The Charlie Birger Gang and Little Egypt
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- čas přidán 11. 07. 2024
- During the era of prohibition, bootleggers fought bloody turf battles over Southern Illinois. This episode explores the forgotten history of Charlie Birger, his gang, and the Shelton brothers.
This is original content based on research by The History Guy. Images in the Public Domain are carefully selected and provide illustration. As images of actual events are sometimes not available, images of similar objects and events are used for illustration.
This episode deals with a period of conflict. All events are portrayed in historical context and for educational purposes. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
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Thank you from a Southern Illinois Resident on covering history from my neck of the woods!!!
It is history (meow) that deserves to be remembered
😂😂💙💙
1:08
Thats a good kitty ! !
*Meow* History will be remembered for sure.
"The History Cat"
The History Kitty right on cue! Meow 🐱 🐈
Twiggy's ears perked up when she heard that Enemy Cat...
It was a catastrophe but it pawleased me. Meownificent.
1:57 A mouser?
Southern Illinois history is well depicted in the book " Bloody Williamson". A real eye opener to the ends people will go to to get what they want.
and the futility of vendettas
Slowly you are introducing your family. We recently got to meet the lovely Mrs. Guy. Now we meet the charming Kitty Guy. You are all wonderful and deserve to be remembered, not just for history lessons, but in everyone's heart as well. God bless and thank you.
Bill the traveler we have four cats, three have made it into THG episodes
The rest of the family that doesn't make it on the video deserves to be forgotten. ;-)
I loved, not only the video but, hearing the cats meow & jumping around(thumps). Thoroughly enjoy the snippets of history. IMHO, The Missus should do the videos on The Ladies, The ‘Kids’ could do the lighter(funnier) ones(?). Whatever works for y’all. Give The Fur Kids a good brush for me. ❤️
@bill the traveler,
There’s an HG Jr who helps out on the podcasts, too. 🙂
History, meow, that deserves to be remembered!
I was looking behind my desk. I thought it was my cat!
Diode Milliampere - I went looking to see if anyone else noticed that too. I think we need to see this cat! LOL!
Should we amend the famous say ' Behind every great man is a woman' to 'behind every great man is a cat' 😊
4:28 "I killed many a mouse but all were good fun.
psikogeek "I killed many a mouse, but never a cod one." LOL!
"I wish to be buried in a Catholic cemetery. That's the last place the devil would look for a Jew." actual quote of Charlie Birger
Thank you very much for posting this. My father remembers all of this. His best friend was also the sheriff (or chief of police) who played a big role in the whole story. My father remembers watching the gangs practice with their machine guns, the tanks the gangs built, the aerial bombin, the Herrin Massacre, the huge presence of the KKK, etc. He was born in 1909 in Marion, IL. His father died in a coal mine accident when my father was about 10 months old. My father died just short of his 102nd birthday in 2011. He also lived through the Tri-State tornado and clearly remembers the dead bodies lined up awaiting burial as well as the fields strewn with dead horses and cattle. He was in school when the tornado hit and lived through the tornado. The Tri-State Tornado would make a good subject for another video of the quality of these videos (hint, hint). It is the most deadly tornado in U.S. history.
For anyone interested, the fascinating story of this era including the Herrin Massacre and other bloody events in the region, I recommend the fascinating book, "Bloody Williamson County." It's an excellent book which I consider part of my family history.
@Bob Miller, a couple weeks ago, I heard a Paul Harvey story that was very surprising. For as much as Al Capone held Chicago like a vice grip, on a personal level he had a very weak constitution and was severely harassed and bullied by other inmates to the point of going to bed crying every night.
He did NOT say "its a beautiful day". He said, "it's a beautiful world". I'm Charlie's great great niece and have heard this story my entire life from people who were present at his execution. Also "bloody Williamson" was never a term. It was "bloody Herrin" a city in Williamson Co. Frankly this makes me discredit every thing you do and that's disappointing.
@@hollymartin4717 There are many versions of history, not all of them accurate. THG does his best to bring you the info he can find. I'm sure that if you reached out to him, he'd love to hear what you have to say. I trust THG more than I do Mainstream Media or Joe Biden for that matter.
