About this collection:

➤ William (Bill) George Klettner was born on April 28, 1942 in Wheeling, WV, to George and Angela Klettner. Bill was a school teacher, an Environmental Investigator for the U.S. E.P.A., a local historian, lecturer and artist. He was a member of St. Michael’s Catholic Church, the vice president of the past Wheeling Area Historical Society and a member of the board of trustees of The Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable. He married Katherine Kovacs in 1968. William Klettner died on December 2, 2017 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Wheeling, WV.

The William Klettner papers consist of Klettner’s research files on the history of Wheeling and the Ohio Valley. Klettner often gave slide presentations and talks and he also collected writings by other Wheeling historians. Subjects include Native American life in the Ohio Valley, the Revolutionary Era, the Civil War (Colonel J. Thoburn, Jesse Lee Reno), riverboats, the steel industry and railroad history. In addition to the research files, the collection includes 4 original paintings by Klettner. Also included are slides that accompanied his lectures and also documented his travels and also events in the Ohio Valley. Of note are slides of the 1972 flood in Wheeling, WV.

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