Scope and Contents The Keener family papers consist of approximately 100 letters, dating from 1825 to 1861, addressed to John Christian Keener or to his wife, Mary Anna Spencer Keener, by members of Mrs. Keener's family. Mrs. Keener's parents, Anna Baker and Richard Spencer, had moved from Maryland, settled first in Georgia, and later Alabama. At the time of the early letters, the Spencers were farming a plantation in Dallas County, Alabama, called Davenport Place. They raised cotton, corn, peaches, and...