{{short description|American mobster (1881–1928)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox criminal | name = Charles Birger | image = Charlie Birger On Trial, ~1927 | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Shachnai Itzik Birger | birth_date = {{birth date|1881|2|5}} | birth_place = Adygea, Russian Empire | death_date = {{death date and age|1928|4|19|1881|2|5}} | death_place = Benton, Illinois, U.S. | death_cause = Execution by hanging | occupation = Soldier, cowboy, miner, saloon keeper, bootlegger, criminal gang leader | other_names = Shachna Birger | known_for = Bootlegging and leading the Birger Gang, who fought a bloody war with the Ku Klux Klan and the Shelton Brothers Gang over the domination of southern Illinois. Birger was the last person to be publicly hanged in Illinois. | signature = | footnotes = | conviction = Murder | criminal_status = Executed | criminal_penalty = Death }} {{Infobox Criminal organization | name = Birger Gang | founded = | founding_location = Crab Orchard, Williamson County, Illinois | founder = Charles "Charlie" Birger | years_active = 1920-1928 | territory = Southern Illinois | ethnicity = Jewish | membership_est = 16 | criminal_activities = Bootlegging, murder, proprietor of gambling houses | rivals = Shelton Brothers Gang }} '''Charles''' "'''Charlie'''" '''Birger''' (born Shachnai Itzak Birger, February 5, 1881 – April 19, 1928) was an American bootlegger during the Prohibition period in southern Illinois.
==Early life== Charles Birger was born on February 5, 1881 in the Russian Empire to Jewish parents. The family immigrated to the United States when he was a child. They settled in St. Louis, which was also where he got a job as a news boy with the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' newspaper when he was aged eight.
On July 5, 1901, Birger enlisted himself in the United States Army. He was stationed in South Dakota to Company G of the newfound 13th Cavalry Regiment. Throughout his time in the military, he was described as a good soldier. He was honorably discharged on July 4, 1904, at Fort Meade, South Dakota. After this endeavour, he became a cowboy. He eventually made it back to Illinois, where he met his first wife of four, Edna. The two had a daughter together.
Birger married again in 1921, this time with Beatrice Bainbridge of Harrisburg, Illinois. Charlie later became a miner in Harrisburg, where he was to eventually become a keeper at one of the local saloons.
==Bootlegger and gang leader== Following World War I, 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.{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
Birger initially based his operation in Harrisburg, southern Illinois. 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 Marion. A small barbecue stand just off the highway served as the guard shack.
Birger was involved in at least one murder and bootlegging activity in the Jackson County village of Dowell<ref>{{cite news |title=Birger Gang Angle Marks Murder Case From Dowell |publisher=The Daily Independent |date=Oct 1, 1927 |location=Murphysboro, Illinois}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Birger Ready, Cocky Before Trial |publisher=The Daily Independent |date=Jul 7, 1927 |location=Murphysboro, Illinois |page=1}}</ref><ref name="Smallneighbor">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= The Small Neighbor |newspaper= Southern Illinoisan |date= January 11, 1990 }}</ref><ref name="Murphsboro">{{cite news |author= P. Wiseman |title= The Village of Dowell- A Changing Community |newspaper= Murphysboro American |date= August 8, 1984}}</ref>
==War with the Ku Klux Klan== Charlie Birger and the Shelton Brothers Gang 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 supported national prohibition. Alcohol was regarded as an "un-American" vice practiced by White ethnic immigrants, many of whom were Roman Catholics and other religions.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Luckhurst |first=Toby |date=16 January 2020 |title=Prohibition: US activists fight for temperance 100 years on |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51090163 |access-date=1 May 2026 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Many of these immigrants worked in the coal mines of southern Illinois, living mainly in very small towns while maintaining a very strong ethnic pride. 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 Scotch-Irish origin and belonging to the Baptist and other traditional Protestant churches.
The Klan soon found a charismatic leader in Seth Glenn Young, a 58-year-old former federal law enforcement officer.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://genealogytrails.com/ill/williamson/obity.htm|title=Williamson County, Illinois Obituaries and Death Notices}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dowell May Call Ku Klux to Rid Town of its Booze |newspaper=The Daily Independent |date=July 26, 1923 |location=Murphysboro, Illinois |page=1}}</ref>
Many elected public officials of Williamson County were viewed{{Who|date=May 2013}} as being allies of the bootleggers, perhaps correctly. These elected public officials were driven from office and replaced by Klan members. The Illinois 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, fellow Klansmen Edward Forbes and Omer Warren joined in the melee, and all four men were fatally wounded.<ref>[http://genealogytrails.com/ill/williamson/glennyoung.htm S Glenn Young<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> The Klan held a public funeral for Young that was attended by more than 15,000 people.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Humanities |first=National Endowment for the |date=1925-01-27 |title=Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, January 27, 1925, Image 1 |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86063730/1925-01-27/ed-1/seq-1/ |access-date=2023-09-11 |issn=0894-2064}}</ref>
In April 1926, Charlie Birger and the Shelton Brothers joined forces to attack the remaining Klan leaders in Herrin, using Tommy guns and shotguns. The police were called repeatedly, but chose not to respond. Three Klansmen and two anti-Klansmen were killed in a shootout. The Klan buried its dead and the coroner ruled that their deaths were homicides "by parties unknown".<ref>{{Cite news |date=1926-04-16 |title=Klan Funerals in Herrin (04/16/1926) |pages=1 |work=Leader-Telegram |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/leader-telegram-klan-funerals-in-herrin/18194643/ |access-date=2023-12-28}}</ref>
Although the Klan's losses were not large, the Herrin attack broke the back of the local KKK. Lawfully elected local 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 start of his war with the Shelton Brothers Gang over local bootlegging control.
