Tom - This is an interesting article even though it seems to mix some of Joseph's tavern properties and locations. Joseph Simms/Semmes was indeed a well known taverner in the Washington area and indeed did run a tavern in Georgetown around 1799 but by 1804 he leased the building that was known as the Rhodes Tavern in Washington City. William Rhodes moved his establishment to a hotel that had been constructed by William Lovell and Simms took his place across the street from the Treasury department on F street. Simms renamed the establishment the Indian King and was there for about three years before being forced to sell off his furniture and other goods to pay his debts. About May 1805 according to a newspaper advertisement Joseph M. Semmes and Joseph Semmes disolved their partnership and the Inn on F street was renamed the Columbia Inn. The next thing we know there is a Joseph Semmes and the Indian King resurfacing a short time later back in Georgetown. All this begs another questions - which Joseph Simms/Semmes is this or are there more than one? His legal papers are signed as Joseph M. Semmes. He is described in at least two well thought of histories as a relative of Ann Simms Clarke Rhodes - the wife of William Rhodes, formerly of St. Mary's. However there is a problem. Her father Joseph Semmes died intestate on December 28, 1798 and the next likely candidate - her brother Joseph Milburn Semmes (married to Elizabeth Mudd) supposedly died in 1804 according to probate documents. His son Joseph allegedly died abt 1818 in Kentucky - not the 1832 described in this article. There was yet another Semmes family in Washington during this time period - the family that spawned Rafael Semmes, but I have yet to really come up with anything that shows a lot of interaction between the two families and that Semmes family is known more as merchants and shipping folks than as innkeepers. I would be indebted to anyone who could sort the Joseph's. Jackie Thomas Jennings wrote: > Good morning, > > There was a Semmes tavern in Georgetown, originally City Tavern under > Clement Sewall and had many name changes including Semmes Tavern which was > run by Joseph Semms. > > I know is was Semmes tavern in 1799. > > Try this site.www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2001/07/16/focus14.html > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to MDSTMARY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >