Fellow researchers, This may sound strange but, may help me in my family search. What was the primary mode of transport to McLean Co. for the early settlers who arrived around 1850? I know there were federal highways and also and active riverboat system. Was the Illinois river part of this network? My GGrandparents, JOHN WESLEY SHATTLER and JANE DONOVAN SHATTLER came to McLean Co. from Clark Co. OH. They appear on the 1850 census in Clark Co. and there second child, NOAH was born in McLean Co. March 22, 1851. They later traveled to Iowa Co. IO where my grandfather, JOHN WESLEY, Jr, was born May 26, 1855. They then returned to McLean Co. before the 1860 census. They settled in the Cooksville area. I know they were in Iowa because other family members moved there. Jane's father, AQUILLA DONOVAN, died in southeast Iowa in 1858. That is all I know. John Wesley is my "brick wall" which I have been trying to overcome. He reported that he was born in VA on census records. Sometime before or after leaving VA the family name was modified from SCHUTTLER, SHETLER or something close to that. The only adult family in Clark Co. OH was A. F. SHATTLER and wife CATHERINE. The Aquilla Donovan's and A. F. Shattler's appear on the 1850 Clark Co. OH census but not in the city directories which began in 1852. Did they leave together and go to Iowa or maybe through McLean Co.? If down the Ohio river and up the Mississippi River, Iowa seems reasonable. I have never been able to identify A. F. Shattler as the father of my GGrandfather John Wesley. I thought maybe if I got to his death place there may have been legal documents executed. I know it sounds far-fetched but any suggestions or comments. Thanks, Don Shattler