Late night departure left no prior notice

MILFORD — The historic Tom Quick Inn closed its doors suddenly late last week, apparently at the stroke of midnight on Friday, Oct. 1. The departure was so sudden that tablecloths were left on the outdoor tables the following day, Borough Police Chief Gary Williams said. The inn was to host portions of the Black Bear Film Festival this weekend and an unsuspecting festival executive director, Nancy Pitcher, said she had to scramble to make alternative plans at the Fauchere. “The first I heard about it was when somebody rang to say the Inn was closed,” said Pitcher. “They never contacted us.” This week, the occasional diner could still be seen trying the locked doors before turning away. Handwritten notes taped inside the inn’s glass doors gave the only explanation. “Due to unforeseen circumstances the Tom Quick will be closed until further notice. We sincerely apologize....” The note went on to point out pamphlets for other restaurants on a nearby table. The inn reopened under current management in summer of 2009 after extensive renovations. But the new co-owner and managing director Reza Ghassemi was voted out and forced to leave the inn last November after allegations of mishandled funds by his two co-owners, Logan William Chiles and Joseph Broesler. Ghassemi, unavailable to comment this week, has denied these allegations in the past, accusing the two of ganging up on him. He alleges he was promised full financial backing by them and had to use money from the operating account to keep the inn running. The matter now rests with the courts. Following Ghassemi’s departure, there was talk in the local business community of inexperienced management at the inn and that payroll and sales taxes had gone unpaid, said Richard Snyder, co-owner of the neighboring Emerson House and Fauchere Hotel. The recent recession has been hard on all local businesses, he added. None of the principals could be reached for comment as The Courier went to press. History Before 1950 the existing inn building was two separate hotels, the Center Square House and the Terwilliger House. They were operated by two sisters, Corinne Beck Frieh and Amanda Beck Terwilliger. The Second Empire Terwilliger House, on the right side facing Broad Street, is the oldest of the two. It was built in the 1880s. The two hotels, joined as the Tom Quick Inn, are the largest single building in the borough. The Tom Quick Inn was opened as such in 1950. Owner Robert C. Phillips later sold the inn to Richard Lutfy, who in turn operated it for many years. The kitchen and restaurant were renovated after a serious fire damaged the inn two decades ago. Subsequent operator, Abraham Wohl closed the business and was foreclosed upon by creditors in the summer of 2006. The building was abandoned and housing squatters when the borough condemned it in December of that year. In September of 2008, Greg Sheinker, a representative of Quantum Corporate Funding, which had obtained the property, settled outstanding legal costs with the borough and told The Courier that he was interviewing operators to manage the inn. A lost liquor license was reacquired for the property and the property would be restored. “It’s a great building with a tremendous history,” Sheinker said. Ghassemi and his partners reopened the inn the following spring. The curse Local Native Americans, the Lenapes, regard both the inn’s name, and the feather used in its logo as an insult. Chief Dr. Carroll Medicine Crow Holloway, who lived in Milford and who claims to be a direct descendant of the original Lenapes, in the past has predicted that until some kind of reparation for the wrongs done against his people are made, the inn will never succeed. “There’s a curse on it,” he claimed. The inn’s namesake, Tom Quick (1734-1795), was said to have been the first white child born in what is today Milford. His father was killed in an Indian raid on their home, which Quick was said to have witnessed and which is supposed to have started a lifelong quest for revenge. In later years, he told stories about the Indians that he had killed, none of which have ever been documented. Accounts vary in the number; anywhere from six to close to 100 Indians were said to have died by Quick’s hand. During the Indian Wars in the late 19th century, the borough erected monument to Quick, who was then hailed as a hero. His reputation declined with time and today many people see Quick, if his tales were true, as a sociopath and serial killer. In 1997, Quick’s zinc monument in the middle of Sarah Street was vandalized with a sledgehammer and severely damaged. A replacement was purchased, but never erected. Mention of a curse came up frequently in reporting this story.da Fields

Due to unforeseen circumstances the Tom Quick will be closed until further notice. We sincerely apologize...”Note posted by management at the Tom Quick Inn