Hello William McAvoy came to Equality in 1855. In 1903, as an old man, he told Prof. George W. Smith about some of the history of the town and the saltworks. Smith describes him as a "courteous old gentleman." Does anybody know anything about his descendants. I'm interested if they still have any of the things he collected about the saltworks. McAvoy collected much information as a friend of Mr. Temple who along with Mr. Castle operated the saltworks from the 1850s to 1873. Are there any descendants out there of either of these two men? George W. Smith, worked for Castle and Temple managing the saltworks between 1870 and 1873. His son, whose first name I do not know, served as the Methodist minister in Equality starting around 1912. He had a son Gerald E. Smith who graduated from Equality High School. The third-generation Smith wrote from his home in Homelake, Colorado as late as 1973. I doubt if he is still alive, but does anyone know his children. He had a lot of history about the works. As you can tell, I am looking for any and all types of information about the saltworks. Did you have relatives who worked there? When? Every little piece helps. Thank you. Jon Musgrave jonm@midamer.net Check out Jon's Southern Illinois History Page at http://www.midamer.net/users/jonm