COOL! my mother-in-law dated a mussel man (Blackie Cannon) for the Shelton gang when they were running the gambling racket in Peoria in the 40's. My Father-in-law and his family were coal miners in Harrisburg and were telling stories about Little Egypt up into the 70's. The old women would get quite upset when the men started talking about the "old days".
Hello, heard all these stories growing up, the old connections between, Harrisburg, Herrin, DuQuoin and East St lous
That’s sooo cool that your family has a personal connection to a serious part of Illinois history!&that you were able to hear 1st hand accounts of those historic times! Now I’m sure it must’ve been difficult for your family members to have to live through such scary, violent times. I think it just goes to show that we sometimes have no idea what events will turn out to be history&there’s no guarantee that the events we believe have merit to be remembered forever, thank you for sharing your interesting family history.👍🏼👏🏼
A Great-Uncle, born in about 1880, used to tell us that at various times during Prohibition he was a Federal Liquor Inspector and a tail-gunner on a beer truck! Early in his career as an Inspector, he visited a Doctor's office to look over the records (liquor could be legally prescribed for various ailments), which were in perfect order. Remarking about it to another Inspector, he noted that the Doctor's patients appeared to be quite healthy, especially two bulky men in suits. The other Inspector told my Uncle that he had been looking over the books of Al Capone's personal physician! Those were his bodyguards!
Did the mussel man sell mussels? My great-grandfather was a muscle man who hated mussels' fishy taste, so he beat mussel men with his muscles, until he discovered calimari.
I grew up in Gallatin County and grew up hearing stories of the Birgers and Sheltons. My Grandmother would tell stories of seeing Birger on the day he came to ID the body of Casey Jones, who he had killed a few nights earlier.
Gratefully celebrating nearly 13 years of sobriety on this day!
Way to go keep it up.
Celebrating 8 hours of sobriety here.
Good for u! Happy for you! 🤗🤗🤗
Keep working it. Congrats!
@@genghis_connie One day at a time for 15 years now! Thank you!
I love cutting across US60 from Paducah, KY to Charleston, MO through the southern Illinois tip. Those old bridges are really cool. 🙂
Structural treasures indeed, albeit linking terrible *historical* places with a nefarious history.
I am from Williamson county but currently live in Arkansas. I always drive through Cario even though it is out of the way because I find it so fascinating. There is a lot of history in Southern Illinois. It makes me sad everytime I drive through. It seems like everywhere there is dying except Marion.
Never have I seen such a depressing town like Cairo in the early nineties
Who was worse in little Egypt Wars: Klan versus bootleggers and Shelton Burger wars later on? A Thompsonb sub gun would havebeen a nice defense weapon to have.
Thanks History Guy for telling our story! I have stood at the spot on the gravel road where Carl was killed. His funeral brought world-wide attention to our small town of Fairfield.
The wonderful thing about your channel is the amount of research going into every segment and the care shown in the presentation. History is a dry subject until you bring it alive and make it interesting. Thank you
Thank you for reminding me that I grew up in "Bloody Williamson" and of stories my grandparents told me of Little Egypt's infamous gang war!
Two of my great grandfathers work for the Birger gang, One was in law-enforcement the other bootlegger, You did a wonderful job presenting the truth
I used to live in Herrin, several buildings downtown had spots where bullets knocked them. Still a couple left but most have since been torn down. I lived a block from where the Shelton's once lived. Some of the old timers in the hood told me of all the crazy stuff that went on at their house.
Thank you History Guy. Very timely. Was just explaining the Sheltons to my daughter last Friday based on what my dad told me in the 1970s about the Peoria end of the story. You filled in some of the missing pieces from my poor memory. Dad had a little too much detail about their operations on Farmington road and was vague about how he knew. 1939 & 1940 he made a lot of money & would never discuss how. Mom worried until she died in 2008, he had worked for the Sheltons as a cash courier from Peoria to points south. Wish I could remember the details.
Living here in southern Illinois all my life I know a lot of Charlie Birger and the Shelton gang. I have seen and know where Charlie’s old hideout Shady Rest is
i went looking but didnt find it ... just the general area ... is there anything left to look at?
