like his father, william gadsby clearly engaged in small-time slave trading. for instance, in 1836, an advertisement ran in which william lamar asked for house servants to take to georgia with him, and perspective sellers should call to william gadsby and edward dyer at the national hotel. the most notable evidence, again, is from the previously mentioned arlen titled "manhunters." william is actually publicly named as a trader in this article and he is considered part of a third class who engaged in speculation by jockeying for horses, stating they will watch their chance to buy at a bargain and when opportunity occurs to sell it in advance, it is easy to find fault with the slave to justify their consciousness in their pocket. a prime illustration of this is the kennedy williams case which took place march 23rd, 1838. william gadsby along with newton, john gadsby's son-in-law who co-owned the national hotel, william h. williams, the notorious slave trader and the jailer i mentioned earlier, and jay pendleton were brought to court to testify. william kennedy b

he and his son, william gadsby fortunes. historian a.k. sandoval strauss tells us whatever hotel size, class, and drawing power, it played the essential urbanistic role of tieing its community into the expanding networks of commerce, politics, and association. gadsby's tavern, the indian queen and the national hotel function as a microcosm of the upper south society and culture. displaying the best the area had to offer, but also reveals one of its worst aspects, the slave trade. john gadsby's wealth debated on lively patronage, but also on the pain and suffering of enslaved people he bought and sold. like other masters throughout the upper south, john gadsby excused human trafficking to make money. gadsby was by no means operating on the level of alexandria's franklin and arm felt who sold hundreds of people throughout the 1830s and '40s. he only sold a few people at a time. particularly where he could make a handsome profit. his son william also cast a shadow on his reputation. he followed his father into the hotel business. unlike his fa

john gadsby's illustrious career as a hotel owner is storied, whereas william gadsby's story are much murkier. john gadsby was born in england around 1776, immigrated to america after the revolution and arrived in alexandria in 1785. 1795. he then leased a tavern from john wise around 1800 and demonstrated his aptitude for business turning into gadsby's tavern where he entertained george washington and other notables like jefferson and john adams. he later put the tavern and farm up for lease and left for baltimore in 1808 where he became the proprietor of the plush hotel the indian queen, which he later sells to david barn ham in 1819. around 1822 he moved to washington, d.c. and opened the franklin hotel in 1823 and later at the pinnacle of his career builds the national hotel where he entertained presidents such as andrew jackson, hosted congressmen and welcomed various foreign dignitaries. the national was host to a flurry of balls, galas, and meetings of the washington's elite. john gadsby moved into the upper echelons of society by announcing his retirement from the hotel busine

pendleton hired him out to work at the national -- william gadsby accused him of thievery and had him thrown in jail. unfortunately we don't know the case's resolution and the ultimate fate of kennedy williams. another piece of the puzzle can be found in the antislavery tract, the fifth annual report of the new york community of villains in 1842. a young man recounts his tale of working at the national hotel as carriage driver. he does not state which gadsby sold him, but it was most likely william. they were sold to work in the cotton fields. fortunately he was able to escape and find help in the district where he was very well known. he fled into new york on horseback and was able to speak to an antislavery group there who published this account of his harrowing account. finally we come to the fantastic and lurid story of daniel webster's alleged illegitimate son benjamin webster. according to an 1878 atlanta paper called the 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