The Indian King Tavern and Cheapside Hotel

This article aims to show that it was not Alexander Forsyth, Sr., of Baltimore, but his son Alexander Forsyth, Jr. who was the proprietor of the Indian King Tavern and the Cheapside Hotel. The account will give a brief history of the establishment, its owner, its various lessors and its proprietors.

The first reference we find for the Indian King Tavern is the leasing of Lot No. 52 by William Lux to Nathaniel Smith, distiller, dated October 10th, 1770, where the lot is described as

"beginning on the South Side of Water Street at a stone set up on the said Street and running thence with the said Street South seventy two and one half degrees East forty five feet thence South to the Water and thence bounding on the water north Seventy two and one half degrees West forty five [feet] and thence with a Straight line to the Beginning."

A ten foot easement was reserved for passage from Water street to the wharves. Lot No. 52 had been carved out for lease from William Lux's holdings in Baltimore at the time. In is not clear from Lux's earlier deeds which one of them had been divvied up into lots. It should also be noted that Lot No. 52 was a plat number, and not a street address. This lease was for one section of Lot No. 52 only. Some of William Lux's other leases for Lot No. 52 indicate that it also extended north of Water street.

On January 10, 1772, Nathaniel Smith assigned this lease to Cumberland Smith & Lamuel Cravath who on the following day ammended the assignment to Jonathan Hudson and James Lawson who held it for five years before reassigning it to James Hutchings on August 15, 1777. On June 2, 1795, James Hutchings assigned the lease to Henry Speck, tavern keeper. The size of the lot was reduced by assembly where it was then described as

"beginning ... on the south side of Water Street at a stone set up on the said street and running thence with the said Street South Seventy-two and one half degrees, East forty five feet, thence South binding on Franklin Lane or alley, one hundred Twenty one feet West thirty five feet [sic], thence north Parallel with Franklin Lane or alley to the said place of beginning."

The remaining section down to the waterfront was no longer considered part of Lot No. 52. It was probably meant to say 35 feet in both widths as Franklin Lane was probably carved out of the 10 foot easment, but the copyist seems to have made a mistake. This is not surpising because earlier in the same lease assignement, he had copied the previous boundaries from the initial lease using 45 feet for both widths. An advertisement in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser for October 22, 1805 is the first reference I've found to its names as the "Indian King tavern". The ad was placed by "Kerns & Speck".

Henry Speck held the lease until he died at which time his son John H. Speck must have inherited it, because on March 23, 1820, John H. Speck mortgaged to John Gould, the Indian King Tavern,

"situate in Water Street in the City of Baltimore between Calvert and South streets on the South Side of Water Street, and at the corner thereof and Franklin Lane long known and occupied as the Indian King Tavern by Henry Speck and others and at present in occupation of William Speck."

Although it is not stated explicitly, this is certainly part of Lot No. 52. It should also be noted here that William Speck was not the owner, but the proprietor. Proprietors were often in the employ of owner's and did not lease their taverns outright.

On March 13, 1822, John Gould released his mortgage of the Indian King Tavern to William A. Speck, the proprietor. On June 8, 1822, John N. Woodard and David Denham, won a Bill of Complaint against William A. Speck and John Gould, for a debt approaching $5000, which the court decreed would result in sale of the Indian King Tavern, Lot No. 52 Water St. On September 19, 1822, John Glenn posted an announcement for a chancery sale of

"that well known Tavern and Boarding House, at the head of Cheapside, known by the name of the Indian King Tavern," "Lot, No. 52.,"

its bounds

"Beginning at the intersection formed by the south side of Water-st. and the outside of the western wall of the said tavern house, as it now stands, and running thence binding on the said wall north two degrees, west eighteen feet 8 1-2 inches to the northwest corner of said tavern house, then binding on the northern wall of said house south seventy-six degrees, and three quarters of a degree east, thirty-five feet six inches to the north east corner of the said house, or until it intersects the west side of Franklin lane or alley extended, then binding on the said extension, and on the west side of Franklin lane south 2 3-4 degrees east one hundred and twenty-seven feet six inches to the southeast corner of the property, then running parallel with Water street south 87 1/4 degrees, west thirty-five feet, and thence with a straight line parallel with Franklin lane to the beginning."

