Posted on: Jackson County, WV Query Forum Reply Here: http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/genbbs.cgi/USA/WV/Jackson/2031 Surname: Casto, Bonnet, Crites, Baker, Crane ------------------------- I am a descendent of William Casto and Hannah Bonnet. My great grandparents' marriage was a third-cousin marriage. William and Hannah were both of their great grandparents. (My great grandparents were Joseph and Lula (sometimes written Lela Baker) Crane of Jackson CO, WV. Since finding this info out, I have become very curious. There is a genetic blood disorder that runs on my mother's side of the family. SHe is the Casto descendent. It is called Spherocytosis and it causes my red blood cells to be spheres or marble shaped rather than bi-concave discs like normal. My blood cells, as a result, don't function the way they should. My grandmother (Joe and Lulas daughter and only child) had it. My mother had it. Four of my mother's five children have it. In the next two generations, it appears to be less common. I decided to research. My theory is that since I am a descendent of a third cousin marriage, the gene could have been present in both lines. I know I have the heterozygous dominant form, which means if the gene is present the disorder is present. Thus, my grandmother could, in theory have had a 100% chance of getting the disorder (which she did), my mother a 50% chance and so on. Since my mother had the disorder, her children also had a 50% chance of developing the disorder. It would take longer to "dilute" the disorder out of the gene pool (thankfully, my daughter doesn't have it! :) because of the genetic similarity of my great grandparents. I guess what I am getting at, is ARE THERE ANY OTHER CASTOS OUT THERE WHO HAVE SPHEROCYTOSIS? If so, I would love to hear from you and trace this back to its "beginning" so to speak. Thanks so much for your help in my research. PS. In other research I have done on this disorder, I have found it runs in families of Northern European Descent.