Lori, I haven't followed all the threads of this search, but, I did some searching this morning and will share with you what I found. The 1850 census of Will Co, shows the family in Channahan Twp, page 225 and 226 Michael Manning age 58 b Ire Doctor Elizabeth 50 Ire WILLIAM 24 Ire (Is this Michael Jr?..(let me know Michael Jr's approx birth year and I might be able to help further in locating him in 1870 and 1880 with my indexes)...since Michael Manning Jr's middle initial was W. ...it would make sense that they called him William. When he entered the Civil War, he would have done so under his full legal name probably, but, there may be other records...esp census records where he is listed as William. Or...the name may have just been used as long as he was in his father's household to avoid confusion. Hannah 19 Ireland Thomas 16 Ireland Leda? 12 New York Bartholomew 9 New York Since the last two children were born in NY, I checked the 1850 census index for Michael Manning entries in NY. There were far too many to list here, but if you want them, email me privately, and I will share them with you off list. If you haven't seen their 1850 household, then you might find Michael Jr. listed as William again...or...as Michael, but it would give you an idea of whether they were switching off names. The 1870 census index for Illinois showed the Michael Manning Sr. family again in Channahan, page 10 Michael Manning 70 Ire farmer $8000 $8000 Elizabeth 60 Ireland Elizabeth 23 New York (note....this is evidently the girl in 1860 they called Leda? (it was hard to read)....a clue that they did indeed use other names for family members named after the parents Bartholomew 20 New York Elizabeth Manning (age ?5) Illinois (the age was hard to read. There is definately a 5, but there are some scratches just before the 5. She's either the wife of Bartholomew and probably age 25...OR..she is just age 5 and probably the granddaughter of Michael and Elizabeth Sr. Julie