John Gadsby was a prominent figure in the early American hospitality industry for nearly four decades. His career spanned Alexandria, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C., where he established and managed various lodging establishments. A key aspect of Gadsby’s operations, like many businesses of his time, was his reliance on enslaved labor. These individuals were instrumental in the daily functioning of his establishments, performing essential tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and attending to the needs of his guests. Gadsby regularly purchased or hired enslaved people to maintain the smooth operation of his ventures.
In 1808, Gadsby relocated from Alexandria to Baltimore, taking on the lease of the Indian Queen Tavern. The 1810 census provides a stark illustration of his reliance on enslaved labor, listing forty-five enslaved individuals associated with John Gadsby at the tavern. This significant number likely represented one of the largest enslaved staffs within the city at that time, highlighting the scale of his operations and the labor system that underpinned it.
A visitor to the Indian Queen Tavern in September 1809, Samuel Breck, provided a detailed account of the establishment. Breck noted the tavern’s impressive capacity to accommodate “two hundred lodgers” and its amenities, including “two splendid billiard-rooms, large stables, and many other appendages.” He was particularly struck by the attentiveness of the staff, remarking that “the servants are more attentive than in any public or private house I ever knew.” Breck considered the Indian Queen to be among the best public houses in Baltimore, only second to another establishment “of less magnitude.”
Breck further commented on the exceptional standards of the hotel, stating it was “in a style exceeding anything that [he had] seen in Europe or America.” Gadsby’s commitment to providing elegant accommodations and gracious hospitality, coupled with continuous improvements to the property, ultimately presented him with financial challenges. By 1817, Gadsby sought to sell his lease along with a substantial “very valuable tract of land” situated just outside Baltimore. This land encompassed “nearly 900 acres,” with approximately half under “productive cultivation” and the remainder covered in “fine timber.”
Gadsby’s decision to sell his lease and land suggests he was facing financial difficulties. Tax records from the following year, 1818, indicate that he owned thirty-six enslaved people. By 1820, John Gadsby was no longer associated with the Indian Queen Tavern. He appears to have resided on the farm he had previously attempted to sell, accompanied by his family, fifteen enslaved individuals, and three free African Americans. The fate of the other twenty-one enslaved people listed in the 1818 tax records remains uncertain, but it is plausible that Gadsby sold some of them to alleviate his mounting debts. In March 1822, a public notice was issued to “the creditors of John Gadsby, an insolvent debtor” in Baltimore City and County, marking a formal acknowledgment of his financial insolvency.
