Charlie Birger, Illinois Mobster

Bryan Lawrence called for tech support. His organization serves Franklin-and "Bloody" Williamson County, Illinois. I had read Ted Rodd's copy of Bloody Williamson, the story of mine strikebreakers and their murders in Herrin near Marion.

Bryan told me about Charlie Birger, a liquor mobster during prohibition and the last man to be hanged in Illinois. His tale led me to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Birger: "... born Shachna Itzik Birger in Russia between 1880 and 1883." He was my grandmother's age.

The gang wars involved what may have been the first aerial bombing in the US.
"... Shelton Gang unsuccessfully bombed Shady Rest from the air..."
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7847/birger.htm. The gangs combined to battle the Ku Klux Klan, who opposed liquor on grounds that it involved foreigners like Birger.

Shady Rest was Birger's rendezvous point for transshipment of bootleg from the south to Chicago and St. Louis. Click the pic for more photos.

Trip to Marion, IL

Linda and I took some time to drive out to Marion to help put Linda's dad's ashes in the grave with her mom, Norma. Ted died before Christmas and was cremated. After Norma died, I told Ted that my dad was cremated and I missed having a place where my dad was buried. Ted said that he was planning to be cremated. That was a surprise. What I didn't figure was that we could bury the ashes and have a place to visit.

So we visited Norma's grave to have some more opportunity to tell stories and talk about them and the family.

Ken & Donna, who have been at the center of organizing Ted's end of life, came down from DeKalb, and Carolyn and Terry came up from Jacksonville (and would then visit Terry's dad in Arizona). Carl and Les couldn't make it, but cousins Tim Rodd and Pam Baker and her daughter Jackie and husband, Bob, came over to visit.

Pam had a great collection of family photos, many of which we hadn't seen. There was one of Grandma Lela Rodd smiling and holding baby Lenora (we think).

I documented the trip: