Hi Sharon, Yes indeed, that is present in my family too - I have it slightly and my mother (a Merritt) also, and she has often talked about it being a feature of members of her family in the past. I'll ask her some more about exactly who has it. Where are you from, does your Merritt line trace back to UK somewhere? (Or are you in UK?) Joyce (Pashley-Smith) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sharon Davidson Davidson" <[email protected]> To: "Joyce's Mail" <[email protected]> Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2003 2:10 PM Subject: Re: Merritt genes > > Ok, this crooked toe has caught my interest. I'm a MERRITT by birth > and both my father and I have what we call webbed toes. Two toes that > do not have a full separation between them. They are not totally > joined, but they are enough to be different from other toes. > > Does anyone else (MERRITT) have this feature????? > > Sharon Merritt Davidson > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Joyce's Mail <[email protected]> > Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2003 5:22 pm > Subject: Merritt genes > > > Hi All, > > > > Now I have been following all this discussion about crooked > > fingers with interest. > > > > My Merritt line is based around the Leeds, and Batley areas of > > West Yorkshire, and I have only traced it back to 1839 at present, > > with no known ancestors having emigrated to the States as far as I > > know at this point, yet there is an abnormality which also runs > > through my family, present in my mother (who is a Merritt by > > birth) and also my youngest son, whereby they have very strange > > crooked toes, each with at least one of what is called a hammer > > toe (the last joint bends downwards at right angles and cannot be > > straightened) and in my son's case with several other toes which > > are borderline on being the same. > > > > Could it be that this is indeed another expression of a family > > trait? It really is marked, not just a slight flexion. > > Interestingly, when my grandfather Merritt (now deceased) first > > saw my youngest son, his first comment was 'He's one of our line, > > a Merritt, you can see it in his face'. My son was only a very few > > weeks old at the time and although my grandfather did not know it, > > many people up to then had commented that he didn't look like > > anyone else in the family, but then, I take after my fathers side > > as does my eldest son. > > > > Does anyone else have Merritt ancestors traced back to Leeds or > > other parts of Yorkshire? > > > > Joyce Pashley-Smith > > > > > > ============================== > > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy > > records, go to: > > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > > > > >