OK, those that have known me for the past few years know that I have been doing some research all over , be here it comes right from my home, this is going to be posted in a few parts cause I am still finding out about The Sheltons just about everyday. First off there is a new book written about them called Brothers Notorious-THE SHELTONS- by Taylor Pensoneau.
Just to let ya know over the years I have asked about peoria and everyone said to find out about the Shelton Brothers, well I was never able to find squat...Until this book was written, now I am finding all kinds of old timers that know things.Oh yeah remeber the last post about me sayin something about drunkin posts that I used to do , well Im sure most of these will be also. this post wont give ya much since I am getting ready to goto to the bar they used to hang out at here in a few minutes its called THE DORMITORY now but it used to be called the PARKSIDE INN(I have driven by it a million times and never knew)so anyways Ill be letting all ya know about my research on The Sheltons as soon as I get the info. for alittle info on them to start they are not italians just farmers from southern illinois that got caught up in the rackets"gangsters,mobsters and such.not LCN or any thing like that, although they had RESPECT from chicago".so any ways I am waiting for my roommate to get hoe so she can drive cause like I said Im a little loaded right now,,,lol....Ill be beack to give ya all the lowdown alittle later if not tomarrow........oh yeah , if anyone has info on the Sheltons please get back to me on it...

I used to get drunk in most of the dormitories of Bradley U back in the late 60's/early 70's. Does that count??

I was a freshman at Bradley, and I remember when some of us guys from the dorm were first getting to know each other. The subject of gangsters came up and I was telling one of the guys (from Pekin) about a new book I had just finished before starting college... "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo. He countered with a story about his uncle telling him about one of the Sheltons getting shot dead in (or near) Bradley Park.

Strange, but I haven't thought about that story for over 35 years until I just read your post. Unfortunately I don't remember any of the details other than it happened 20 years before he told me the story. (He told me that the Sheltons kicked Capone's mob out of Peoria).

There's not a lot to do in Southern Illinois. Stories about the coal mines and "the mafia" were part of local history in Little Egypt when I was a student at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. And I know what direction to point you for an answer!

Peoria is too far north for this story to begin. You have to look farther south, to the heart of Southern Illinois, and the tiny town of Herrin in Williamson County. And the names you're looking for are Charlie Birger and Glen Young. They were involved in a war with the Sheltons for control of bootlegging in St. Louis and East St. Louis. I also recall Birger or Young being involved in the Ku Klux Klan in Southern Illinois. They were approached by mobsters in Peoria about forming an alliance to control the rackets in that town. Here's a web site that I found with some details.

http://www.thezephyr.com/monson/sheltons.htm

In addition to the book about the Sheltons titled Brothers Notorious, I also recommend another book titled Bloody Williamson by Paul Angle for an accurate history of organized crime in Downstate Illinois.

So when you get off the Par-a-Dice riverboat, and you're done stuffin' dollar bills into g-strings at Big Al's, get a copy of these books and start reading.

What are ya doing in Peoria when you're not drinking?

tony b.


(Edited a couple of times to clarify some duplicate information that I didn't initially decipher from your first post.)

P.S. A google for a combination of keywords like "shelton," "illinois," and "organized crime" delivers results.