Wilmington daily commercial., 1873-05-20
FIRST EDITION.
A DELAWARE BENDER CASE.


GOLD PATTY CASNoN"-A HORRIBLE sToRY-THE
MURDERERs OF THE NARTIcoKE-rHE KANSAS
CRIMES PARALLELED.
The story of the Bender murder bouee, in
Kansas, full Of horrors and atrocities as it is,
finds parellel in our own States and gentle-
man reading the details of the former is remind
ed by ii Of the true tale told about sold Patty
Cannon" who, come forty years ago. made the
central figure of a series of tragedies, In Sussex
County
The woman had lived for number of years,
OF place called Oannon's Gross Roads, on the
line between Delaware and Maryland, near the
Nantcoke River The house. low mean struc-
tnre, was built, it is said exactly on the line, 80
that it's occupants might rapidly escape over to
one State, when menaced by the law officers of
the other. At this place. the woman carried on
atrsf1ie in negroes. Her house was q we'll known
resort for the worst class Of slave traders, and
she had q widely extended reputation among
them a. q dealer in human flesh. All was grist
that came to her mill; kidnapped free people
passed readily through her establishment;
and when q colored person seized up by
the slave catohers- in the borders of
Pennsylvania, was hotly pursued, the
den at Cannon'e was the best and safest mar
ket to dispose OF him. From the place, there
was 4 we'll established route to run off the slaves
to the South by way of Norfolk. This 4" under
ground railroad to Bondage, known only to the
hluuhppoIbt Ihubfs, huu tIdlT COnteuoThteb, leu
down across the Nanticoke, to Salisbury, follow
ing unfrequented paths through the swamps and
forests, which in those days were much more ex-
teDsve than now. From Salisbury, it led down
the Peninsula to chesapeake Bay, and thence
the human merchandise was conveyed to the
Virginia side in any sort of boat which could be
obtained for the purpose.
The Cannon house had naturally bad rep
utation. and the mistress OF 1t was the terror of
the country around. Her desperate character
we'll known. and vrlila aha anaDaota6
OF many crimes no one dared to complain
again her. Finally she was brought to Justice,
charged with tine murder of a rich slave trader,
on his way to her house. He was waylaid near
the crossing OF the Nanticoke, murdered and
robbed. 1t wss proven on the trial, at George
town, that Patty Cannon and paramour known
by the name OF Brewinton, were guilty Of the
murder, aud they were sentenced to be hanged.
Brewinton met his fate on the gallows,
in performance of his sentence, but the woman
died in JAIL before the time for execution. This,
at least was the statement OF the Sheriff, but it
was long tradition among among the people OF
Sussex that she had bribed some Of the Jail Off
cials to bring from the Aims House the corpse
OF dead person and place it in her cell, while
she escaped. Persons who had visited some Of
the Western States came back and reported that
they had seen and recognized "Old Patty Can
non." out there.
After the arrest of the woman and her confed-
crate, however, the old nest at the Gross Roads
being broken up, an examination was made of
her house, and It's surroundings, and the discov-
cries were like those at the Bender house in
Kansas Dead bodies and skeletons were found
iu the cellar. and in the garden. There were
number OF them, in all conditions of decomposi-
tion. Some were the remains of grown persons,
and it s supposed they had been traders, who
like the one for whom the pair were tried and
convicted, had come with large sums Of money
to buy negroes. Others were skeletons of little
children, and the horrible explanation assigned
for them was that they had been taken away
from their msthefs in order to sell the latter
for work on Southern plantations, and had been
killed by actual violence, or by neglect and cru
city.
II has been something like forty years since
the full disclosure Of these horrible details, and
old persons yet living in Sussex county who know
the circumstances, substantially as we have
stated them.