My family has been searching for the last 20-30 years for the whereabouts of John M Donnel and his third wife Elendar Childers. The owned land in the Grassy Township section 15 during the late 1860's. This land is thought to be currently owned by Lydell and Janet Bush, or a portion of it. What I am looking for is some trace of these two individuals within Williamson county. This location is the last know location of him and his wife. John M Donald, according to the 1868 Tax records book #25, shows him owning land in Section 15, T10, R1. His land holding were ptNW-NE (20 acres) and SW-NE (40 acres). I have looked for burial information and find nothing. It was suggested to look at the estate records index for Wiliamson County for his name to see if he had any heirs. I can't seem to locate this information either. A relative of mine has done extensive research on him and research has only come up with some close what ifs. Nothing that indicates a exact match for John M Donnel. We find McDonel ( a victim of a stabbing by Thomas Inscore in 1874 in Jackson County). The defendant's book from the clerks office in Murphysboro did not provide a victims name but based on the approximate date of his first trial and the defendants last name we are able to make a correlation between the Marion Monitor article from December 1874, but still no 100% hit on if this McDonel was in fact John M Donnel. What happened to the victim? What was his first name? Where do I look to uncover the rest of this case? I am looking for any assistance. I have also looked at the county Plat book and online research done and no one matches up. The plat shows Grassy Township with 15 cemeteries and everyone else is all over the map. Some show cemeteries in a particular section and others don't. Who's right and who is wrong. I see that the Federal Government owns a good portion of Grassy Township now. How can I look at records they may have as to whom they purchased the land from (or may have confiscated)? I am at dead ends it seems. Michael Donnel Shelby County, Illinois