the services by their son, john, as a servant to her. it this property was ultimately used by james wormley to be used as yet another component in this hotel enterprise. during 209 year period leading up to the civil war, the wormley family had become firmly ensconced in the hack business in the city. lynch and at least four of his sons were actively using the carriage trade as their primary business. lynch was living and operating his business on the site purchased from the cutts liquidation right at the corner where the -- yes, the commerce building is. his eldest son, william, had been living with his son for well over a decade and was listed there since at least 1827. their patrons frequented the white house, capitol, various government entities and home and businesses in between. james having also been trained as a steward began to attend to the needs of smt most famous states men of the age. in several newspapers he's reported have stao daniel webster, henry clay and stephen douglas. one of his patrons was lord ashburton whose residence while residing in washington is now the rectory to the church in which we are presently meeting. i

after his death, the hotel was continued through december 1893, first by all three sons an ultimately just by james t. wormley. this final decade of the hotel was part of its greatest era of prominence. secretary blaine hosted a reception for 400 to honor the german and france ligations. the entertainment was provided by the u.s. marine band which was conducted by america's most recognized band leader, john phillip sousa. the hotel was famous for the business and society leading sectors by having as regular patrons such as distinguished persons s as financiers who had invested $15 million in u.s. railroads, august belmont and governor leiland stanford of california. as i close, i ask that now we reflect on how generally the role of blacks has been routinely diminished when read through the prism of the biassed attitudes of the prevailing society of the day. if we relied upon commonly held beliefs, blacks had no role in the history of life in lafayette square except as slaves or subser vichvient beings forever living in the background of the community. while i have skimmed the surface of the facts gleaned to d

the wormley family clan opened bank accounts in friedman's bank at the southern end of the square even though their primary banking relationship was next door with rigs bank. one of the most famous events at the hotel was what has been commonly known as the wormley compromise. this compromise was allegedly the culminating meeting that finally brought resolution to the disputed presidential election of 1877 between

the foreign. elegance of the hotel operations mirrored the standards of the world class establishments. in fact, every president from buchanan to teddy roosevelt partook of the wormley hospitality. president garfield attended a dinner the night before his inauguration. even at the end of president garfield's life after the assassination attempt, wormley catered to him at the white house by preparing his meals and nursing him during his suffering. national newspaper accounts report how james prepared a concoction known as beef tea. in those accounts, the papers report on how james was always called upon to attend to our greatest leaders of the 19th century to lend aid and comfort. the hotel had become the accommodation of choice for not only the leading politics, but also the wealthy elite of the world. mrs. astor stayed there at the occasion of a party given at the white house. prince napolean, hamilton fish and all the aristocrats in new york engaged rooms during their visit into the city. the chief lord justice of england reserved rooms there in 1884. in a book by another european author, the hotel was described as one of the quietest most elegant and most comfort