I see that I have confused Joyce's and Kristen's particular scenarios. Sorry about that. It is entirely possible that the common ancestor to the Walker-Harrelson group had the name Walker and, as you say, no other Walker descendant has tested. The NPE occurred and several descendants of the Harrelsons (after they became Harrelsons, though descended from a Walker) tested and matched. Or it could be the other way around. The point is that these people share a common ancestor, and you don't know where the NPE occurred (and therefore whether the common ancestor was a Walker or a Harrelson). If someone has no matches with their surname, and it is a somewhat common surname, but they match with another surname, that indicates the possibility that they descend from the other surname originally. But it's not proof. Barton On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 6:29 PM, Kirsten Bowman wrote: > Barton and Joyce: > > Isn't it also very likely that Joyce's Walker is, as she says, simply > from a different line having the same surname? Walker is a fairly > common name. Couldn't someone have linked a family member in error > somewhere along the line? If her living Walker's yDNA test does > happen to match a Harrelson group does that necessarily mean that he > stems from a Harrelson clan? > > I ask because in our Markle surname group there is a man who matches > many other Markle descendants but his surname is Long. Of course it > could be the result of a non-paternity event, but couldn't it also > mean that this man's Long family hasn't yet been identified in yDNA > testing? > > Kirsten > > -----Original Message----- From: BARTON LEWIS > Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2012 7:36 AM > To: bjreece@bellsouth.net > Cc: roots-l@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] DNA > > It's most likely there was a non-paternity event (NPE) somewhere along > the line. This most often occurs as an unacknowledged adoption, out > of > wedlock birth where the male took his mother's name or the mother had > a > child by a man other than her husband, but there are other scenarios. > This is not at all an infrequent occurrence, but it is often hard to > determine where the NPE occurred. > > Barton > > > On Thu, May 17, 2012 at 5:56 AM, Joyce Gaston Reece wrote: > >> I have someone who is surnamed Walker and we have a firm paper trail >> back to Mordecai born 1805. He's had a 67 marker test. He does not >> match any of the Walker's currently tested. The family has been told >> that they match a group of Harrelson's. Now here's the question. >> With a 67 marker test does this mean anything? Am I dealing with a >> line of Walker's that just hasn't been delved into thus far or should >> I be looking at Harrelson's? >> >> >> >> Joyce Gaston Reece