Hi Elizabeth, I have a Richard Ratcliff FARR Jr. b. 30 Nov 1843 in Frederick Co. VA, d. 10 Oct 1892 in Fairfax Co. VA, married Margaret Edith MALONE b. 10 Jun 1857 in Buncombe Co. NC, d. 1 Dec 1925 in Fairfax Co. VA. Richard R. FARR Jr. was the son of Richard Ratcliff FARR and Margaret Conn WILCOXON. I have quite a bit on FARR because of the connection to CONN and WILCOXON and because of something originally called Farr's Disease, now called Familial Amyo- trophic Lateral Sclerosis (FALS). I was struck by a pattern of early deaths in this FARR family and wondered if there might be a gene for Farr's Disease (FALS). The disease was first diagnosed in, and named for, one Samuel FARR whose ancestors lived in New England; this Samuel FARR died in the mid-1800's. Because Farr's Disease is caused by a dominant gene, on average 50% of the offspring are affected. Most die young, though there's great variability in age of onset and severity. Samuel FARR him- self wasn't particularly young when he died, but half his children were affected earlier in life than he was. Coincidentally, Richard Ratcliff FARR Sr's grandfather was also named Samuel FARR; he died in his very early 20's, before his first and only child was even born, which is what started me researching this FARR family. Samuel FARR married Susannah "Ann" RATCLIFF. His son, Samuel Ratcliff FARR, married Matilda WILCOXON and died at age 39. Of 6 children for whom I have some birth and death information, Susannah FARR died at about 18, Roger Wilcoxon FARR died at about 28, and Richard Ratcliff FARR Sr. died at 41. Nothing is known about the 7th child, Lucinda. Richard Ratcliff FARR Jr. died at 47. I know of only one sib- ling, and he lived a normal lifespan. Do you know of others? I found no connection between the families of the two Samuel FARRs; in fact, the Farr's Disease gene in New England seems to have been either introduced by a non-Farr wife, or resulted from a mutation. At this point, it seems to be just a weird coincidence that another unrelated Samuel FARR family also had so many who died young. There were many ways to die young back then, and the apparent pattern in this FARR family may also be just a coincidence. Does anybody know of any familial disease in the FARRs of MD and VA? Betsy -----Original Message----- From: EMWROCKY@aol.com [mailto:EMWROCKY@aol.com] Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2005 7:41 PM To: VAFAIRFA-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [VAFairfax] Malone, Gunnell, Farr, Brandon Hi, I'm new to the list and would like to connect with anyone researching the above surnames. My Malone relatives married into Brandon, Farr & Gunnell families as follows: 1) Edward Eugene Malone married Catherine Gunnell in Washington, DC about 1876 2) Mary Theresa Malone married George Robert Brandon in Alexandria on 11/15/1883 3) Margaret Jane Ellen Malone married Richard Ratcliffe Farr about 1879 I have a lot of information that I would love to share with anyone connected with these families. Any cousins out there???? Sincerely, Elizabeth M. Wrocklage - NJ ==== VAFAIRFA Mailing List ==== E-mail List Mom at mailto:daisysroots@yahoo.com http://www.rootsweb.com/~vafairfa/ ============================== Find your ancestors in the Birth, Marriage and Death Records. New content added every business day. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13964/rd.ashx