Charlie Birger
| Charles Birger | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Shachnai Itzik Birger February 5, 1881 Adygea, Russian Empire |
| Died | April 19, 1928 (aged 47) Benton, Franklin County, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nationality | Russian-Jewish-American |
| Other names | Charlie Birger |
| Occupation | soldier, cowboy, miner, saloon keeper, businessman, bootlegger, criminal gang leader |
| 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. |
| Founder | Charles "Charlie" Birger |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Crab Orchard, Williamson County, Illinois |
| Years active | 1920-1928 |
| Territory | Southern Illinois |
| Ethnicity | Jewish-European-American |
| Membership (est.) | 16 |
| Criminal activities | bootlegging, murder |
| Rivals | Shelton Brothers Gang |
Charles "Charlie" Birger, born Shachna Itzak Birger (February 5, 1881 – April 19, 1928), was an American bootlegger during the Prohibition period in Southern Illinois.
Charles Birger was born to a Jewish family in what is now Lithuania, then in the Russian Empire, 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 Post-Dispatch 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 U.S. Army and was assigned to Company G of the newly formed 13th Cavalry Regiment, then stationed in South Dakota. 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, Beatrice, and became a miner in the quickly expanding coal mining community of Harrisburg, later to become a keeper at one of the local saloons.
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.
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.
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