What About Those Closer Matches? (The Leeds Method)
A reader just asked me if, as an adoptee, she shouldn’t also be using those closer matches. And, yes, she should! And, you should, too! But, I’ve never written about how to include them in the Leeds Method.
Adding Closer Matches to the Color Cluster Chart
Round 1: Create a “regular” Color Cluster chart. You can add the 1st cousins and higher 2nd cousins at the top of your chart, but do NOT include them as part of your original sort. In other words, they do NOT get a color during this first round. (Note that I wrote them in light grey to keep them separate from the 2nd & 3rd cousins who share <400 cM.)
Above is an example of a Leeds Method cluster chart. I’ve hidden the names, but I have added a column for cM which I do think is really important. I created the original chart with those 2nd & 3rd cousins who shared LESS than 400 cM with the test taker. (Note: To avoid a really long chart, I did not use all of the 3rd cousin matches.)
Round 2: Look at the shared matches of the 1st and high 2nd cousins. Add them to one or more color clusters by looking at all of their matches on the original chart.
In this round, you are looking at the shared matches of these closer cousins. They easily might fall in more than one category! So, as you work through each cousin, make sure you look at ALL of their 2nd & 3rd cousin matches and add them to all the color groups they overlap.
Examples:
-
- #757 shared cM match – As I looked at this person’s matches, I saw matches to the blue, green, and red clusters. So, #757 belongs in all 3 color cluster.
- #440 shared cM match – Only matches people in the blue cluster, so they are part of the blue cluster.
- #431 shared cM match – Only matches people in the red cluster, so they are part of the red cluster.
I hope this helps! And, please, let me know if you have any other questions!
What if your 1st cousins are a match to some but not all of a color cluster?
Hi, Tracy. If your 1st cousin matches multiple colors, add every color they match to that cousin. So, if they match blue, green, and orange, then “assign” them the colors blue, green, and orange.
Hi. I just tried this with my 2nd and a few third cousins and then through in a couple of close 4th cousins so that my one maternal side would show some matches. I kind of understand what I have, but am not positive. Is there a way I can show you the chart , if you are willing to look at it? thanks
Hi, Wendy. If you email me a screenshot I will provide some basic, quick feedback. My email is leeds_dana@yahoo.com
Sorry, I forgot about this. i will mail you a screenshot
A match of 962 matches some of my “red” matches but NOT the original highest “red” match that the list is based off of. Is that 962 match still considered “red”?
Hi, Rianne. That’s a great question! I would say that most likely that 962 match is a part of the Red Cluster. It’s just that that match and the “original highest ‘red’” match don’t happen to share DNA. If you already know your 4 grandparents and are able to identify this red group, you can check it out. If you don’t, I would see if you can find a connection between the people in the red cluster and then see if the 962 matches.
Hope this helps a bit!
Hi I am just starting with your method which is great, but just need to ask a silly question!! I am working with only a few 2nd cousins I have mainly 4th-6th. If I have assigned 4 colours to a few 2nd cousins am I right in thinking that relates to the 4 great grandparents we share?
Hi, Mel. Sorry for the delay! Those 4 colors might represent the 4 sets of great grandparents, but after you create the clusters you need to work with those matches to *see* what each cluster represents! I do this by diagramming each group. (See https://www.danaleeds.com/visualizing_clusters_2nd_3rd_cousins/)
I was raised in a foster home, knew of my mother’s family but never knew of my father’s familyuntil I did DNA through Ancestry. So I have two separate trees, one for my mother’s side and another for my father’s side.
When I did the LEEDs method for my father’s side using four columns, would each of the columns signify a great grand parent on my father’s side?
I do have a excel spread sheet created, but I am not able to add it here.
Hi, Al. Are you using your DNA? Or your father’s? If it’s your DNA, it is highly unlikely that you would get 4 columns for 4 2x great-grandparent lines. Those matches just don’t share enough DNA to create just one cluster each.
If you are using your DNA, I recommend not trying to do “just” your dad’s side or “just” your mom’s side. Instead, just work with the DNA and let it basically show you what the groups are. Then you can work on identifying what each cluster means.
Hope this helps! And I’m happy to provide quick feedback if you send me an Excel spreadsheet via email to drleeds@sbcglobal.net
Dana
When clustering, when I click on the shared matches list, do I add EVERYONE on that list to the group or only those within a specific parameter such as the 90-400 cM?
