Teri Horsley - The Milders Inn of Fairfield, Ohio: Gangsters, Baseball & Fried Chicken

Published by American Palate

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.net

Copyright 2016 by Teri Horsley

All rights reserved

Front cover, top left: Greg Lynch/Journal-News.

First published 2016

e-book edition 2016

ISBN: 978.1.62585.671.5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957668

print edition ISBN 978.1.46711.918.4

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is dedicated to Tully Milders for sharing his story; to my mother, Margaret Hoel, for her continued encouragement; and to the Lord Jesus Christ, who helped me to find the words whenever life got in the way of the process.
Im grateful to you all.

FOREWORD

Growing up, I remember visiting my grandparents on my mothers side in Brookville, Indiana, and I learned from them that my ancestors were farmers, coming here from Germany in the 1820s. Because my mother had many relatives, I learned all about their background. Likewise, on my dads side, the Milderses were very few. Just my grandparents Ray and Margaret, my aunt and uncle and a couple of great-aunts and uncles were left by the time I arrived. Since I knew so much about my mothers family, I desperately wanted to learn about the Milderses as well. Later, after I started high school, my father suddenly passed away, and it wasnt too many years later that I lost my grandfather Ray, which gave me a deeper desire to research my family tree. I remember before he died, Ray would sing at local restaurants when the family went out to eat, and folks would come up to him and ask about the Milders Inn days. That always made me so proud. Folks would always ask him to sing and share some of the stories about the exciting times at the inn, and I loved hearing about the family history that I knew so little about. I was amazed by the stories about the famous gangsters who visited the inn in the 1930s, and as a baseball fan, it thrilled me when I heard about the many Cincinnati Reds superstars who befriended my grandparents. In fact, two of the Reds players were married at their home. Readers of this book will see that my familys story is a broad one that illustrates much of the American experience as it occurred in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. There truly is something for everyone, as the pages are filled with food, drama, baseball and music.

In addition to connecting me to my own family history, the stories about the Milders Inn also led to my decision to follow in my familys footsteps as a restaurateur. Having been in the industry for over thirty years, it is with utmost personal pride that I strive today to serve my diners with the same quality, value, great service and pleasant environment that made the Milders Inn famous. It is also with true passion that I continue to fry my great-grandmother Mom Milderss chicken each Monday night at Hamiltons Ryans Tavern, a restaurant that in many ways is similar to the Milders Inn. I still use Moms original iron skillets, and I still share the many stories handed down to me from my aunt Petie, who worked hard to keep the memories of our family alive. Today, even my mother, Marlene Milders Sloneker, assists me each week in the preparation of Moms fried chicken, and we love to reminisce about many of the stories from our past. Now that my own son has followed in my footsteps by embarking on a restaurant career of his own, it is my hope that he will carry on the tradition and share the Milders Inn stories with future generations of our family. It is also my hope that in addition to exploring my familys story, this book will inspire readers to spend some time delving into their own family histories so that, like me, they can learn about their own present circumstances as they are defined by their past.

TULLY MILDERS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to the following:

Tully Milders.

Marlene Milders Sloneker.

Don and Vickie Ryan and the staff of Ryans Tavern.

The extended Milders family.

Alisha Lilley, the owner of Captured Beauty Photography, for her excellent eye and beautiful photos.

Journal News photographer Greg Lynch for always being a true professional.

And a special thanks to Margaret Hoel for her support throughout the entire creative process.

PROLOGUE

On May 27, 1929, at approximately 6:15 p.m., noted Hamilton gangster Joseph Turkey Joe Jacobs was having dinner at the Milders Inn along with gang leader and alleged murderer Bob Zwick. Its believed the two were enjoying Mom Milderss famous fried chicken, as they so often did when dining at the restaurant. Suddenly, in the middle of their meal, they saw a suspicious brown sedan drive past heading west on what is now Fairfields Nilles Road. Leaving their chicken on their plates, the two gangsters ran from the inn and jumped into a green Nash that was parked outside. They took off after the mysterious car. Though no one ever knew why they were determined to catch up with the sedan, it was suspected that they wanted to end a long-running gang war by setting up a joint bootleg liquor deal.

With Zwick behind the wheel and Jacobs in the passenger seat, the two lost sight of the sedan and eventually gave up their chase. Zwick then pulled into an abandoned field behind the Symmes Corner School so they could plan their next move. At around 7:00 p.m., as the two sat between the wheat and high corn, shots suddenly rang out and a deadly ambush was underway. Zwick and Turkey Joe hadnt noticed that the infamous brown sedan had crept up behind them, blocking their exit from the field. As the ensuing machine gun fire ripped through the night, Turkey Joe Jacobs took the brunt of the attack and was shot sixteen times, with eleven bullets hitting him in the head. He died instantly. Bob Zwick, meanwhile, managed to get out of the car and crawl into a ditch, where he hid out and assessed his own injuries. With bullet wounds in his skull and hips and two of his fingers now gone, Zwick decided to make his way back to the Milders Inn, where his girlfriend, Dago Rose Meyer, worked as a waitress.

After staggering out of the field to the road, Zwick hijacked a car by jumping onto its running board and pulled a gun on the female driver. According to the Milders family, it was at this point that the terrified woman gave in to his demands and took him back to the restaurant, where he staggered inside and where Moms fried chicken was still on his plate. With the police and killers now hot on Zwicks tail, his girlfriend helped him into the kitchen so they could begin planning his escape. As they arrived in the back, legend has it that Mom Milders was still frying chicken for the remaining crowd in the dining room. Weighing over three hundred pounds, Mom sat on a stool while she cooked, her large skirt covering the floor around her. As Bob Zwick approached, she remained seated, and without saying a word, she lifted up her skirt and Zwick crawled underneath. Mom reportedly let the gangster remain there until the police left and he was able to make his escape.