The only thing of the Shady Rest is the foundation. It is inbetween Marion and Harrisburg on route 13.
The History Kitty wants to be on camera!! Please give the History Kitty some camera time. 4:27 There's the History Kitty!! Stole some camera time.
Seth Green that one is named Lucky. She is our shy cat. I snuck in a take when she wasn’t looking.
One of our adopted cats thinks my underwear drawer is a snug nest lol. She won't let her sister near it.
The History Kitty can not steal something that is already hers...
“When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade without further introduction” ~ Mark Twain
The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered p
My maternal Grandmother was a Shelton and the “Shelton Gang” members were her cousins. I grew up in a small town in southern Illinois and knew nothing about this or the Herrin massacre until I was grown. Shameful secrets were kept, not only from me, but most of the people of the community. Thanks for telling this story.
The irony is the book Bloody Williamson was purchased by almost every local library, including the high schools. But they kept getting stolen. Hmmm imagine that.
It is history(meow) that needs to be remembered.
You have a great costar!
Upstaged by a cat... (( :
Thank you for this video! I grew up in Wayne County Illinois, and the Shelton gang is still a legend there. Very cool to hear a story about happenings from where I grew up!
"I've killed many men....but never a good one" Delightfully chilling! Certainly a comment that deserves to be remembered!
Thank you for doing a story on my great great grandfather Charlie . You are very accurate and correct on the facts of Charlie and did him some justice thank you for treating him with respect and justice.
My parents and aunts lived in west Frankfort and Benton and knew him
Your grandfather murdered my fiances' kinfolk...Edith Prudence Jackson...small world
You might find the books By Ruthie Shelton interesting
Thank you for bringing Charlie Birger and the Sheltons to light, I mentioned Southern Illinois after viewing the program about Kansas City to your program, as a side note my dad William Vaughn skipped school and hitched a ride on a train to see Charlie Birgers hanging, also my mom was sweet on one of the members
members of the Birger gang. Grest show, keep it up.
I live in West Frankfort, Il. a town right next to Benton, Il. where Charlie Birger was hanged. Neat stuff. Also went to school in Herrin, Il. schools.
You always do a fine job! Your stories are short, fact filled and addictive! Thank you for your labor of passion! Do not forget your history, unless you choose the curse of it repeating itself!
My grandfather once arrested Birger. Grandfather was the sheriff in East St. Louis at the time.
When I was in my early 20s I lived in West Frankfort just South of Benton. We visited the museum and learned the history of Charlie Birger. What fascinated me most was Shady Rest. I began to collect pictures, maps and information and for a few months visited the area where Shady Rest was located. By the time I was done I had figured out the location of the old cabin (now long gone) and discovered artifacts buried in the ground as well as a few old buildings and foundations. I was able to find old aerial photographs and pinpoint many of the structures. The entire experience was awesome and it was like going back in time. The area had been strip mined and was completely abandoned.
As a resident of Williamson County I'm glad to hear you tell a good article of my area. Another great article from The History Guy!
Your presentations are always intriguing, interesting, entertaining and educational. Yours was the first channel to which I subscribed and now it will be the first to which I donate… soon as I figure out how!
Billy Sargent www.patreon.com/thehistoryguy
I was born in far Southern Illinois. Two other interesting stories are those of Old Shawneetown and the pirates on the Ohio River at Cave-In-Rock. Southern Illinois more resembles Kentucky. Hilly and forested allowing for lots of hiding places.
Same here. Anna Illinois is my home town. I knew some of the stories about Cave In Rock, but not about Shawnee town. I'll have to ask my dad when I talk to him tomorrow if members of these gangs were the ones that beat the heck out of him in the mid 50's. He was a reporter for the Southern Illinoisian back then.
Howdy, born in Golconda in 1933 myself.
What stories are related to old shawneetown? I can only find information on the bank.
Shawneetown was the first gateway to the west and had the land grant office.
The Harpe brothers and Cave in rock.... my uncle was in a Walt Disney movie shot there in the 50's lots of history 👍🏻
Hamilton county here. Went to Old town often. Done a lot of boating up and down the Ohio from Old Town to E town. Love that area.
