He shook hands with the hangman, the "humane hangman" Philip Hanna, and his final words were, "It's a beautiful world." (Local southern Illinois legend attests that Birger said "It's a beautiful day", in defiance, while the newspapers reported the remorseful "It's a beautiful world.") Birger's place as a southern Illinois folk legend is recorded in John L. "Ox" Gwaltney's "Charlie Birger": I heard of Charlie Birger way back when I was young My daddy told me all about the day that Charlie hung. I've heard so many stories, some of his ghastly deeds Another tells how Charlie helped poor folks in their needs. One said he was a kindly man who never told a lie But when somebody crossed him, that man was sure to die That Charlie had no Master you can tell from all the tales He fought the system all the way, and stayed out of their jails I've seen so many pictures, they're hanging on the walls The pictures tell the story of Birger's rise and fall And when they finally caught him he was sentenced to be hung But they hadn't broke his spirit the day the trap was sprung When the State had had its vengeance—When Charlie's life was done It made one stop to wonder, Who had lost, and who had won. John Lastle Gwaltney Southern Illinois Poetry (1985) Charlie Birger is buried in Chesed Shel Emeth Cemetery in University City, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. His marker bears his birth name of Shachna Birger. His sister (Mrs. Rachel Shamsky) and one of his two daughters are buried nearby. Birger's name entered the news again in 2006 when the granddaughter of the county sheriff who had supervised the execution sued the local historical museum in an attempt to regain possession of the noose used in the hanging. See also Bad Charleston Charlie, a highly fictionalized version of Birger's life story as a 1973 film comedy References Further reading Angle, Paul M. 1952, Rep. 1993. Bloody Williamson - A Chapter in American Lawlessness. Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press. . DeNeal, Gary. 1981, 2nd Ed. 1993. A Knight of Another Sort. Carbondale, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press. 304 pages. (hardcover), (paperback). Galligan, George and Jack Wilkinson. 1927, Reprinted 1985. In Bloody Williamson. Marion, Ill.: Williamson County Historical Society. Hill, E. Bishop. 1927, Rep. 2006. Complete History of Southern Illinois Gang War: The True