Background for request. My wife's great-grandfather Joseph Bonard,b.abt.1842, enlisted in the 20th Illinois INf in June 1861, married Delilah Sackett in March 1864, in Livingston County, IL. ( I just received his civil war records from the NARA. There were 34 documents in the file. Two of the records were letters written by his commanding officer granting him a furlough on 18th December 1864.) The Captain stated that Pvt. Bonard had left home when he was 10 years old and had not seen his parents since that time. He was granted a furlough to go home and settle a large amount of property belonging to his father and mother who had died. The furlough stated that he was to go to Springfield, Green County,Mo to take care of this problem. We do not know his fathers name,nor do we know for sure where he was born. One document stated he was born in Indiana, another stated that he was born in Missouri. We just do not know. I did check the 1850 Indiana census and there was a Nedlin Bonard listed who would have been in the age range of a father (28). The specific help I need is: How could I find out if there is any person named BONARD buried in Green County, with a death prior to December 1864? Is there any newspapers that would have an obituary for that period of time? Did MO.have death certificates at that time? If Joseph handled the estate, which would have had to have been in Jan 1865 and forward, how can I find out about the records. As an after thought, Joseph returned to his unit, which at the time was in North Carolina on 1 July 1865 and was given an honorable discharge. He had been carried as a deserted from February until he returned and was able to explain his length of stay. I know this is a little long????? but I felt I needed to explain the problem. Leland