Henry L. Kiner papers

Henry L. Kiner was born on February 1, 1851 in Shafer’s Valley, Perry County, Pennsylvania, to William and Margaret (Calhoun) Kiner. The family moved to Geneseo, Illinois, when Kiner was still young. He took over the running of the Henry County News for thirty years (1874-1904), and contributed to several major Midwestern and Eastern newspapers and periodicals. Kiner was also the mayor of Geneseo for many years. In 1910, Kiner published History of Henry County, Illinois. He moved to Moline, Illinois, late in his life, and died in a local hospital on March 11, 1920, in Moline. Materials in this collection include a printing plate image of Kiner, a scrapbook of newspaper clippings (mostly obituaries, poetry and short stories, and portraits), several notebooks of people’s names, and a ledger book filled with short stories and poetry (most likely Kiner’s). A copy of History of Henry County, Illinois is available in Special Collections.