Thanks but that's the wrong John. The one I'm looking for was supposedly born in Bennington itself. He died at age 57 in IL. His wife's name was Martha (Hewes). They moved to IL about 1852. I was hoping he would appear in the 1850 census in Bennington. There were apparently two John McDonald's b. abt. the same time. It seems many people researching this line jumped to the conclusion that Martha married John the neighbor boy, son of Jeremiah, but that's not the case. I find him in IL right up to his death but can't locate him before then because HQ has not indexed the 1830-1850 censuses.