My mom started showing symptoms that we noticed about the age of 40. Finger twitches and losing her balance and she always had a fierce temper that seemed to be out of control at times. Dad said that that was present from even the beginning of their marriage. Mom is now 57 and has progressed quite a bit.

Mom refused to be rational about many things and she even had my sister at home in 1981 having never seen a doctor and daddy delivered my sister. She saw a doctor for the first time in 1997 after many years of me begging her to find out what was going on. I told her "what if your children can get it too?" Although I did not think that was a possibility I was very much mistaken! It was a huge slap in the face for us. When mom saw the doctor the woman kept watching me like she was looking for something and she asked mom if there were other children. I tested negative but my sister had to wait until she was 18. She had won a 37,000 dollar college scholarship at age 17 when she graduated but sank into such a deep depression that when she did go to college she droped out after four weeks. Six months later she tested negative but she is still in deep depression three years later.

I decided to find out where it came from. My grandmother died in a car wreck at age 60 with no known symptoms and grandpa at age 82 of heart failure. All his life he walked with a "gate" and people would say you could not tell when he was drunk or sober. My grandmother had a very mean father who beat them but he died at age 45 of T.B. his wife was in an insane assylum several times before she died of the same disease in her forties. Family members say he beat her so badly so many times it drove her insane.

Here are my immediate family names DAVIS, RICHARDSON, LAMB, BRYANT, DOWNS, PARKER, BOUCHER, SHADWICK, DUNCAN, OLDHAM. If anyone has member with the same connection please contact me. Does anyone know the surnames of the original immigrants to the U.S.?
Holly Kassinger Johnson

my ex husband mother was a Parker and married a Jaeschke and she brought HD in that family. They lived in Rochester NY but I was told it came from her Mother and thats all I know. joann

bertha g parker married william Jaeschke was the carrier of the HD she had four children three died with it my ex husband and they were from Rochester NY. my ex had four children and I only had one daughter from him and she died in 2000 at the age of 50 both of her sons have the gene.Inever meet the family but new about another daughter he had.my ex married again and had two son.

Try this link.

http://medinfo.ufl.edu/other/histmed/okun/index.html

I had not checked this board for some time. I'm glad you replied. My email is hollyann1968@yahoo.com . If you would like to talk more about Huntington's. My mother died February 16, 2006 in our home. THis past year has been very hard, but I still want to find where this disease came from. My grandmother's mom was Annie B Parker who married George Richardson in Daviess County, Kentucky. She is the one who had to stay at an assylum because of the abuse her husband put her through. She died of T.B. in her late forties. SHe did not live long enough to really see the chorea part of the disease, is what I suspect. Mom started her chorea in her forties and was 59 when she died. I have traced the parker heritage back several generations. Annie B Parker's father did not have a death certificate so I don't know what he died of. I am so sorry to hear how Huntington's has devastated your family. Hope to hear more from you. Holly Johnson

Like you, I have just looked at this board again after not posting for while. I am Judy Malone, the one that has posted numerous times/various sites abt HD that runs in my family..and how I can fairly well trace it to Allen Durbin/Amy Fisher in Lawrence Co., TN. I know Allen's son, Willis Marion Durbin, had it and then passed it to his daughter (My grandmother) Mary Lou Durbin (married Norris Sidney Smith) which passed it to my mother, Verna Smith.
Two of my sibs got the gene while my older brother and I did not. I know the early Durbins had it in their lines, but if my Allen had it (which i suspect), then that would mean his father or mother had it. I have always focused on the Durbin aspect, but Allen's father--the one everyone says is the father--was Augustine Durbin married to Sarah RICHARDSON. I noted you said your grandmother's mom was married to a George Richardson..and there was abuse. What more do you know abt the RICHARDSON line and is there a possiblity that the HD came from his line? The abuse part can be a sympton of HD. Do you know what he died of?
You know how we reach out. I'm not afraid to try new directions. And I can't find anyone else that will give a hint that Augustine had HD. I feel like I run in circles sometime.
Also, I am writing to update my email address. I know over the years, I've run thru several and I'm sure if anyone has tried to reach me, that came to a deadend!
Sorry abt your mom. I hope you are OK.. My nephew, that is in Nursing home, is the last in my immediate line to have HD. So, finally, finally, it had come to an end in our line. But, it has been a long hard journey.
hope to hear from you,
judy malone
Jackson, TN.

I'm glad to hear from you Judy. I'm so sorry that you have had to suffer Huntington's in your family and thankful that you do not have it.

