My Aunt shared a picture with me of my great-grandpa Carnahan and great-grandma Elsa sitting at the top of a set of steps in front of their house. On the grassy yard in front of them sits their son, Richard, who is about five years old, and a woman I do not know.

Sitting between my grandparents on the step is a man holding a baby who is sitting on his lap. The man is a family friend, Francis G. The baby, my maternal grandfather, is named Francis after the family friend.

The year is about 1914. I do not know who is behind the camera taking the photo. It appears to be a nice summer day, and everyone looks happy and comfortable.

As a baby, Great-Grandpa C was left on the doorstep of a man and woman. They could not raise him. They knew a childless couple nearby and asked if they wanted to adopt him. That was when Great-Grandpa C became part of the Fox family as an only child. He was well-loved and became a respected part of the community.

In May 1908, at age 35, Carnhan married 23-year-old Elsa, who lived at home in a town nearby where she grew up. She was the sixth-born of 13 children. She was a teacher and could sing and play the piano.

Their first son, Richard, was born in December. My grandfather was born 5 years later in 1913. He was almost two years old in 1915, when, tragically, his mother died giving birth to his baby brother, who also did not survive.

My grandpa’s dad was unable to care for him and his brother, as he was nearly blind. The boys went to live with and were raised by Elsa’s parents.

So, all these years later, my mom’s side of the family has wanted to find out who my great-grandpa’s biological parents are. We have had some good leads on who the mother is, but nothing about the father.

Several of my aunts, my mom, a couple of cousins, my niece, and I have fairly recently taken the Ancestry DNA tests. Armed with these tests and new DNA matches, one of my mom’s sisters, my mom and I went to the family search center where a gentleman helped us use our DNA to see if we could find a connection to my great-grandpa’s biological mother.

While this kind helpful gentleman was searching, he started making connections and then told us he thinks we are looking for the wrong person. He said he thinks that instead of looking for Carnahan’s biological mother, we should be looking for my grandpa’s (my mom’s dad’s) biological father. What?!?! That was completely unexpected!

Whispering: It turns out that the man, in the picture, the family friend, Francis, holding my grandpa, as a baby, is my grandpa’s biological father.

Needless to say, we left the family search center that day with more questions than answers.

With much more research, we have confirmed that my grandpa and his brother do not share the same father. My grandpa’s brother looks like Carnahan, but my grandpa has a different look. Now we know why. The truth can’t hide from DNA.