General Wayne Inn

"Chabad of The Main Line" redirects here. For other uses, see Chabad.

The General Wayne Inn is a former tavern and, since 2005, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 625 Montgomery Avenue, in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

General Wayne Inn
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	625 Montgomery Avenue, Merion Station, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Coordinates	40°0′33″N 75°15′13″W
Built	1704
NRHP reference No.	76001655[1]
Added to NRHP	January 1, 1976

Tavern history

The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Established as a tavern in 1704, it was previously named the William Penn Inn, Wayside Inn, Tunis Ordinary, and Streepers Tavern before being renamed in 1793 in honor of American Revolutionary War hero General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who had once stayed there. The Inn gained fame for rumors of being "haunted" and was later featured on Unsolved Mysteries.^[2]

Murder and suicide

Executive chef James Edwin “Jim” Webb and his business partner Guy Angelo Sileo, Jr. bought the General Wayne in 1995. Webb was found murdered there in his office on December 27, 1996. Felicia Moyse, a 20-year-old assistant chef at the inn and Sileo's girlfriend, committed suicide on February 22, 1997.^[3]

Moyse had been an alibi witness for Sileo. On the night of the murder, she and Sileo left the General Wayne at the same time, driving to dinner in their separate vehicles.^[3] Sileo doubled back, killed Webb using a .25 Beretta Model 20 pistol later linked to him by forensic evidence, then rushed to arrive at dinner before Moyse.

Police believe that Moyse realized her boyfriend had set her up as his alibi and was unable to live with it.^[3][4]

Police proved that Sileo had killed Webb in order to receive the $650,000 (equivalent to $1,303,000 in 2024) life insurance money from their partnership policies, before Webb could end their partnership and shut down the General Wayne.^[5] Sileo was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison.^[5]

Famous people

Famous people who visited the inn include:

• Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette
• Julius Erving
• Benjamin Franklin
• Dylan Gelula
• William Penn
• Edgar Allan Poe
• George Washington
• Anthony Wayne

Synagogue

Chabad of the Main Line
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Chabad-Lubavitch
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Shraga Sherman Rabbi Baruch Shalom Davidson
Status	Active
Location
Location	625 Montgomery Avenue, Merion Station, Pennsylvania 19066
Country	United States
Architecture
Completed	2005
Website
chabadmainline.org

In 2005, the building was purchased and renovated as Chabad of the Main Line, an Orthodox Jewish congregation that practices in the Chabad-Lubavitch rite. Located on the Philadelphia Main Line, the congregation converted the former tavern into a synagogue and community center.^[6][7]