Charles "Charlie" Birger (born Shachna Itzak Birger, February 5, 1881 – April 19, 1928) was an American bootlegger during the

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...

period in

southern Illinois Southern Illinois, also known as Little Egypt, is the southern third of Illinois, principally along and south of Interstate 64. Although part of a Midwestern United States, Midwestern state, this region is aligned in culture more with that of th ...

Early life

Charles Birger was born to a Jewish family in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, and emigrated to the United States as a child with his parents. Birger and his family settled in St. Louis, where, aged eight, Charlie got a job as a news boy at the ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-Dem ...

'' newspaper. Later, Birger moved to the O'Fallon, Missouri, area, where he started work in a pool room. On July 5, 1901, Birger enlisted in the

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and was assigned to Company G of the newly formed

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, then stationed in

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. Birger was described as a good soldier and was honorably discharged on July 4, 1904, at Fort Meade, South Dakota. When he left the army, he became a cowboy. However, he eventually returned to Illinois, where he met his wife, Edna, and became a miner in the quickly expanding coal mining community of

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

, later to become a keeper at one of the local saloons.

Bootlegger and gang leader

Following

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, in 1919, the United States adopted national prohibition, which banned the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Birger recognized this as a business opportunity, and in 1920 he joined forces with the

Shelton Brothers The Shelton Brothers, Bob, Joe and Merle, were pioneer country musicians and renowned recording artists based out of Texas from the mid-1930s through the 1960s. They created and popularized the songs ''Johnson's Old Gray Mule'', ''Deep Elm Blues' ...

. Birger initially based his operation in Harrisburg,

. The law authorities in Saline County eventually persuaded him to leave, and he built a fortified speakeasy called Shady Rest just across the line in Williamson County. Shady Rest stood next to old Highway 13, halfway between Harrisburg and

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. A small barbecue stand just off the highway served as the guard shack.

War with the Ku Klux Klan

Charlie Birger and the

Shelton Brothers Gang The Shelton Brothers Gang was an early Prohibition-era bootlegging gang based in southern Illinois. They were the main rivals of the famous bootlegger Charles Birger and his gang. In 1950, the '' Saturday Evening Post'' described the Sheltons ...

fought for control of the coal fields of southern Illinois, but their attention was diverted by a common enemy. In the 1920s the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

supported national prohibition. Alcohol was regarded as an "un-American" vice practiced by immigrants, many of whom were

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s and other religions. Many immigrants worked in the coal mines of southern Illinois, living mainly in very small towns with a strong ethnic identity. Alcohol was a part of their life, and bootlegging came naturally to them. In the spring of 1923, the Klan began organizing in Williamson County, holding meetings attended by more than 5000 people. The Klan drew its support from both the farming community and people in the larger towns, the latter mainly of southern origin and belonging to the

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and other traditional

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churches. The Klan soon found a charismatic leader in S. Glenn Young, a 58-year-old former federal law enforcement officer. Large mobs began going door to door, forcibly searching houses for alcohol. If alcohol was found, the occupants were taken to Klan "prisons". Federal authorities apparently had deputized the Klansmen to aid in the enforcement of Prohibition. Many elected public officials of Williamson County were viewed as being allies of the bootleggers, perhaps correctly. These elected public officials were driven from office and replaced by Klan members. The state government was either unable or unwilling to reestablish lawful authority. On January 24, 1925, a shot was fired in the street in Herrin, Illinois. Deputy Sheriff Ora Thomas responded and walked into a cigar store, where he saw Klan leader Young. Thomas drew his pistol and shot Young twice. Young was able to shoot Thomas once before falling to the floor. Two of Young's companions joined in the melee, and all four men were fatally wounded. The Klan held a public funeral for Young that was attended by more than 15,000 people. In April 1926, Charlie Birger and the Shelton Brothers joined forces to attack the remaining Klan leaders in Herrin, using

Tommy gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Stat ...

s and shotguns. The police were called repeatedly, but did not respond. The Klan buried its dead and the coroner ruled that the deaths were homicides "by parties unknown". Although the Klan's losses were not large, the Herrin attack broke the back of the local KKK. Lawfully elected officials returned to their offices, and Birger and the Shelton Brothers went back into business.

