Cannon holding a black child, by the arm, into a fireplace, from the 1841 book, Narrative and confessions of Lucretia P. Cannon
Born
c. 1759/1760 or 1769
Died
May 11, 1829 (1829-05-12) (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)
Criminal organization
Cannon–Johnson Gang
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
The Delmarva Peninsula of Maryland and Delaware, where the Cannon–Johnson Gang committed most of their kidnapping illegal slave trade operations. Note the white line boundary dividing the peninsula into three states which also included Virginia.
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]
^ abcd"The Cannon/Johnson Kidnappings". Delaware Public Archives. State of Delaware. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
PattyCannon, whose birth name may have been Lucretia Patricia Hanly (c. 1759/1760 or 1769 – May 11, 1829), was an illegal slave trader, serial killer...
children were abducted in Philadelphia alone. From 1811 to 1829, Martha "Patty" Cannon was the leader of a gang that kidnapped slaves and free blacks, from...
& Co., pp. 138–139. "Patty McCormack." Biography Resource Center. Thomson Gale. February 15, 2005. Patty McCormack at IMDb Patty McCormack at the TCM...
p. 4. Retrieved August 14, 2023. Morgan, Michael (2015). Delmarva's PattyCannon: The Devil on the Nanticoke. Arcadia Publishing. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-62619-812-8...
African American child kidnapped in Philadelphia in August 1825 by PattyCannon's gang. He was one of a number of children kidnapped that summer and later...
This is a list of films released by The Cannon Group, a defunct group of companies – including Cannon Films – which operated from 1967 to 1994. Film portal...
John L. Johnson, Washington, D.C. Joseph Johnson, Ebenezer Johnson & PattyCannon, Northwest Fork Hundred, Delaware Sherman Johnson, New Orleans William...
kidnapped free blacks from Illinois to The South to be sold into slavery. PattyCannon James Ford (pirate) Delphine LaLaurie Underground Railroad "The Old Slave...
Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing...
of Brashears' Stand along the Natchez Trace, as well as the notorious PattyCannon ring in Delaware. Chesapeake cities like Baltimore, Alexandria, Washington...
mosque and PattyCannon, a local builder who constructed it. The Islamic Society's budget lacked funds for a minaret and Islamic arch, and Cannon added them...
of historical importance as one of the locations where slave runner PattyCannon embarked with kidnapped refugee slaves and free blacks. She shipped them...
Ramirez connection August 31, 2020 (2020-08-31) 237 "Anti-Hype Man" PattyCannon Unsolved murder of Alberta Odell Jones August 27, 2020 (2020-08-27) Minisode...
Entailed Hat (1884), which fictionalized a true story of a woman named PattyCannon who kidnapped free blacks and sold them into slavery. Townsend's other...
Globe-Democrat. 1884-05-24. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-09-11 – via Newspapers.com. "PattyCannon". Dorchester History. Retrieved 2023-10-29. Stroud, George McDowell (2005)...
to a fine and 42 years in prison. He died five years later in prison. PattyCannon, considered the leader of the gang, evaded capture. She was indicted...
make their living trying to repossess escaped slaves in the fashion of PattyCannon. Jacky herself attempts to pass for quadroon or octoroon as a disguise...
Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon (October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996), known professionally as her stage character Minnie Pearl, was an American comedian who...
Picariello, Jr. (born December 4, 1936), better known by his stage name Freddy Cannon, is an American rock and roll singer. His biggest international hits included...
crimes. Megan Haines is sentenced to 27 to 36 years in prison. Martha "Patty" Cannon is a tavern owner in 1820s Delaware, but she runs another secret business:...
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