"James Wormley"(January 16,1819-October 18,1884)

Born in Washington D.C. James was the son of free-born citizens Lynch and Mary Wormley.As a young boy James first job was working with his family's hackney carriage business.This job was would help him gain skills and an appreciation for hard work involved in business ownership which he put to good use in post-Civil War Washington.After owning a successful restaurant,James decided to purchase a hotel in 1871 which he called Wormley House.Located near the White House,at the southwest corner of 15th and H Streets Northwest Wormley House soon became popular among the wealthy and politically prominent in the nation's capital.James experience as caterer,club steward and traveler in Europe helped him to perfect his culinary skills while his keen eye for detail ensured him to that his hotel guests were satisfied during their stay.The hotel was most famous for its well-managed rooms,early telephone and the dinning room where he served European-style dishes.James also became active in Washington D.C. community politics.On July 21,1871,he led a campaign to persuade Congress to fund the first public school for the city's African-Americans.The School,named after Wormley,was built in Georgetown at 34th and Prospect Streets.Despite Congress's allocation local politics delayed the opening of the school until 1885.The Wormley house,is most prominently identified as a site of a series of secret meetings that began in January 1877 between representatives from republican Presidential Candidate Rutherford B.Hayes and Democrat Presidential Candidate Samuel J. Tilden's parties over the constested presidential election of 1876.The representatives finally concluded their deliberations on February 26,1877 producing the infamous Compromise of 1877 which led to the removal of federal troops from the South and the end of Reconstruction and its guarantees of black political participation.It is unclear if James even was aware of the nature of the deliberations taking place in his hotel.He died in Boston after an operation for kidney stones at Massachusetts

General Hospital.James did not live long enough to see the opening of the school he helped create.

The hotel James owned.