War with the Shelton Brothers Gang

Birger regarded Harrisburg as his hometown. When a small shop was robbed, Birger publicly made good the owner's losses and the suspected thief was found shot dead a few days later. This incident coincided with the beginning of his war with the

, fought over control of bootlegging in the area. By October 1926, the Birger and Shelton Gangs were in open conflict. Both gangs built "tanks"—trucks converted into makeshift armored vehicles from which they could shoot. The Shelton Gang even tried to bomb Shady Rest from the air. The dynamite they dropped missed. Many were killed during the war, and sometimes it was not clear which side they were on. Three deaths became important in ending Birger's own life. Joseph Adams was the mayor of

West City, Illinois West City is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, adjacent to the county seat of Benton. The population was 661 at the 2010 census. History In the late 19th century, West City was a small settlement adjoining Benton on the west. In the earl ...

, a village near Benton. Birger learned that the Sheltons' tank was in Joe Adams' garage for repairs, and demanded the tank. When Adams failed to surrender it, Birger's men orchestrated a drive-by bombing, destroying Adams' front porch. In December 1926, two men, Harry and Elmo Thomasson, appeared at Joe Adams' house, announcing that they "had a letter from Carl helton. They handed a letter to Adams, and as he started to read it, they drew their pistols and shot him dead. The following month, the Shady Rest was destroyed by a series of large explosions and an ensuing fire. Four bodies (one a woman's)The female victim was identified as Mrs Steve George ''Evening Star''. February 7, 1927 p.13
/ref> were found in the ruins, charred beyond recognition. This was widely seen as a decisive blow struck by the Sheltons. At about the same time, Illinois state trooper Lory Price and his wife went missing. Price was widely believed to be associated with the Birger gang. He had been running a scam in which Birger stole cars and hid them until a reward was offered. Then the trooper pretended to find the cars and split the reward with Birger.

Hanging

In June 1927, Birger was arrested on a charge of ordering the murder of Joe Adams. Birger allowed himself to be taken into custody without a fight. He had been arrested many times, and had always been released a few days later. He may not have realized that the trial was to take place in Franklin County, one that he did not control. Birger and the two men who did the killing were convicted; however, only Birger was sentenced to hang. Birger objected that it was unfair he should hang while the confessed trigger man was sentenced only to prison. Nevertheless, Birger was hanged for the murder of Adams on April 19, 1928, at the Franklin County Jail in Benton. At Birger's request, he was accompanied to the gallows by a rabbi and wore a black hood rather than a white one, since he did not want to be mistaken for a Klansman. Charlie Birger was next to last man to be executed in a public hanging in Illinois (Charles Shader was hanged October 10 of that year). He shook hands with the hangman, the "humane hangman" Philip Hanna, and his final words were, "It's a beautiful world." (Local southern Illinois legend attests that Birger said "It's a beautiful day", in defiance, while the newspapers reported the remorseful "It's a beautiful world.") Birger's place as a southern Illinois folk legend is recorded in John L. "Ox" Gwaltney's "Charlie Birger": ::I heard of Charlie Birger way back when I was young ::My daddy told me all about the day that Charlie hung. ::I've heard so many stories, some of his ghastly deeds ::Another tells how Charlie helped poor folks in their needs. ::One said he was a kindly man who never told a lie ::But when somebody crossed him, that man was sure to die ::That Charlie had no Master you can tell from all the tales ::He fought the system all the way, and stayed out of their jails ::I've seen so many pictures, they're hanging on the walls ::The pictures tell the story of Birger's rise and fall ::And when they finally caught him he was sentenced to be hung ::But they hadn't broke his spirit the day the trap was sprung ::When the State had had its vengeance—When Charlie's life was done ::It made one stop to wonder, Who had lost, and who had won. :::John Lastle Gwaltney ''Southern Illinois Poetry'' (1985) Charlie Birger is buried in Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. His marker bears his birth name of Shachna Birger. His sister (Mrs. Rachel Shamsky) and one of his two daughters are buried nearby. Birger's name entered the news again in 2006 when the granddaughter of the county

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

who had supervised the execution sued the local historical museum in an attempt to regain possession of the noose used in the hanging.

References

External links

*
''The Legend of Charlie Birger'' - WSIU-TV documentary (2003)

by Rich Davis *

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birger, Charles 1881 births 1928 deaths 20th-century executions of American people American bootleggers American crime bosses Executed Russian people Jewish American gangsters Military personnel from Missouri People executed by Illinois by hanging People from Franklin County, Illinois People from Harrisburg, Illinois People from O'Fallon, Missouri Prohibition gangs Prohibition-era gangsters United States Army soldiers Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States