Lillian "Lily" Klasner was born December 18, 1862, in Mason County, Texas, during the American Civil War. Her parents were rancher Robert Adam Casey and Eveline Ellen Shellenbarger. At age five Lillian's family moved from Texas to Rio Hondo, New Mexico. While in her early teens Lily began collecting letters and documents to inform an autobiographical account of her pioneer experiences. She attended the New Mexico Highlands University at Las Vegas and became a teacher, telegrapher, and rancher. Lily married Joseph A. Klasner on December 18, 1893, in Texas, but later divorced him. She died in Roswell, New Mexico, on May 31, 1946. Lily's history, written from her diary, collected letters, photographs, and other documents, was found twenty years after she passed away. It was published posthumously as "My Girlhood Among Outlaws," in 1972, edited by Eve Ball.