Here�s a little more information. The John Ulbert, I mentioned previously is living with a Decounter family in Brown County. Also, the late 1840�s and early 1850�s were in the California Goldrush days. It�s possible Jonas and Maria went to California, left one of their children behind and returned after the Census. You might want to check the California Census in the Sutter Mill area.
The Stoffers show up in the 1860 Census.
Notice the Idda and Samuel twins. Wrong surname but it throws a bit of twist into things. What if John is John William? Then all three children are here. Where are the parents? It�s really unlikely that a mother would willingly leave nursing babies. The other possibility is that Ida and Samuel are really Decounters and somehow got their surnames switched in later censuses.
We just found a historical sketch on Samuel and Catherine Decounter and these are not their children. This strengthens the possibility that Samuel and Ida are Alberts. And undoes the surname problem above.
There is also a brief history of Peter Decounter, the French sea captain, who might be the father of Maria Jennetta.
A good strategy would be to find Willima in the 1880 Census. That census gives his father�s birthplace. That will give you a place to start searching for the parents of Jonas. William is gone from Brown County before the 1880 census but he�s still there in 1870.
IL., I believe), d. 24 Dec 1854 in Brown Co., IL.
Maria Jannetta remarried Jonathan Stoffer 23 Dec 1858, in Ripley, IL.
Sam & Ida were twins.