The Leeds Method with Ancestry.com’s Colored Dots

Yesterday I watched a YouTube video by Larry Jones of DNA Family Trees called “How to Cluster Your DNA Matches With Ancestry’s New DNA Matches Beta.” It reminded me of my failed attempt to do the Leeds Method on Ancestry.com using Blaine Bettinger’s Chrome extension. The main issue, though, was that we could only use one colored dot per person. Ancestry has recently solved that issue by offering us the capability of adding up to 24 colored dots per person!

So, I’ve been working with Ancestry.com’s “colored dots” today using basically the same steps as the Leeds Method. If you are new to the method, it uses basically your 2nd & 3rd cousins (or those between 90 cM and 400 cM) to create groups of DNA who are likely related to you and to each other through a common ancestral line. The hope is that you’ll get 4 different color groups representing your four grandparent lines. You can read more about the Leeds Method by clicking here.

Although the steps Larry laid out were very similar to the Leeds method, there were a few differences. Here are the steps I’m using to do the Leeds Method with colored dots directly with Ancestry:

STEPS

1. 1. Find the first person who shares less than 400 cM with you.
   2. Click on the person’s name then on “Shared Matches.”
   3. Click on “Add a Group” then “Create Custom Group” for that person. (You can use the default color or choose your own.)
   4. Name the group “Group #1” for now. (We will change the group names after we identify them later.)
   5. Scroll down to the end of the 3rd Cousin group (which should be about 90 cM) and add that person to the group by selecting “Add to Group” and then clicking “Group #1.”
   6. Add everyone above this 3rd cousin to Group #1 in the same way. (By the way, this great tip is from Larry Jones in the video. It’s easiest to start from the bottom of the list or the pop-up box gets in your way!)
   7. Click the “back” arrow to go back to your match list and find the first person – UNDER 400 cM – who is not already in a color group.
   8. Go to STEP 2 of this list and continue until all of your 3rd cousins and higher (in other words, everyone above 90 cM) are assigned to at least one color group.

NAMING YOUR COLOR GROUPS

1. 1. Find the first person on your list who belongs in only one color group.
   2. Can you identify how that person fits in your tree? If so, label that person based on your 4 grandparents (or 8 great grandparent couples – your choice!)
   3. Check and make sure the label makes sense by looking at other DNA matches with that color.
   4. Find another person with only one color and repeat these steps.
   5. Continue labeling these color groups. Hopefully, by the time you get to the end of your 3rd cousin list, you’ll have all of your color groups identified!

In this view, you can see the names of the custom groups. I used my four great grandparent couples to name my group. Also, I went WAY lower than the original sort which used 90 cM as the low end of the matches. In doing so, I ended up with an “unknown dad’s side” group that needs solved.