The description is strange in that it seems to be saying that both the north and south boundaries bind on Water Street, which is obviously not correct. It also states that it is at the head of Cheapside, which came to a "T" at Water Street. The only map I have found that shows the location of Cheapside St. and Franklin Lane is this below 1905 map. The inset shown shows the boundary of the 1904 fire that burned the city. Cheapside and Franklin Lane were never rebuilt. In the map, we can see that Cheapside St. was 1 block east of Calvert, Franklin Lane was one block east of Cheapside St., and South Street was one block east of Franklin Lane. If the Indian King Tavern was on the south side of Water St., bounded on the east by Franklin Lane, and at the head of Cheapside, then its location is easily found on the map.

We can now go back and look at the earliest map we have for Baltimore from 1792, and clearly see the location of the tavern.

The sale was postponed, and was announced again on October 16, 1822. On October 22, 1823, John N. Woodard became the highest bidder on the property, but the courts annulled his bid for reasons not readily apparent to me. On September 20, 1828, the property was again auctioned, and John B. Morris was the highest bidder. On December 2, 1828, John Glenn and trustees deeded the Indian King Tavern to John B. Morris.

This concludes the list of owners/leasers of the Indian King Tavern at Lot No. 52 through the years 1830. There were other men who would be proprietors of the tavern during this 60 year period as will be shown shortly.

The first reference I have found of the Cheapside Hotel being mentioned is alongside the Indian King Tavern and found in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser newspaper for April 15, 1811 where it was referred to as the "Indian King tavern and Cheapside hotel". The proprietor, Elijah R. Sinners was advertising to let the attached Livery Stables, and the billiard room. The address was listed as No. 2, Water street, which was a street addess, and not, in this case, a plat number. Henry Speck was the lease owner at the time, so Sinners must have been in his employ. The first occurance found in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper was for April 5, 1813 when the Sinners referred to it also as the "Indian King Tavern, and Cheapside Hotel, No. 2, Water Street." A subsequent issue of the Baltimore Patriot dated September 22, 1813 lists a slave for sale by "Mr. Sinners" at the "Indian Queen Tavern, Head of Cheapside." The name change is odd, but we will see this again. This may have just been a typographical error by the newspaper typesetter because one of the finest hotels in Baltimore at the time was the "Indian Queen Hotel" located at the time in the northwest quadrant of the city. Cheapside, which is no longer in existance, ran north from the waterfront and dead ended at Water street, a couple of doors down from Calvert.

On October 29, 1813, April 4, 1814 and then again on October 21, 1815, Elijah Sinners placed advertisements for the "Cheapside Hotel and Indian King Tavern, No. 2, Water Street". He described it as being "contiguous to public business, only half a square from the Merchant's Coffee-house, very convenient to public auctions, and the different wharves." Advertisements he placed on November 18, 1815 and November 14, 1816, referred to it as the "Indian King Tavern and Cheapside Hotel, No. 2, Water Street." In an advertisement dated July 24, 1816, the establishment was referred to as "the Cheapside Hotel, Sinner's Tavern".

"Mr. Sinners" annouced that he would be putting the establishment up for sale in a advertisement dated June 3, 1818 where he again referred to it as the "Cheapside Hotel, and Indian King Tavern, No. 2, Water-street". He described it as at the "head of Water st," and stated that the

"old establishment is now in excellent repair, having twenty good rooms, all in good order; there are excellent cellars under the the whole premises, with a hydrant of water in the yard."

We must remember here, that Elijah Sinners did not own the hotel, and he was not holder of the properties lease, so he was in no position to sell it. He must have therefore been running the advertisement for the lease holder, Henry, or perhaps his son, John H. Speck. At the time, Sinners was also proprietor of Fell's Point Coffee House and Sinner's Hotel (formerly Pamphilion's) in Fell's Point.

