The is in response to Linda's inquiry on the Booz family. I have a few bits a pieces of information which may help your search. Excerpted from the 1940 Fountain Green Almanac - William Booz settled in Hancock County in 1837. - James Martin settled in Hancock Township, Hancock County, Illinois, in 1861 on section 22. In connection with his farming operations, he ran a gristmill there. Later a U. S. Post Office was established and named 'Joetta' from a combination of the names of Joel and Marietta Booz. Mrs. Booz was a daughter of James Martin. (Later the Post Office was moved to Union Town and the name of THAT place was changed to Joetta.) >From the Hancock County Quill, May 30, 1990, "Fountain Green High School Reunion [Classes of] 1922-1948", among the attendees were: - Marietta Booz Walker, LaHarpe, class of 1932 - Joel Booz of LaHarpe, and his brother William Booz, of Burlington,Iowa, class of 1942 To the best of my knowledge (I'm sure folks who live in that neighborhood could provide other interesting details) the original Joetta was a active village for some years. The town hall for Hancock Township, a smithy and a sawmill were located there. In the building that housed the Post Office, there was also a general store. I think Joel and Marietta initially operated the store. Later, Peter E. Weakley was the owner and proprietor. It was a busy and profitable enterprise and was the center of community life. Three days before he died, in January of 1894, he married Lillie Almeda Beckwith, so that he could leave all his worldly goods to her. Lillie continued to run the Joetta store for over 40 years. On March 13, 1934, Ed Mooney was murdered at Joetta. I would very much appreciate reading the original newspaper articles if anyone could share them. My father was a young boy at the time and this murder piqued his interest; he avidly followed the unfolding story. I'd like to obtain the entire story so he could re-read it. The following is my understanding of the event, as Dad related it to me last year - 65 years later. Ed Mooney was a bachelor living in a ramshackle two-story house near the store. He operated a threshing machine and a clover huller, and ran the sawmill. He was known to carry fairly large sums of money, for that time. Glen Smith, his hired hand, came to Mooney's establishment to go to work, but Mooney wasn't there. Glen went to his house, where he found the door padlocked. As the day wore on and Mooney still didn't appear, Glen talked to some of the neighbors. They made the decision to put a ladder up to a window on the second floor. Harley Parker climbed up the ladder and saw Ed, inside, sitting near the top of stairs leading to the second floor. There was a blanket over his head. He had been bludgeoned three or four times. The local authorities conducted an investigation. There was a man whom the neighborhood felt was a likely culprit, but nothing was ever proven and Ed Mooney's murder was never solved.