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, but the dynamite that they dropped missed. Many were killed during the war, and sometimes it was not clear which side they were on. Three deaths in particular became important in ending Birger's own life.
Joseph Adams was the mayor of West City, Illinois, 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 [Shelton]". 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)<ref>[https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1927-02-07/ed-1/seq-13/#date1=01%2F18%2F1927&index=1&date2=03%2F31%2F1927&searchType=advanced&language=&sequence=0&words=Lory+Price&proxdistance=5&rows=20&ortext=&proxtext=&phrasetext=Lory+Price&andtext=&dateFilterType=range&page=1 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{{Who|date=May 2013}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2013}}
==Hanging== In June 1927, Birger was arrested on a charge of ordering the contract killing of Mayor Joseph 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, which his political allies did not control.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1927-02-21 |title=CRIME: Dodging Dynamiters |url=https://time.com/archive/6897121/crime-dodging-dynamiters/ |website=TIME}}</ref>
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 receive the death penalty while the confessed triggerman was sentenced only to prison in return for his cooperation with investigators.
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 the last man to be executed in a public hanging in Illinois. Birger shook hands with the hangman, Philip Hanna (the "humane hangman"), 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":
<poem> ::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. </poem> :::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 Shachnai 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 who had supervised the execution sued the local historical museum in an attempt to regain possession of the noose used in the hanging.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 December 2006 |title=In Illinois, custody battle rages over a noose |url=https://tucson.com/news/article_34cfe2e0-dbac-5ade-b975-caa0bc21f858.html |access-date=1 May 2026 |work=Arizona Daily Star}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Biography}} * ''Bad Charleston Charlie'', a highly fictionalized version of Birger's life story as a 1973 film comedy * List of people executed in the United States in 1928
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Further reading== * Angle, Paul M. 1952, Rep. 1993. ''[http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/56zef2zd9780252062339.html Bloody Williamson - A Chapter in American Lawlessness]''. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. {{ISBN|0-252-06233-7}}. * DeNeal, Gary. 1981, 2nd Ed. 1993. ''A Knight of Another Sort''. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press. 304 pages. {{ISBN|0-8093-2216-1}} (hardcover), {{ISBN|0-8093-2217-X}} (paperback). * Galligan, George and Jack Wilkinson. 1927, Reprinted 1985. ''In Bloody Williamson''. Marion, Ill.: Williamson County Historical Society. * Hill, E. Bishop. 1927, Rep. 2006. ''[https://archive.org/details/completehistoryo00hill/mode/2up Complete History of Southern Illinois Gang War: The True Story of Southern Illinois Gang Warfare]''. Marion, Ill.: Williamson County Historical Society. * Johnson, Ralph, and Jon Musgrave. 2010. ''[http://www.illinoishistory.com/books Secrets of the Herrin Gangs]''. Marion, Ill.: [http://www.illinoishistory.com IllinoisHistory.com]. 96 pages. * Small, Curtis G. 1970. ''Mean Old Jail''. Harrisburg, Ill.: Register Publishing Co. * Taylor, Merlin Moore "The Smashing of Little Egypt's Gangster King (Part I)", [https://archive.org/stream/TrueDetective0730/TrueDetective07-30#page/n49/mode/2up ''True Detective Mysteries'']. (July 1930) pp. 48ff. * Taylor, Merlin Moore "The Smashing of Little Egypt's Gangster King (Part II)", [https://archive.org/stream/TrueDetective0830#page/n49/mode/2up ''True Detective Mysteries'']. (August 1930) pp. 48ff.
==External links== * {{Cite magazine |title=Dodging Dynamiters |date=February 21, 1927 |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751586,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071106065500/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,751586,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 6, 2007 |accessdate=December 1, 2010}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080523061223/http://www2.wsiu.org/highlights03/030319birger/index.shtml ''The Legend of Charlie Birger'' - WSIU-TV documentary (2003)] * [http://www.carolyar.com/Illinois/Govern/Birger.htm Crime in Southern Illinois: Birger & his Boys] by Rich Davis * {{Cite book |first=Gary |last=DeNeal |title=A Knight of Another Sort: Prohibition Days and Charlie Birger |edition=2nd |publisher=The Interstate Printers & Publishers |location=Danville, Illinois |isbn=0-8093-2216-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVbPwpvAl-QC&q=%22Bad+Charleston+Charlie%22&pg=PR24 |year=1998}} * [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~jgholson/03330GwaltneyJohn.htm ''Charlie Birger'' - Southern Illinois Poetry, John L. Gwaltney] * {{Find a Grave|8581716}} * {{Internet Archive author |sname=Charles Birger |sopt=t}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Birger, Charles}} Category:1881 births Category:1928 deaths Category:20th-century American murderers Category:20th-century executions of American people Category:American bootleggers Category:American crime bosses Category:American people executed for murder Category:Executed American gangsters Category:Executed Russian people Category:Jewish American gangsters Category:Military personnel from Missouri Category:People convicted of murder by Illinois Category:People executed by Illinois by hanging Category:People from Franklin County, Illinois Category:People from Harrisburg, Illinois Category:People from O'Fallon, Missouri Category:Prohibition gangs Category:American gangsters of the interwar period Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Category:People executed by public hanging