The Free Clinton Library (FCL) was founded in 1901 by the Clinton Chapter

of the P.E.O. and given to the city. The FCL's collection of 700 books was

housed in the same building as Rundle's Meat Market. 

 

Also in 1901, long-time Clinton resident Clifton H. Moore bequeathed his

collection of more than 7,000 books to the city, provided a proper building

could be provided to house them.

 

Moore's son-in-law, Congressman Vespasian Warner, donated the

money and land necessary to build a new, permanent library.

Construction began in 1906 and the Vespasian Warner Public Library

(VWPL) opened in 1908.

 

In April of 1989, a referendum was passed to change VWPL from a city to a district library. The Vespasian Warner Public Library District provides services to Clinton, Lane, DeWitt, Wapella, and outlying areas.

 

In 1992 VWPL opened a new addition to the public. The addition, called the "New Building" by staff, houses the circulating collections, public-access computers, meeting rooms, and the DeWitt County Genealogical Society (DCGS) and VWPL's local history collection. For information about DCGS, please visit their website. The Old building houses the adult audio/visual collection, magazines and newspapers, and the library's Archive and Special Collections. For more information about the Archive, please call the library or email Bobbi (perryman@vwarner.org).

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Vespasian Warner was born in Mount Pleasant, Illinois (now Farmer City) and moved with his family to Clinton as a small child. Warner was studying law when the Civil War broke out in 1861. He was an early volunteer and saw action at several imporant battles including Vicksburg, Shiloh, and Atlanta. Warner served in the U.S. Army until 1867 when he enrolled in Harvard Law School. After graduation, he set up a practice in Clinton.  He served as a member of the U.S. Congress and was a member of Theodore Roosevelts's cabinet as Commissioner of Pensions. 

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He resided in Clinton until his death in 1925.

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