he was sold to help settle a card game in which john gadsby lost $1,000 worth of gold. this demonstrates william gadsby's unscrupulousness and his willingness to sell people to pay debts, similar to what his father did. william's actions as a result help explain john gadsby's involvement in the slave trade prior to his arrival at decatur house. the million dollar question remains did the wails and cries of poor souls destined to be sold down south echo from the courtyard of decatur house. evidence lends itself to john gadsby and william gadsby selling slaves quietly out of their hotels, using them as a genteel facade as an ugly enterprise. evidence has not been found to suggest john gadsby was selling out of decatur house. whether his neighbors owned enslaved people or not, and many did. that would have been publicly aghast at the horrors of the slave trade. given the trade's high visibility, a public sale would have had john gadsby held accountable by a strong and vocal anti-slavery and abolitionist contingent. gadsby would not risk his public reputation and spoil the n

when the man realized the discrepancy, he returned charles wood to john gadsby. gadsby then tried to sell him again, but charles wood was able to sue him in court for attempting to add time to his servitude. in response to the complaint, john dpadsby argued he had the right to sell him because charles was a thief and not fit to work in a public hotel. furthermore, the problem with the discrepancy was just a misunderstanding on the part of his auctioneer, charles dyer. when he realized his mistake he would sell charles for the appropriate 20-year period. however, unfortunately for gadsby, charles -- the court ruled and good for charles woods, they ruled in his favor and decreed that john gadsby cannot sell him. the case does demonstrate the callous disregard and even chicanery on john gadsby's parts to make a sale. sales like these were not uncommon. adding a few years to charles's servitude would have made him more valuable. however, does this make him a slave trade or heavily involved in the slave trade? it is time to turn to john gadsby's hotels in three growing

i'm exploring nancy's life in the slate of john gadsby's tavern and house. nancy was born in the early 1790s. probably in virginia, but possible in d.c. we're not sure when her daughter margaret was born. we think it was the mid-18 teens. the story indicates that he and his wife's confidence brought their slaves with them when they moved to the cater house. that's consistent with nancy living in alexandria and showing in the decatur house. she's thought to live there from 1836 to at least 1870. part of my research revolves around understanding why margaret would have been sold. i'm just driven by trying to understand the trade and why somebody would be sold. perhaps her birth was the result of an unexpected or unwanted pregnancy. we know that gadsby was a slave trader. perhaps he arranged the sale of margaret. it was not uncommon for young female slaves to be purchased by slave traders to be used as concubines and later result to either become servants, cooks, or even work in a brothel. margaret could have been sold in virginia at an early age or until just

john freeman, once he obtained his freedom, worked as a waiter at gadsby's hotel. earlier freeman had been a slave belonging to thomas jefferson who sold him to james madison. he worked in the madison white house with jennings as did his wife, melinda colbert freeman. she a free person, formerly enslaved by thomas jefferson, melinda was a member of the well known hemings family of monticello. the freemans were founders of the neighborhood where jennings purchased the house in 1854, just a 15 to 20-minute walk northwest of lafayette square. the freemans and jennings were eventually joined by other families of ex-slaves of presidents in this neighborhood including three syphax brothers, charles ii, william and colbert, sons of maria carter custis and charles s. syphax senior and nephews of nancy syphax who worked with jennings earlier on lafayette square. now in the 1850s, jennings and charles syphax, ii worked together in the pension office under the department of the interior. charles's brother, william syphax was also employed in the interior department rising fro