Thank you for this! I love hearing Southern Illinois history!
Thank you. Fantastic History Reporting!
I do so love this channel.
Thanks history guy!! Great video :)
As always history guy, you deliver a great story every time.
I really love history and I really appreciate how you present it. I'm glad that I found your channel. Thank you for your hard work and efforts to educate us. It's all fascinating. 🌹
Another poignant gem. Thanks History Guy!
Gotta love your knowledge of local history! Downstate Illinois and the St. Louis area are lucky to have you!
Good stuff. Loved each of your videos.
Thank you for sharing this !
I do indeed enjoy learning and sharing stories of history and i very much enjoy your presentations. Thank you and keep up the great work.
Wonderful episode. I've always found Charlie Birger to be an interesting person.
Thanks!
Your presentations are always intriguing, interesting, entertaining and educational. Yours was the first channel to which I subscribed and now it will be the first to which I donate… Soon as I figure out hell!
There's a lot more history in this area than anyone realizes. Thank you.
Please keep these up. Especially for us out in the boonies we need to know our history too.
This explains a lot about my grandparents in that era.
This was really good like all ur vids. Always happy to see a notification from u.
Love your Channel and The History Thank You!!!!
I really like this episode ,
I watch a lot of your videos.
Flight history has a special spot.
But I LOVE history.
Thank you history guy.
The recording of your cat did not go unnoticed.
That's great.
Lol! I adore history kitty! Great upload! I've never been disappointed by your uploads!
I'm from St.Louis originally and still have family there. This just made the next trip better. Tyvm!
Thanks my friend! I love your videos.
Great video! My grandfather grew up in the early 1900s in Saline county, and held onto his family's farmland most of the century, even though he moved to E. St. Louis where I was later born. I knew much of that area like the back of my hand. Stories were aplenty from the area of Shawneetown, Herrin, Thompsonville to Eldorado, and my great-grandfather was a deputy sheriff. Apparently he got involved in a knife fight out in front of a church up on Parker Hill, north of Galatia - but they stopped to go in and sing hymnals.
Parker Hill just across the saline Hamilton county line. There is a old church still standing.
Born in Marion and lived in West Frankfort when I was young. Then my Father's job took him to Metropolis and on to Louisville Kentucky when I turned 5. I knew some of these stories from my Grand Parents. Thanks for the details. Very interesting. My Great Uncle gave me a book on Birger and those times. It was published locally in Illinois. When I pass I have already bought a plot in West Frankfort because all my family is there.
Always interesting and always informative, very enjoyable.
My father was a young man in Milwaukee in this period. His reminisces were quite fascinating.
Sir: your quarter hour is much appreciated. Bringing to life if only in your narrative knaves and knights and events that have made us who we are. That is a nice Tabby you have.
I enjoyed History class in HS but got to say ,I've learned more from you in the past week then I ever did at school. Thank you x
My Grandmother always told me a story about Charlie Berger Gang since I was 9 years old. I am 64 now. The Charlie Berger gang shot some miners with machine guns right in front of her and her friends, they were around 16 years old. The gang shot down the miners and told them to move along waving their Thomson Machine guns. She lived in Franklin County. My mom was born in Buckner, Illinois. Little Egypt - I always remembered that story since a young lad in the sixties.
Love the "meow" at 1:09 and then seeing the cat later in the video! Love the content as well - love all your history videos. I wonder if we'll (speaking for the US) ever look at the War on Drugs in the same way some time in the future.
Great story! Surprised no one has made a movie about "Little Egypt and the Clan Wars".
Thanks for your time and knowledge
this channel is the best!
There is a book called Bloody Williamson that is very good. Good job history guy! There was a lot going on in southern Illinois back then. I'm from this area. My grandpa use to talk about this. He said Al Capone wouldn't go south of Peoria because of the Sheldon and Birger gangs.
Is this the debut of The History Kitty? I don't remember him (or her) from other videos.
dodg1988 we have four cats, three have made it into episodes. This was Lucky’s first appearance.
perhaps a mini show introducing them?
