Originally published in 1884, The Entailed Hat consists of three different stories: that of the iron smelting company which exploited the bog iron deposits of Worcester County, Maryland; that of the kidnapping of slaves and free negroes by the Joe Johnson-Patty Cannon gang in what is almost a no-man's land, where Dorchester and Caroline Counties, Maryland and Sussex County, Delaware join; and that of the "Hat" itself. Through one central figure, Meshach Milburn, the three stories are interwoven and considerable unity is attained. The author's excellent descriptive writing, the thing which brought him fame as a Civil War correspondent, carries the tale.

A most unusual feature of The Entailed Hat is that, in a period when sweetness and light dominated the novel, stark realism is the key note.