I’m also trying to find out if my paternal Great grandfather is who he’s showing to be (via documents) or not? I suspect that someone else may be my G grandfather, so I figured I’d try to find matches to his father to confirm that. How far back should I go? The only matches I’m showing who lead back to this G grandfather (Hammond) are also people I’m related to through a GG grandfather who is a Turple. This is what has me wondering if Hammond truly is my G grandfather. Those second cousins do have matches to the Hammond side who isn’t showing up on my matches. This has me thinking that my actual relationship to them is through the Turples only and not through the Hammond’s as well. Otherwise I would think more matches to the Hammond’s would show up the further back I went, and I’m not seeing that.
Hi, Karen. I believe you’re asking about adding higher matches. First, create the original chart with mathces from 90-400 cM. Then look at each higher match. For example, look at Match A. Who do they match in those color clusters that you originally created? It might be one or two (or more colors). Assign that color – or those colors – to this higher match. Then do the same with the other higher matches. IF you had 4 colors for your 4 grandparents, someone on your mom’s side, for example, would have 2 colors – your 2 maternal lines. A sibling, however, would have all 4 colors.
As far as the great grandfather, I’d go back as far as needed. And your logic may be true. But it could also be possible that this was a small family, or only child, or few siblings had children. So keep that in mind!
Dana
Oops – please delete the following: Hello! I have a situation: I have FIVE lines for my “mother” category. I’m struggling with what that means…..
Hi, JH. First of all, my sincere apologies for the delay! I haven’t blogged in quite awhile and somehow I stopped receiving comment notifications and hadn’t noticed. I’m quite behind but catching up tonight! (And I’ve deleted your other comment.)
You might read this post: https://www.danaleeds.com/leeds-method-time-to-consolidate/
As far as what it means, often it means that you don’t have any closer matches to “tie” a specific line together. But it could have other meanings! Either way, after creating the clusters the next steps are to figure out how the people in a specific color are related to each other and then how you’re related to that color. That should also give you an explanation as to why there are 5 colors!
Hope this helps,
Dana
I have done this on my paternal matches only, I have 5 columns & my highest match is in all 5 groups, the 2nd highest is in 4 of them. Every match under these 2 are under 400cM.
I have done paternal only in order to identify close relatives of my bio father who was a NZ Navy man who had an affair with my mum (I assume) & then went back to NZ after WW2.
Have I used the Leeds method wrongly?
Hi, Linda. You might want to watch a video of the method. I recommend the one I recorded on Legacy Family Tree Webinars which you can access with a membership or a free 7-day trial. If you follow the steps as written, your top match wouldn’t end up in more than one cluster. So hopefully a video will help.
Best wishes!
Dana
Hi Dana.. I am new to this and am from New Zealand.
Do we use all the matches that there are to a 2nd and 3rd cousin.
I have so many between 90cm and 400cm. Where wud I finish.
I feel that if I left 1 or 2 out it wud skew the results..thanks very much.
Dorothy
Hi, Dorothy. Welcome!! Most of the time, I use all of the matches between 90 and 400 cM. Having lots & lots (say over 100 or 150) of matches in this range is a possible sign of endogamy. Endogamy is when a population was isolated for some reason – often geographical – so the people intermarried within the group for generations. These were not close marriages. Instead, the people they married were often distantly related to them multiple times. I found one reference saying New Zealand had endogamy: https://www.familyhistoryfanatics.com/endogamy-and-false-matches
If that’s the case with your family, then the Leeds Method won’t be very helpful. Instead, I suggest you read up on using DNA with endogamy. One of my favorite resources is Paul Woodbury’s “Dealing with Endogamy” on Legacy Family Tree Webinars. You can view this with a membership or free, 7-day trial.
Hope this helps!
Dana
I’m working through this on my Dad’s side of the family. On Ancestry, there are 9,888 DNA matches but only nine between 90 and 400 cm and they range from 91 to a high of just 141. Starting with 141, only two matches -#2 (135) and #7 (95); two matches for #3 – #4 (121) and #5 (117); only one match for #6 (97) – #8 (95); and two for #9 (91) – #4 and #5. That lead to four colors, although maybe #9 needs to be added to #3 who he doesn’t match with. If we are talking grandparents, shouldn’t there onlly be two color sets otr did I misunderstand something?
Hi, Scott. Many people in 2024 have tens of thousands of matches now on Ancestry. For example, I have over 36,000. So I’m guessing you either live outside the United States – where testing is highest – or have recent immigrant ancestors. That makes working with matches and the Leeds Method more challenging.
To get more matches, you could target test (which means to ask specific people to test).