My Mom goes into the Richardson line two times because her great grandparents were first cousins.

1. Jonus Richardson was born about 1800 in New York and died in Hancock County, Kentucky between 1836/40, at age 36 to 40 years old. He married Phebe Boucher on January 2, 1823 in Daviess County, Kentucky. Phebe was born in Kentucky on February 17, 1807 and is the daughter of William Boucher and Amelia Farris.. Phebe died May 8, 1859 (at age 52) in Hancock County. Jonus and Phebe are the parents of:


2. Richard Richardson born August 10, 1824 in Hancock County, Kentucky and died August 6, 1913 (at age 79) in the same county. He married in Hancock County to Nancy Ann Richardson on January 9, 1850. Nancy was born October 27, 1833 in Hancock County to Silas "Cy" Richardson (brother of Richard's father Jonas) and Lydia Shadwick and died August 10, 1900 at age 67. Richard and Nancy are the parents of:

3. George Albert Richardson was born 1868 in Hancock County, Kentucky and died August 18, 1924 in Mclean County,at age 50. He married Annie B. Parker April 4, 1899 in Hancock County. Annie is the daughter of Benjamin Wesley Parker and Elizabeth Roberts and was born June 11, 1876 in Hancock County and died June 13, 1920 in Mclean County of tuburculosis, at age 44. George was very mean and abused his wife and children and she had to he admited to an asylum two times, yet she did well and was a cook while she lived there to pay her way. They are the parents of

4. Bertha Ann Richardson, my grandmother, born March 1, 1901 in Daviess County, Kentucky and died August 4, 1970 in Mclean County, Kentucky where she married George Robert Davis.

My grandfather died at age 83 of heart disease and my grandmother was killed in a car wreck at age 69. Neither exhibited known symptoms in their life time. Each had a temper, grandpa twiddled his thumb or tapped his fingers a lot and walked with a bit of a gait. I am really at a lost to trace it back. What do you know of Sarah Richardson who is in your line?

To answer the question on Sarah Richardson, I know nothing.
She is only a name on the marriage license in Hardin Co., Ky....12 March 1807. And IF this is my line..the children listed for them--and you know how that varies--are Mary A., Sarah, Austin (born 1809), Joseph, (born 1810), John Goodman, (born 1811), Allen Durbin (my gg-grandfather, born 1816), then they move to Lawrence Tn, and Jordan (male, born 1818, and Susannah, (born 1822) are born. Augustine is on the 1820 Census, but not on the 1830 that any of us can find. "Austen", the son is listed as Head of house.
I am not the most alert here tonight at 11:00pm, so will just make a note or two. Are you familiar with the very light cases of HD? That sounds like a good possiblity for your grandfather, even though he lived to be 83. I say this as my mother's oldest (and first born of the sibs) lived to be 77 and only had very light signs. In fact, no one knew he had HD until his daughter was diagnosed with it when she had to go to a Nursing home. She was almost blind and
had been a nervous person, so her gait, and other movements were thought to be caused by that. But, the Dr that came to see her knew exactly what it was..and it was HD. Typical of what had happened also was the family had moved from Tenn in earlier yrs to get better jobs up North and so they really were not aware of the possibilites. Also, of Uncle John's four children, one died young and the other two did not get the gene. This daughter had two sons and one of them also got the HD.
I had asked my relatives that knew Uncle John (born 1888 and died 1965) what they remembered abt him. And they all said, he kinda had the shakes, walked unsteady and got irritable, but they just thought this was more in line of old age. So, it is still easy for those that had the very light HD to have fooled the family and the future researchers. I am not saying your grandfather had HD, but it is a possibility..based on what I know of my family.
One of my mothers sisters also had a light case and even when she went to a hospital, she worked on the cafeteria line serving food. She really thought of the hospital as "home" and each weekend, after my Uncle had brought her home to enjoy the family, she would say.."Well, it's time for me to go home." She was very smart and I think she just felt more comfortable in that setting where any movenment or slur of voice would not be seized on. She and husband and two children also lived "up north" and I did visit them once in 1963 when I was 14. She was home that weekend and I remember thinking she was just fine. She had slowed down and was very deliberate abt things, but anyone looking at us from across the room would have never guessed. And true to form, of the two children, one got the gene and one missed it.
On the other hand, my mother and one of her sisters that i did get to know, had it a lot worse. My mother died at age 56 while the above Aunt lived to be 70. I am sure all of this was due to the number of repeats they had.
I have posted this before, but don't mind adding it again.
My grandmother had 15 children, but 6 would die young. Of those six, one was a set of triplets) Of the 9 remaining, SIX would get the gene. My mother was born in 1906, married in 1930 and I was born in 1948 when she was 43..so you see the big gap and why I really didn't get to know the family.
If your Jonus Richardson was in KY between 1836/40, did he also bring any other brothers or relatives with him? I would like to compare the names of the children of Sarah Richardson and Augustine Durbin and see if the names are similar to her parents..if I only knew who they were. And the Austin, John G., Allen, and Joseph are such common names anyway. SIGH!
Sorry to ramble, but that's how I write. Maybe we can figure out our mystery together!
judy

