretia Patricia Hanly (c. 1759/1760 or 1769 – May 11, 1829), was an illegal slave trader, serial killer, and the co-leader of the multi-racial Cannon–Johnson Gang of Maryland–Delaware. The group operated for about a decade in the early 19th century and abducted hundreds of free black people and fugitive slaves, along the Delmarva Peninsula, across multiple state lines to sell into slavery in southern states such as Alabama and Mississippi.[1] The activity became known as the Reverse Underground Railroad.
Mayor Joseph Watson of Philadelphia and Governor John Andrew Shulze of Pennsylvania worked to recover young free black people kidnapped by the gang in the summer of 1825 and to prosecute the gang members. They did not succeed in trying any of the white members. The only time any real efforts to arrest and convict the gang is when authorities found the bodies of several white slave traders, a child and a baby.[1] After being acquitted in Mayor's Court, biracial gang member John Purnell (aliases include "John Smith") was convicted on two counts of kidnapping in Philadelphia County Court in Pennsylvania in 1827. He was sentenced to a fine and 42 years in jail. He died in jail five years later.[2]
In 1829, Cannon was the only member of the gang captured and indicted in Delaware for four murders after the remains of four black people (including three children) were discovered on property she owned. She was held at the Sussex County Jail.[1] She confessed to nearly two dozen murders and died in prison while awaiting trial.[2] Some sources say she killed herself with poison.[citation needed]
Beginning in 1841, some popular accounts referred to the illegal slave trader as Lucretia P. Cannon, although there is no evidence to indicate she used the name "Lucretia" in her lifetime. A popular 19th-century novel based on her exploits contributed to her mythic status as a ruthless figure. She has continued to be featured as a figure in fiction. The state of Delaware placed a historical marker in Seaford dedicated "to the victims of this evil enterprise, and those who struggled against it."[1]