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 gadsby 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 could not sell him. the case does demonstrate the callous disregard and even trickery. 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's time to turn to his hotels in baltimore, washington, d.c. and alexandria which were all hubs for slave

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

how did john gadsby figured into the slave trade? legal records indicate he sold at least six people from 1797 to 1801. in 1800 he owned 11 enslaved people age 16 or above. john gadsby also advertised for ten people to purchase or hire along with four runaways. interesting most of the runaways and the people he wanted to purchase were men for specific jobs. for instance, he requests blacksmiths and men accustomed to plantation work. when selling one of his farms, he nodes he has valuable field hands for sale. it was common practice to buy and sell enslaved people in taverns and hotels. in an advertisement he states he's looking for families of enslaved people for a farm not to be sold or bartered for, but to be removed to a good situation. it is unlikely known how many enslaved people were bought or sold based on the advertisement, given it asks for a number of prime negroes and welcomes whole families, it was likely quite a substantial number. he held an enslaved man named moses for a mr. marshal who pos bly duped him. moses was sol

commercial daily, benjamin claimed daniel was his father and mother charlotte gooding, one of john gadsby's servants. he was sold to help settle a card game in which gadsby lost gold. this shows his willingness to sell people to pay debts. helped explain the involvement in the slave trade prior to the arrival at decatur house. of poor souls destined to be sold down south echo from decatur house. evidence lends itself to john and william quietly selling slaves out of their house. using them as a facade for an ugly enterprise. evidence has not been found to suggest he was selling out of decatur house. whether his own enslaved people or not, they 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 by selling up shop in the celebrated decatur house. he prided himself on the image of a self made man who enjoyed the fruits of his labor in his luxurious new home. there's more about the

however, when you compare the property inventory taken at john gadsby's death in 1884 with the property inventory taken when his wife, providence gadsby died in 1888, it is evident that a significant group of people were enslaved at decatur house in the 1840s and '50. stars on the right indicate especially slaved people on the inventories. three children were born into the king family, into bondage, between 1844 and 1858. while the king family remained relatively intact between the two inventories, only three with the williams name remained in the 1858 inventory. gone were at least three children, with last name williams, under the age of 10 in 1844. the 1858 inventory indicates a third family group, the longs, may have developed out of people enslaved in 1844, and these are identified by the question marks. two men, primus and charles clark, who were defined as working until free in 1844 were gone by 1858. of the other people listed in 1844, only nancy and rosa marks remained in 1858. steve hammond, a descendant of nancy will speak about her later today. the fact that a relatively cons

i'm exploring nancy's life in the household of john gadsby's tavern and house. nancy was born in the early 1790s. probably in virginia, but possibly in d.c. we're not sure when her daughter margaret was born. we think it was the mid-18 teens. 1818 or so. 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 up in the decatur house. nancy is thought to have lived 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 slaves were a commodity and we know that gatsby 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 resold to either become servants, cooks, or even work in a brothel. margaret cou

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