gangstas



Central Illinois Paranormal Investigation Team
				Paranormal Meetup.com Meets at Mother Natures Emporium 817 SW Adams, Peoria, Illinois 61602 first monday of every month at 6pm

			Gangsta's ~ Dormitory


	When you say "Illinois gangsters," most people think of Chicago and Al Capone. But there were gangsters downstate, too, some so tough that the Windy City mobsters hesitated to move south. Perhaps the toughest gang of all spent World War II just 45 miles from Galesburg down U.S. 150 in Peoria. This was the Shelton Gang, led by brothers Carl, Earl and Bernie Shelton. The brothers were Wayne County farm boys who drifted into the rackets in "Bloody Williamson" County down in Little Egypt. Site of wide-open gambling, bootlegging and prostitution, the area was as wild as Chicago ever was. Fed up with corrupt politicians and law enforcement, the citizens almost welcomed an invasion of the Ku Klux Klan in 1923 which tried to do by vigilante action what the local authorities refused to do. The Shelton brothers sided with the law breakers and "Bloody Williamson" earned its name. In the meantime, Peoria was the wildest city between Chicago and St. Louis. Various gangs, including the remnants of Capone�s, tried to take over the city�s vice rackets. Clyde Garrison, a local gambler who had Peoria politicos in his pocket, tried to resist but didn�t have the firepower for gang warfare. He invited the Sheltons north as his partners. Garrison would handle the politicians; the Sheltons would provide the muscle. Then the Sheltons� enemies began to make their moves. In October 1947, Carl was shot to death in an ambush near his farm. In July 1948, Bernie was cut down by a sniper�s rifle outside his headquarters in Peoria. Bernie was shot and killed in front of the Parkway Tavern, near Bradley Park . Their deaths had two results. There was a shakeup in gang operation throughout Illinois and a media frenzy about corruption which extended all the way to the Governor�s office. Even in death, the Shelton brothers made their impact on the state. Outraged, their enemies began wiping out anyone associated with them. Even Earl was wounded in an assassination attempt at his Fairfield club in May 1949. In June 1950, Roy Shelton, who had never participated in his brothers� criminal activities, was gunned down on his tractor at his farm in Wayne County. Another attempt on Earl and also his son. When Earl�s home was dynamited in November, the Sheltons gave up. Earl and the remaining family members left Illinois for Florida. Earl died at 96 in Jacksonville in 1986.

		Now the interesting part: When I first visit this location, the group that was with me, replayed the event of the shooting. We found the location that Bernie died at, the shooting location, and something else. As we were walking around the building, a sharp energy pull was coming from the side of the hill the Dormitory is located against. I stood still, eye's closed, i put my arm with my hand flat out toward the hill side. yup, definitely got stronger in the hillside towards the right. I took a deep breath....... I walked around the building again....... nope still in the hillside and towards the right. By that time I was getting a little shaky. I sat down, and then WHOOSHHH. It came at me all at once. There is a (cave, hiding place) in the side of the hill. Buried? We aren't sure yet. What I was picking up was barrels (of whiskey?), money, gold/silver. and several dead bodies buried in the hillside. At sometime an underground tunnel went from the Dormitory into the side of the hill. The entrance has been since boarded up in the bar. History has it the gang members still rule the bar with apparition still seen sitting at the bar drinking a beer and a shot of whiskey.

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