Originally Published: Vol 12, Num 1 (Spring 2024)
Reference Number: 121.003
There are multiple instances where DNA testing, either autosomal DNA (atDNA) or Y-DNA, has uncovered a misattributed parentage event (MPE) whereby a biological parent is not the person expected. This article describes how a search for a paternal great-great grandfather of the author using DNA analysis led to the discovery of an MPE that negated one-fourth of the author’s family tree and that his true surname should be BAKER … or should it? Building a BAKER family tree based on DNA matches identified James Alton Baker (1912-1996) as the author’s biological grandfather instead of Oliver Ballard Carpenter (1914-1988) of record. The Baker line can be traced back to Hiram Baker (1806-?) and his wife Anna Marie Kellogg (1811-1881). Shared DNA matching and the What are the Odds? tool are used to place two different subgroups of Baker matches into the family tree. A Big Y-700 match who shares the same confirmed haplogroup (I-FT336746) as the author and is a direct descendant of John Carothers (d. 1796) is evidence of another MPE. Numerous atDNA matches of the author’s father also descend from John Carothers. How or when Hiram Baker fits in with the Carothers line is unknown. Y-DNA results also demonstrate that Hiram Baker does not descend from Francis Baker of Yarmouth, Massachusetts, as some researchers have indicated.