Applying the Leeds Method

 

Extract from Leeds chart. Nov 2024.

Above is a snapshot from part of the Leeds Method chart I created using the DNA matches in the range of 400-90 cM for my Mom and her two sisters. There's more information on the left side of the chart, with the location of the testing company in column A (Ancestry), the category of match in column B, username (or known name) for the match in column C, cM shared with my Mom in column D, cM shared with my aunt Linda in column E, cM shared with my aunt Patty in column F, most recent common ancestor (if known) in column G, maternal or paternal in column I, and notes in column J.

I ended up with 93 matches. I compiled the cM for each match to my Mom, and repeated those steps with matches for my two aunts. Once I had the numbers, I started with the highest match not in the first cousin category and made that person the group leader for Group 1 and gave that person an X. Then I looked at the shared matches for the group leader, and assigned them a yellow color. I repeated those steps for the next match that did not have a color, and so on.

This created 12 groups, but these neatly made four main groups for each of my Mom's grandparent groups. Looking further into the clusters on my Mom's Read-Cain side of the tree, I kept seeing matches with the surname Gibson. These matches traced back to the same Gibson cluster in Adair County, Kentucky.

I can also use the Leeds chart to look closer at the clusters for my Mom's Campuzano-Vasquez and Diaz-Portillo groups, and will be doing that in the near future. I am hoping this chart will also help explore research questions 5 & 6 for my Mom's side of the tree.