Some visitors read about Charlie Birger and the Sheltons and memories are awakened of that time, or they recall stories that their parents or grandparents had passed down.  Over time some have been gracious enough to send me their stories and permit me to post them here.  Read below for some interesting glimpses into a fascinating era!

• Coke deliveries to Shady Rest
• Hazardous delivery route
• Of hangmen, Tommy guns, and state troopers
• Ticket to a hanging
• A glimpse of Birger in his limousine
• A close call
• Ice cream for a gangster

Coke deliveries to Shady Rest -- submitted 8/3/99 by Jeremiah Daniel Ammon
 

Hazardous delivery route -- submitted 5/29/99 by Damon Moore
 

Of hangmen, Tommy guns, and state troopers -- submitted 3/4/99 by Scott Boyd

My family is originally from the Carmi area. My grandfather, Loren Boyd, was an Illinois State Highway Patrolmen in those days. I recall him telling me that chased beer trucks on his Indian motorcycle and shot at them with his pistol.  My Dad says that Grandpa and his partner were White County's only troopers in those days. They had a Ford Touring car and an Indian motorcycle and would take turns with them both.  The photo below shows the White County State Police force dated Sept. 9, 1930.  My Grandfather, Loren Glenmore Boyd, is the one holding up the Indian motorcycle on the left side. His partner, "Crip" Robinson, is the tall skinny trooper second to the right of the lady. My Dad says that he thinks the "civilians" are the State Police head and his wife.

 

Grandpa  said (and my Dad confirms) that he was a close friend of Mr. Phil Hanna, the executioner who hanged Birger.  He said that he recalls a story about Mr. Hanna in a Reader's Digest issue published in the late 30s that claimed that he was the inventor of the modern day Hangman's noose.   Dad says that when he was very young they had gotten a new car and went to visit the hangman. The hangman's house was outside of town down a lane.  Mr. Hanna's wife came out when she recognized Grandpa, and yelled to her husband that it was Loren Boyd.  When Grandpa got out of the car the hangman crawled out from under his front porch carrying a Tommy gun. He told Grandpa that he hadn't recognized the car.  Apparently, according to my dad, Mr. Hanna had a trapdoor built into the floor of his house.  He said that he'd obtained the gun previously when Charlie Birger had told him where it was hidden, in exchange for a good hanging job. Dad also said that Grandpa borrowed the Tommy gun from Mr. Hanna once. It was during the Depression, when Grandpa was a State Policeman, and an area bank was expecting a "run". The bank had a large shipment of cash down from Chicago in anticipation of the "run" and Grandpa was assigned to sit in the bank all night; he borrowed the Tommy gun to "keep him company". My maternal Grandpa, Thomas Hart, was mayor of Muddy, IL. in those days. My Mom tells me that he knew the Shelton Gang because they sometimes stayed in Muddy.

According to family lore, my grandfather was present at the Birger hanging.  He had obtained tickets to the event and made plans to go into town.  Grandma was dead set against him attending; she was afraid that the gang was going to come in and save Charlie at the last minute.  Grandpa went anyway and was always proud of the fact that he had seen the hanging.

My mother remembers the following: Around 1926-7, when she was about 12 yrs old, she saw Charlie Birger driving by in his limousine, with his trenchcoat draped around his shoulders; she being on the curb waiting for the Harrisburg-Dorrisville bus to take her home.  She says she was thrilled to death having seen him! She further remembers that the neighborhood gossips said he had a mistress that lived in a house on the cornor of N. Granger.  Her grandfather's home was on N. Granger. She enjoyed your article so much as she remembers seeing the Shady Rest after it burned, and of course all the excitement of the "gangsters".

Before I was born my Dad, A.D. Jackson, was stopped for the second time by the Birger Gang.  "Mr. Jackson," one of the men said, "you drive a car like one of the Shelton boys, and you wear a hat like him. Next time we're not going to check to see who it is."  The next day my Dad traded cars, and my son has the hat...it's still in good shape.  Nobody wore it after the warning.  Dad was very surprised to find they knew his name. My grandfather, Dr. John Emory Reed, was one of several doctors to pronounce Charlie Birger dead.  Mr. Birger saw my grandfather before the hanging and wished him a good day.  My cousin's grandfather was a member of the state's attorney team who procecuted Charlie B. He later became Judge Neely Glen, and his picture is all over the courthouse at Benton.

May my mother and father rest in peace.  When I was a very small child my mother and father rented a house from a man in E. St. Louis that my mother said had been a member of the Shelton Gang.  I do not remember his name any more, I think his first name was Ed.  One time my father went to pay the rent and Ed was drunk and held my father at gunpoint for 4 hours and finally talked Ed into letting him go home.  They found another house to rent.  When I was about 12 or 13 I had a paper route and Ed was on my route.  One Friday I went to his house to collect for the paper and Ed wanted me to go get him some liquor.  I refused and told him I would go get him ice cream instead.  I went and got him ice cream and from then on until I gave up the route, every Friday I went to the store and got him a quart of chocolate ice cream.

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Last updated August 8, 1999.
Please send comments & suggestions to Curt Westra: cwestra@oocities.com
This page visited  times since March 12, 1999.