On July 14, 1818, W. Garner ran an advertisement in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser, announcing that he had taken over the "Cheapside Hotel (Late Sinners')". By the following year, however, we see that the proprietorship had been changed gain. In an advertisement in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper on June 6, 1819, the "Cheapside Hotel and Indian King Tavern, Water-st. No. 2" is listed under the proprietorship of "A. Forsyth, Jun."; the ad was not implying that this was new proprietorship. Just ten days later on June 16, 1819, another advertisement for City Bank Paper describes themselves at "No. 21, Water Street, three doors from South Street opposite the Indian Queen and Eastern Shore Hotel". "The Baltimore Directory corrected up to June 1819" lists "Alexander Forsyth" [Jr] as "propietor of the Indian King tavern and eastern shore hotel, 2 Water st." It would appear then that the tavern had been renamed to the Eastern Shore Hotel, about the time Alexander Forsyth Jr's took over the proprietorship, and that the June 6 ad was a misprint. There was also an announcement in the Baltimore Patriot on February 21, 1821, that a demonstration of a new mill would take place at the "Eastern Shore Hotel, No. 2, Water street."

As we saw earlier, the lease was assigned by John H. Speck to John Gold on March 23, 1820. A little over a year later, on May 7, 1821, the auctioneer James Horton made an announcement in the Baltimore Patriot that the "The Cheapside Hotel" would be put up for auction/sale. The ad does not explicitly include the Indian King Tavern. The hotel is further described as

"Situated at the head of Cheapside, fronting Water street, 45 feet, extending back, and binding on Franklin lane, 127 feet 6 inches, ... The improvements are a Two Story Brick Building, covering the whole front, with a Two story back Building, which have been recently thoroughly repaired. The establishment was much improved the last year, by the erection of a three story, back Building, advantageously laid off in Dining and Lodging Rooms, Piazzas, &c. Also, a Brick Stable, capable of accommodating 20 Horses; Smoke House, Dairy, and other necessary out-houses, universally admitted to be one of the best ready money stands in the city."

Applications were to be made to "Mr. Speck." Since John H. Speck was no longer the lease holder, this must be referring to William A. Speck, who we find in the "The Baltimore directory for 1822 & '23", as "proprieter of the cheapside hotel, 2 Water st." We also see that the hotel's name had been reverted. A few months later on September 26, 1821, the Baltimore Patriot included an announcement for a meeting to take place at the "Indian King Tavern, in Water-st," no mention was made of the Cheapside Hotel.

It would appear from the previous two ads, that that Alexander Forsyth Jr. had been replaced as the proprietor. This may have led to the following. On January 22, 1822, a Constable's sale was announced to sell off the property of Alexander Forsyth Jr.'s seized for rent due Anthony Favier. It listed his later dwelling as in South Street. From February 7, 1822 through May 13, 1822, numerous announcements were made in the Baltimore Patriot referring to him as an "insolvent debtor" and announcing a hearing to appoint trustees and provide information as to his outstanding debts. There were no further reports on Alexander Forsyth Jr. In the 1822/23 city directory and thereafter he is found living on Pennsylvania Avenue with or near his parents initially as a victualler and then later as a drover, trader, and dealer in livestock.

It wasn't bad just for Forsyth though. As we saw earlier, Gould was forced to turn over the lease to William Speck in March of that year, shortly after they were both sued for massive debts, resulting of them eventually losing it altogether.

Perhaps the one making out best in all of this was Elijah R. Sinners. In the 1822 city directory, he was listed as the proprietor of the Globe Hotel, located on the south side of Water St., opposite the Exchange Hotel and across from Frederick St. On page 251 of the same directory, he ran an advertisement for the Globe Hotel. The 1829 Baltimore Directory lists Sinners at 65 Water St.

Additional Maps and Views:

The 1852 map differs from the 1836 by showing Lombard St. going all the way through to South St., where in 1836 is stopped at Calvert.

The 1865 map also shows Lombard St. going all the way through to South St.

I have circled the location in this 1869 reporduction of the city.

Today, the property holds an 11 story parking structure.