Dear Mabel, How wonderful to hear from you!!! The Merritt Bible is a puzzle, if Grandpa Merritt had the bible my aunt may know about its whereabouts. Margaret Barbee Merritt, M.B's wife and daughter in law to Henry Carl might know. She is still living and resides in a nursing home in Durham. After that I would think that Eleanor or Frances would be the ones to ask. Eleanor's last name is Jordan and France's last name is Smith and I honestly do not know if either are still living. I have been trying to prove the connection between Pleasant and William Henry for some time. My branch of the Barbee's does not got through that Christopher, but is from William Barby to John Barbee to Christopher. "Old Kit" was the son of William Barbee, who was the son of John and Ann Barbee. That makes my Christopher and William, brothers. Lord knows we are all related. I live in Florida and hopefully I will be seeing my Aunt Margaret in May, I will be glad to ask her if she knows anything about the Merritt Bible. If you live in Durham you are welcomed to go visit her. She has had a stroke and remembers thing generally well, but needs round the clock care that her sons can not provide. Look forward to hearing from you again Linda B. Thompson [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Mabel & Reece Dillard <[email protected]> [Add to Address Book] To: [email protected] Subject: Saw your e-mail on Roots web Date: Jan 6, 2008 6:19 PM Clean Clean DocumentEmail MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Dear Linda, I saw your e-mail about the Merritt family and just had to respond. My grandmother was Mabel Ester Merritt daughter of Marion Barbee and Mary Helen Riggsbee Merritt. She was the 11th of 12 children with Carl being the baby. I have done a lot of research on the Merritt family and would be glad to share what I have. The twelve children were in order of birth Elizabeth Susan, Lila Alma, Thomas Gaston, Mary Beulah, Cara Custis, Ewell Gordon, Wellington Barbee, Lilla Daisy, Alice Helen, Minnie Cleveland, Mabel Ester and Henry Carl. I am particularly interested in knowing if you have ever seen or know where the Merritt family Bible is. It was referred to when Mabel and Carl got their delayed birth certificates. It was said to be in the possession of their sister Alice. Another cousin thinks it might now be with Frances since Alice lived with Carl after their parents died. I have two different last names for Frances so if you know it I would like to verify which of the two I have is correct. I am working on the Barbee cemetery where Marion Barbee Merritt, his wife and several of his children and grandchildren are buried. He and his daughter Cara have tombstones with the rest of the graves marked by rocks. There is some interest in getting markers for the other graves but I lack definite dates for some of the people to put dates on markers. Marion Barbee Merritt’s grandfather was William Henry Merritt. Sr., father of Pleasant, who married Susannah Barbee, daughter of Christopher, “Old Kit” Barbee thus the reason the name Barbee keeps appearing in the Merritt family. I hope to hear from you soon so we can exchange information. Mabel Dillard