There was an episode just about cats.
Looking quite snazzy tonight, Mr. History Guy!
Nancy Miller dude is straight money
Thank you history guy for another good report. Keep them coming! P. S. Enjoy the cat's appearance
I'd love for you to do a video on the 'local man who had a beef' with the Sheltons, Charles 'Blackie' Harris. Burger and Shelton are the big names but Harris was the most dangerous man in the area.
You're the best, HG.👍
What an incredible episode! It was chock-full of prime examples of the worst behaviors humanity can stoop to, all in one small Illinois town. I had to watch it twice just to wrap my mind around all the events. The main lesson here is: bad things happen when you take away booze!
We especially enjoyed the parts about aerial bombardment, and most especially the cross-dressing would-be assassins. 😂 The chutzpah!
Also, the debut of another History Cat marks a momentous occasion, the Star Trek reference made us laugh so hard (you’re a fellow nerd! Yay!), your tie today is an especially stylish sartorial selection - the only thing that could have made this video better would have been an appearance by the lovely and talented Mrs. History Guy! Thank you so much for the quality work you consistently produce, History Guy!
Brilliant presentation! TY
1:08 "It is History (meow!) that deserves to be remembered." Say hello to your cat for me :) - and again at 1:57 I'm lovin' it :p
Thanks for the great video.
I love your history partner, they were purrrfect
Thanks for the interesting story. I'm glad I subscribed.
History, meow, that needs to be remembered. Love the feline interlude and more fascinating history.
East St. Louis is still one of the most dangerous places in America to live still today.
Not even in top 100 worst
@@forevergone3637 I guess facts don't matter to you.
Thank you History Guy
excellent coverage of the sheltons and birger. i have visted little egypt many times and reside in east central illinois. i would like to see a history guy episode about tom horn if at all possible. i really like your history guy episodes
I lived 20 years in McDonough County Illinois. This is where Capone's gang was getting the hooch. An old man told me, "It's a little hard to think of them as bad guys. They'd show up with a turkey, basket of fruit and toys for the children." There was an abandoned resort where I was told Capone and his gang would go to get away on weekends.
Great video thank you
I live in southern Illinois so I found this very interesting! Thanks!
Damn .. I thought that this was going to be about the Little Egypt that danced at the Chicago World's Fair. Now that's history that deserves to be remembered...
merry christmas to you, wife and family, please stay safe and warm and take care of your pets too. i want you guys around a long time. love your show and thanks.
I am a huge fan. Please talk about the Toledo War
I love your channel! You do excellent work. Two suggestions I think you would find interesting: "The Meeting Street Murders" and the life of Manse Jolly.
Awesome Channel !
Recently found out I am a direct descendant of Charlie Birger. I thank you for this very revealing synopsis.
Thank you this is history that hits very close to my back yard.
Another very interesting bit of history.
📻🙂
My favorite of your videos. Southern Illinois my current home.
Don't know why but I keep looking for my cat even through I know he's outside.
Dear History Guy,
I think Little Egypt also includes parts of Missouri and Kentucky. My family is from south east Missouri. One of my father's relatives witnessed a murder/assignation and was able to steal the murder weapon. This cousin spoke of several of the events you mentioned.
I enjoy you work so "keep the faith".
Gregory Gammon
always enlightening
FYI. Little Egypt is the area of Southern IL bordering the Mississippi river, across from Missouri. It became known as such because of the many towns named after cities in ancient Egypt i.e. Cairo, pronounced “Cayro” (long A) in the region. My mother taught school there during the depression & claimed it was a very tough area
I love your videos. I also love historyand learning new things
This is so weird, as I was just recently reading about the Birger gang on Wikipedia. I am a fiction writer, and one of my characters is named Birger (as a first name, he's Birger Oskarsson), and that was why I was idly browsing "Birgers" on Wikipedia. And of course, bootleggers are interesting to read about, so I did.
I just found this. I’m related to the Shelton gang and my grandma was a Shelton. She used to show me pictures. I’m still in Southern Illinois …. This is accurate
Another great video. Thank you. PS...Beautiful kitty!!