Hi Nancy– I sent the previous e-mail too quickly. The state archives, through the IRAD(Illinois Regional Archive Depositories) system lists a birth record index for Kankakee County for 1863-1905. I do not know what these records consist of as I have not used such. The regional depositary for both Kankakee and Iroquois counties is at Illinois State University. You can look this up at http//www.sos.state.il.us/cgi-bin/iradsrch?Kankakee. There is no similar index for Iroquois County. The only such index is the one printed by the Iroquois County Genealogical Society which I quoted from. You could try to find a newspaper article referring to the birth from that time but I seriously doubt that you will find such. At that time, births were usually not reported. Secondly, I do not think that the Chebanse paper had been established yet. When I did some research a few years ago, it seems to me that the records don't start til about 1870. If you wish to check this out, you can do so through the Illinois State Historical Library, located in the basement of the Old State House in Springfield. It is on the internet and you could probably e-mail them asking them to check their newspaper collection for a paper that covers the time line. Also, there was an 1865 state census. This only has head of household information but could be useful. You can check with the Illinois State Archives to do a lookup. Unfortunately, not all counties are indexed so if you ask them to check, include not only the two counties, but also the townships of Otto and Pilot in Kankakee County and Chebanse and Milk's Grove townships in Iroquois. The State Archives are also on the internet. On page 70 of the Past and Present of Iroquois County (1907), there is a notation that William M. Hickey was born in Chebanse on 25 Sep 1882 to Thomas and Beeze (Conley) Hickey. The same book on page 555, states: "The farming interests of Chebanse township find a worthy representative in Samuel J. McCuen, and his excellent form of two hundred and thirty acres indicates in its splendid and well kept appearance his careful supervision and progressive methods. A native son of Illinois, he was born in Cook county, March 7, 1859, and is of Irish lineage, for his father William McCuen, was born in the Emerald isle, whence he came to America in 1849, making his way direct to Cook county. For some years he was employed in various ways, and with his savings he bought forty acres of land in that county, this being his first real estate. He was married in Ireland to Miss Jane Conley, and they became the parents of eight children, of whom seven reached years of maturity." You should check the site of the Iroquois County Genealogical Society. They have a name lookup program for a minimal amount but , more importantly, the president and librarian or archivist is Cheryl Gocken who is very knowledgeable about what records are available in the county and she can probably tell you how to get access to the church records in Chebanse. They undoubtedly have the 1865 Iroquois county census and have the microfilms of most of the newspapers. They may even have a file on the Conley family. Byron Wallace in FL, too.