I did want to add this. You know how you read a post, but all doesn't sink in right then. You said that both you and your sister tested neg. and then your sister went into a depression and even dropped out of her big college scholarship. Well, I can tell you from first hand, that is not uncommon. Everyone thinks you are just going to say "Hooray" and get on with your life. That is just not true. Yes, there is the immediate relief of knowing you are OK, and you either can get married without fear OR if you are already married and have children (like I did), then you also are very relieved you won't pass it on to your children. I told everyone.."you know, I could die tomrrow and be OK with it since I know i have not given my sons the HD gene."
But, at same time..after living under the shadow of HD for all those years..life just couldn't suddenly be OK.
I would have made other choices in life IF I had known back then, but I was too scared of getting it, and I admit that I took the easy way out. I also dropped out of college (nothing like your sister..I was just average "jane") and got married. I know it sounds dumb now..but I felt there was no reason to think of getting a REAL career. Now how do I justify the fact that I went ahead and had two children knowing the possiblities? Well, when you are young..and I was abt 22 at the time, I truly felt that IF I had the gene, that by the time my sons got to the stage where they would show signs If they got it..that there would be a CURE by then. And here we are, in 2007..with the test available by 1993..but still no real cure or much progress here in 07.
After I took the test in 1997 and it was negative, I also went into a real deep funk. I felt like I had an elephant on my chest..that bad pressure that won't let up. No matter what meds you take or breathing exercises, etc.
And to this day..which is 10 years later, I still often have that same feeling. There was another site, which I won't name here, and back then..we did a lot of discussion on this. I guess I was the "black sheep" as the others told me..."You should be happy.. It's just by the grace of God that you missed the gene." And I would reply.."I can't accept that. How does that make all the others feel that got the gene? Why didn't God also spread his compassion to them. How must they feel?" So, you can imagine some of the emails I got later. But, I felt that way then and I still feel the same. One of my relatives was very upset when he tested positive, and I know his wife had to wonder why him and not me?
Well, I really wanted to ask..How is your sister doing now? Was she able to move on..at least a bit. Please let her know that someone understands and it is not so unusual as she thinks.
Hope you reply back or even write to me personally. I know you may want to remain really private and that's OK.
Guess now that I am almost 59, I just don't worry as much anymore abt things..
thinking of you and hope all is well,
judy

I know it has been some time since you replied to a query I posted about where Huntington's originated. But was just surfing the web and found the old message. You wanted the names of Jonus Richardson's children.

2. JONUS RICHARDSON was born about 1800 in New York and died in Hancock County, Kentucky between 1836/40. He married PHEBE BOUCHER on January 2, 1823 in Daviess County, Kentucky. Phebe was born in Kentucky on February 17, 1807 and is the daughter of William BOUCHER and Amelia Farris.. Phebe died May 8, 1859 in Hancock County and is buried at Poplar Gorve Cemetery beside her second husband, Daniel Colbert, whom she married in 1840. Jonus owned 1100 acres on Blackford Creek. Jonus and Phebe are the parents of:
*1. Richard RICHARDSON born August 10, 1824 in Hancock County and died in the same county on August 6, 1913.
2. William RICHARDSON born December 25, 1827 and died in Hancock County. He married there to Martha Lott on August 25, 1855.
3. George RICHARDSON born between 1828/30 married Mary Ann Meadows
December 7, 1848 in Hancock County.
3. Mary RICHARDSON born 1834 in Hancock County and married there to John Bell
on November 11, 1854.
4. Surilda RICHARDSON born 1836 in Hancock County and married there to Robert
Holland on February 10, 1853.

Maybe this will give you some sort of lead.

My sister is still dealing with depression. Our mother died in 2006 and it had been very hard for her. She was 23 when we lost Mama. But she is in a better place than before and laughs and smiles a lot more. I told her that you inquired of her and sent her a copy of your message. Do contact me. We have a lot in common. Holly