Information Sheet

 

 

R         Kiefner, Charles Edward, 1869-1942.

189                  Papers, 1925-1931.

                                    160 folders.

 

NOTE: THIS COLLECTION IS IN OFF-CAMPUS STORAGE. AT LEAST TWO DAYS' ADVANCE NOTICE IS REQUIRED FOR RESEARCH USE.

 

 

These are papers of a U.S. Representative from Perryville, Missouri.  He represented the 13th Dis­trict (Bollinger, Carter, Iron, Jefferson, Madison, Perry, Reynolds, St. Francois, Ste. Ge­nevieve, Washington, and Wayne counties) in the 69th (1925-1927) and 71st (1929-1931) Con­gresses.  Included are general subject files, post office files, and veterans’ pension files.

 

Charles Edward Kiefner was born in Perryville, Missouri, on 25 November 1869.  As a young man he entered the retail lumber business.  He served as mayor of Perryville (1900-1902) and as a state representative (1902-1908).  In 1912 Kiefner was a delegate to the Repub­lican Na­tional Convention.  From 1920 to 1924 he was on the staff of Missouri governor Ar­thur M. Hyde, and from 1918 to 1927 he was president of the Southeast Missouri Retail Lum­ber Dealers Asso­cia­tion.

 

In November 1924 Kiefner was elected to represent the 13th District of Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives.  He served one term (4 March 1925 to 3 March 1927), but was de­feated in a bid for re-election in November 1926.  However, Kiefner ran again in 1928 and was elected.  He served again from 4 March 1929 to 3 March 1931, but in November 1930 he once again lost in his bid for re-election.  Kiefner died on 13 December 1942 in Perryville, where he is buried in Home Cemetery.

 

This collection of papers is from Kiefner’s official files as a U.S. Representative.  The col­lec­tion is organized in three major sections:

 

I. General Subject Files.

      These are mostly from Kiefner’s second term, 1929-1931.

 

II. Post Office Files

      These deal mostly with appointments of postmasters and similar political matters.

 

III. Veterans’ Concerns Files

These deal with constituents’ claims for disability and old-age pensions, survivors’ benefits, etc., mostly concerning Civil War veterans and dependents.

 

Most of the material in the Kiefner collection deals with routine congressional re­sponsibili­ties and local political activities.  Relatively few items concern national political fig­ures, issues, and events.  Major topics include the tariff, farm relief, prohibition, and levee and drainage dis­tricts.

 

 

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