Baker DNA Testing

One of the most extraordinary tools of the 21st Century for genealogists is DNA testing -- the ability to examine the very genetic building blocks of our cells and determine, from that, whether there is a likelihood of a common ancestor between individuals. A DNA testing project for the Baker surname is underway, and any male with the Baker surname is encourage to join.

That testing has established, without doubt, the relationship among descendants of a number of known and suspected descendants of Thomas Baker, mostly (but not entirely) descended through his son David Baker (1749 VA - 1838 NC). It has also established, without doubt, that the various family stories circulating around the Internet (based on old undocumented research) that Thomas Baker was (a) a grandson of the Samuel Baker who married Elinor Winslow in Massachusetts and/or (b) a great grandson of the Alexander Baker who came to Boston in 1635 are just that -- stories, with no truth to them at all.

The chart that follows (data presented courtesy of the Baker DNA project) compares, first, the known and suspected descendants of Thomas Baker. Differences from the norm are in shaded boxes. The chart second sets out the results of a documented descendant of Samuel Baker and of various New England Bakers, all of whom have reasonable paper trails leading back to (or near) Alexander Baker of Boston. Differences between the Thomas Baker descendants and the others are indicated in gray-shaded boxes. The test results speak for themselves:

 

DNA Comparison - Baker Family
H
a
p
l
o
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9
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6
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Shaded areas indicate where a particular test differed from the norm of the Thomas Baker group.
Descendants of Thomas Baker, c1711-c1777 (Colonial Virginia)
Thomas-David-
William		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18  9  9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Adam Jackson
Baker 1		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 31 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
Charles		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
Charles		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
Thomas		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
Thomas		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
James		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 31 15 15 15 17
Thomas-David-
James		 R1b1 13 23 14 10 11 15 12 12 11 13 13 29 18 9 9 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 15 17
Descendants of New England Bakers (Samuel, Alexander)
Samuel Baker 2 I1a 13 22 14 10 13 15 11 14 11 13 11 30 15  8  9 8 11 23 16 20 29 12 15 15 16
Joshua Baker 3 R1b1 13 24 14 10 11 13 12 12 12 13 13 30 16 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17
Alexander Baker 4 R1b1 13 24 14 10 11 13 12 12 12 13 13 30 16 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17
Nathaniel Baker 5 R1b1 13 24 14 10 11 14 12 12 12 13 13 29 16 9 10 11 11 25 15 19 30 15 15 16 17

1 Adam Jackson Baker is believed to be a descendant of Thomas Baker through his son William.

2 This DNA test was conducted on a well-documented descendant of Samuel Baker of Massachusetts, who married, first, Elinor Winslow. The enormous disparity in the DNA results establishes that Thomas Baker could not have descended from that Samuel Baker.

3 This DNA test was conducted on a well-documented descendant of Joshua Baker of New London CT, who is believed to have been the son of Alexander Baker of Boston. Contemporary records in New London speak of "Joshua, son of Alexander Baker of Boston." Assuming that the Alexander referenced was the Alexander Baker who came to Boston in 1635, the enormous disparity in the DNA results establishes both that Thomas Baker could not have descended from Alexander Baker and that the Samuel Baker who married Elinor Winslow was also not a descendant of Alexander Baker.

4 This DNA test was conducted on a well-documented descendant of Alexander Baker of Boston, who is believed to have been a son or grandson of the original Alexander Baker of Boston.

5 This DNA test was conducted on a well-documented descendant of Nathaniel Baker of CT, who is believed to have been descended from Alexander Baker of Boston.

For complete results of the ongoing Baker DNA testing project, click here. For results of descendants of Thomas Baker, scroll down to the group entitled "Thomas Baker 1711-1777 (?-VA)," in light br /own.

For more information about DNA testing generally, the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Family Tree DNA website offers one of the clearest explanations available.