About book Bloody Williamson: A Chapter In American Lawlessness (1992)
Wow! Who knew the area I grew up near was so volitile?! This book recalls a span of about 50 years of the history of Williamson County, IL starting in the 1890s. It opens with a disturbing recap of the Herrin Massacre of 1921 in which several strikebreakers were executed by the striking miners with very little justice found in wake of the murders. The author then takes you back further in time to the 1890s to describe the beginnings of the violence and lawlessness of the area in the form of "The Bloody Vendetta" in which two fueding families and their supporters try to assassinate each other. The book concludes with the prohibition era where bootleggers reigned, the KKK took law into their own hands, and a gang war broke out between Charlie Birger and the Shelton brothers. It was every bit of a screenplay as the author described the driveby shootings, roadhouse raids, and corrupt lawmen and politicians taking bribe money. I had no idea little ole Southern Illinois was so exciting!
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