There are a number of people who volunteer to do lookups for Marion Co. IL data, but don't live in IL at all. I would suggest that if someone needs a lookup they first look on the Marion Co. IL genweb site. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilmarion/marionco.htm Next, it might be a good idea to take a look at the Illinois State Archives. We are fortunate that IL is one state with a LOT of very useful information online here. You can search for marriages, war veterans, public domain land sales, and more. You can also learn how to order a search of something at IRAD, which includes finding a list of what is available for each county from each IRAD (Illinois Regional Archives Depository). The IRAD for Marion Co. is in Carbondale. The website for the IL State Archives is http://www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/archives.html If you know that your ancestors were in or near Kinmundy, then there are newspaper abstracts from the Kinmundy Express. http://www.ford-mobley.com/dafm/gleanings_from1.htm The list of good websites for IL could go on and on. If someone wants a surname searched from a volunteer, then it is always a good idea to let them know specifically what you need. If only a surname is given and no one can tell exactly what you want, I tend to delete those messages. They are too general and I don't like spending my time looking for someone's surname only to learn that they already have that information. Let us know just what you need. We enjoy volunteering. It is very rewarding, but not if we are looking at what you have already searched or if you want EVERYONE with a particular surname. Sometimes I have spent hours researching and typing for someone's surname, but if it is a fairly common surname and the requester wants ALL of them, it can be very overwhelming. Lastly, don't forget to join the Marion County Genealogical Society. It publishes one of the best quarterlies of all and many books for research. Thanks and good luck to all in their search. Dot