As far as the 2 vs 4 color sets: basically, you could potentially see one color for each of your grandparental lines (or sets of great grandparents). So these groups aren’t descendants of your grandparent couples – they are descendants (or relatives) of your great grandparent couples.
I hope that makes sense!
Dana
It does and thank you. But, actually, my family lines have been in this country for a long, long time. I have over 50,000 matches on Ancestry – 42,296 on my mom’s side, 9,888 on my dad’s side, 881 umatched, and 27 on boths sides, including my brother. The disparity on my dad’s side is what caused me to try and figure out why, which utlimately led to your posts. The problem seems to be through my paternal great grandfather because I can’t link to anybody supposedly related to his 11 or so siblings. My grandfather, born 1887 in Orgeon, was an only child. His father was born in 1842 in Nova Scotia and his wife 1852 in Pennsylvania They married in Colorado in 1873 and moved around a bit – Montana, Idaho, Oregon – before settling on the Washington coast where my dad and I were born. I have a ton of names on the great-grandmother’s side plus a very thorough book written by a woman who did massive family research from the 1930s – 1960s. On my great-grandfather’s side, not much as I don’t seem to match up with anybody, at least through DNA. Another way of saying that is I have a lot of info about people that should be related to me but apparently aren’t.
Hello, My DNA results have been a bit of a shock, turns out my brother and I are actually 1/2 siblings (sharing a mother) and I have no Paternal line matches under the surname of my father. I have done a Leeds chart and have ended up with 7 colours (columns) – 2 for both my paternal and maternal grandmothers. Why would they each have 2 lines? There is one colour for my maternal grandfather and one for the man who will be my bio grandfather. Then there is another colour which has just two names, who only seem to be connected to me! How do I identify to whom the 7th colour corresponds? The way I see it either I have an unknown father…or grandfather, so I’m wondering how best to work out where this 7th colour fits in.
Hi, Julie. I know that can be very difficult to receive surprising test results like that. You might want to read my blog post here: https://www.danaleeds.com/leeds-method-time-to-consolidate/
Often people have more than 4 clusters because they don’t have enough 2nd cousins to pull one (or more) of the grandparental lines together. So if your matches are lower – closer to 90 cM then 400 cM – you could easily get additional clusters.
But sometimes there is a lot of overlap and that’s what the article I linked to discusses.
As far as a group with only 2 names, you can go down further and work with the Shared Matches of each of those people. Then try to figure out what the cluster represents. Try this https://www.danaleeds.com/visualizing_clusters_2nd_3rd_cousins/ or this https://www.danaleeds.com/next-steps/
Hope that helps!
Dana
I’ve done a chart for a friend.
She has a group related to her known paternal grandmother and one to a previously unknown paternal grandfather.
She has one match above 400cM at 498. He’s a paternal match and matches both paternal groups but has a tree which only contains the paternal GM’s family name and has a completely different family name on the other side.
Does this mean that this person has an NPE in HIS tree too?
Hi, Joanna. That is interesting! If this is on Ancestry and you have the Pro Tools, you might check to see how much DNA the 498 person shares with some of these matches. It could be that he is a direct descednant of one of your friend’s grandparents but distantly releated to the other. Or “498” could have an NPE in their tree as you suggested.
I would also suggest using the Shared cM Project to compare how you think your friend is related to this match. For instance, if you think they might be 1st cousins (1C), it is more likely they are Half 1C since they share 498 cM.
Hope this helps!
Dana
Thanks for replying, Dana.
Having done more research I now see that the two paternal groups in my Leeds Chart BOTH relate to my friend’s paternal grandmother (I’ll call her Mary) so, Mary’s mother and father.
Mary had no father listed on her birth certificate but I now know who he was – I’ll call her parents Jane & John.
So I’m assuming that my friend’s mystery match must also be descended from another child of Jane & John, as he matches people in both of those paternal groups. Is that correct?
Jane married another man after having Mary but may have carried on a relationship with John after she married, of course. Or I might be looking for another child born before she married.
Before I start looking, I’d be very pleased if you could tell me if you think I’m barking up the wrong tree :).
Very many thanks,
Joanna
Hi, Joanna. It seems likely that this mystery match is a descendant of Jane & John. But there are other possibilities! It could be that this mystery person happens to be related to these two groups in a different way.
Dana
I’m being a bit dense! 498 is descended from my friend’s paternal grandmother so is probably a child of one of my friend’s paternal uncles, so 1c1r. Phew! Got there in the end.
Great! 🙂