This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Johnson Schmitt West Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/an/Jg.2ADI/1339 Message Board Post: I'm researching the family of the above, my ggrandparents. Carolyn's maiden name is given in family records as Schmitt or Schmidt, and I have no other information except that their son John B. Johnson was born in "Avery, Illinois" in 1883 according to his obituary. Family lore says it was AVA, all the way at the other end of the state, but there is no corresponding birth record there. There are two Avery place names in Illinois, and he's definitely not from the other one (near Peoria), so maybe the one in JD is right. Do any of you have records that might confirm/refute this, or information on possibly relevant Johnson families? The Johnsons would move to the bootheel of Missouri around 1890, by which time John B. had a brother named Charles (Charley) and a sister Rebecca (Beckie), but I know nothing of them except that Beckie's married name was West. Any help appreciated. This has been a frustrating family to research! Why couldn't my ancestors have had less common surnames ... :-)