Gallows - Benton, Illinois
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 37° 59.817 W 088° 55.336
16S E 331215 N 4207220
Gallows at the site of the last public hanging in Illinois, the former Franklin County Jail now a museum in Benton, Illinois.
Waymark Code: WM6FNE
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 05/26/2009
Views: 22
On April 19, 1928 Benton was the site of the last public hanging in Illinois, when local gangster Charles Birger was executed on the gallows next to the county jail for the December 12, 1926 for the murder of Joe Adams, mayor of nearby West City, Illinois. A replica of the gallows and hangman's noose were built by Carpenter Birchard Wampler and his late son Birchard Neil Wampler. They remain standing today next to the old Jail turned Museum.
In June 1927, Birger was arrested on a charge of ordering the murder of Joe Adams. Birger allowed himself to be taken into custody without a fight. He had been arrested many times, and had always been released a few days later. He may not have realized he would be tried in Franklin County, one that he did not control.
Birger and the two men who did the killing were convicted. However, only Birger was sentenced to hang. Birger objected that it was unfair he should hang while the confessed trigger man was only sentenced to prison. Nevertheless, Birger was hanged for the murder of Joe Adams on April 19, 1928 at the Franklin County Jail in Benton. At Birger's request, he was accompanied to the gallows by a Rabbi and wore a black hood rather than a white one, since he did not want to be mistaken for a Klansman. Charlie Birger was the last man to be executed in a public hanging in Illinois. He shook hands with the hangman, the "humane hangman" Phil Hanna, and his final words were, "It's a wonderful world." - Wikipedia
Historic photos of the hanging and gallows can be seen at this website.