Відео

Hi! Thank you for following me! I had Google translate what you wrote, which was a little unclear. I hate to give this answer, especially when I'm not exactly sure what you are saying, but small segments like this may be false. Or they may be so distant as to not be genealogically relevant. In other words, you all inherited those segments from someone who lived many generations ago. If you'd like to try to reword your question, I'm happy to give it another try! Dana

Thank you! I'm glad you found it informative.🙂 You've pretty much got it. I will restate one part because I'm unsure if you understand the target match(es). Let's look at the 2x GGF. If you know who he is and are trying to identify his parents, you would be looking for other descendants of his - preferably through a different child than the one you descend from. (These are the "independent lines of descent." ) Their shared matches should either be other descendants of this 2x GGF, or related to his dad's side of the family (for example, descendants of his siblings or cousins), or related to his mom's side of the family (for example, descendants of her siblings or cousins). So, part of the work is dividing these matches into those 3 groups or buckets. And then looking for common surnames (or actual names!), places, etc. Best wishes! I have gotten a lot of questions about this, so I will make a video soon. 🙂

@ Thanks for the feedback and I’ll be sure to tune in to your upcoming video!

@@barbaralyn7019, What a fascinating, and sad, story! I don’t have a video specifically for that, but I would recommend watching this video: ua-cam.com/video/E5cBsMCQ-eM/v-deo.htmlsi=BKSkKY90OGhxORwK

Thanks for sharing! I always use Chrome, and I hadn't thought to check other browsers. I'm glad you were able to find something that worked!🙂

@@broughps, Great questions! And that can be tough! When you get back far enough, you will lose traceable DNA from some of your ancestors. So you might need to work with other descendants. But I would concentrate on matches from that branch of your family. You also might use Y-DNA if applicable. I am working on a similar case and will share my work in 2025. It isn’t solved yet, but I will share as I work! Hope this helps!

@@DanaLeeds - It really does help when we see the professionals working on a case and get the step by step. Can't wait to see how you work that similar case.

@@tghodges1, Thanks! It’s been amazing learning what AI can do. 😊 And my mom’s mom’s family was from a small county in Tennessee with lots of cousins marrying throughout the 1800s. That’s a bit of a mess, too! I plan on spending time on that family in 2025 and sharing my discoveries with you all.

@ lol. I had cousins marrying too. But these were two separate families. Example, the Giles brothers met the Weaver sisters at a church function and the they ended up marrying the Weaver girls at different times. This happened with the Weaver and Burnham family as well. In my dad’s family I have seen marriages between cousins. Small towns like you say and not as much traveling. I focus on dna segments to separate some of these matches for the first type of double cousins. The other which involve collapsing tree lines are a little harder. 😄

@, Got it! And as I work with this county next year, I might turn to segments, too. I’ll be sharing my process so we can hopefully all learn together!

@@UnbrindADN, it’s a little different process, but it’s a start! You really need to find at least one good match that’s a descendant of your know. 2nd great grandparents through a different child than you are. Then work with the shared matches. You are trying to identify some matches who aren’t also descendants of the 2x couple or on “his” side. Then try to find a connection between the left over matches. Hope that helps! And I’ll be creating more videos, so stay tuned! 😊

@@DanaLeeds Who would be "his" when you say "his" side? The good match found or the side of the known 3rd great-grandfather (as the brickwall his the spouse?) Can't wait to see you future videos!

@@UnbrindADN, I'm assuming you know the 3rd great-grandfather, the father of your 2nd great-grandparent. So the "his" would be people related to his family - the descendants of his siblings, his first cousins, second cousins, etc. So related to the male part of the family, not the female. Hope that helps! 🙂

@@randolphfriend8260 💕

@@valerieawilson3966, Do you mean the Leeds Method in general? Or something specific in this video?

@@AndrewMartinIsHere, You’re welcome! And thank you for leaving a comment. 😊

@@kathrynludrick4821, You’re so welcome! And thanks for commenting. 🥰

@@feliciagaffney1998, I do understand! And I do feel it is one of the best values out there, but I know genealogy can cost a lot of money. The Legacy Family Tree Webinar subscription is about $50/year, but they do have sales at $25/year. They just had one for Thanksgiving. If that might be doable, you could watch for a sale. And there’s lots of good content for free on UA-cam and elsewhere. 🙂

@DanaLeeds bummer I missed the sale. But thank you! I will keep my eye out for a sale.

@@feliciagaffney1998, I hope they'll have one again soon! I'll send out reminders via my newsletter if you'd like to subscribe: danaleeds.myflodesk.com/

@dragonflylady8031, Hi! Thank you for subscribing! I just started this channel about 6 months ago, so it’s still pretty new. I’m glad you found it! I think you are saying the DNA tester is their father. If so, and you only sorted his paternal matches, these 2 clusters most likely represent his 2 paternal grandparents - but they could both represent one grandparent! So you’ll still have to do the work to figure this out. A paternal 1C would match both of these grandparents, as you stated. But, yes, a half aunt would only represent one. So I agree that is a more likely scenario. But there are still other possibilities. If possible, I’d look at the age of the tester vs this match. Hope this helps! That’s a great match and I hope you’re able to figure this out. 😊

@@DanaLeeds Thank you so much. Yes, I understood that the 2 clusters represent his two paternal grandparents and did the work to determine that each cluster represents a different grandparent and that's why I was like "oh goodness, the 801 cM must be a 1C not a half Aunt." Originally, I was leaning towards a half Aunt because he was born in 89 and the 801 cM was born in 1977, and based on the other matches, theoretically, the 801 cM could be either! It's been driving me crazy! lol I have solved other family members unknown parent and those were much easier. This one has been a real challenge. No matches respond and the ancestors are all from Mexico and my ability to read Spanish is limited. Again, thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it so very much.

@, I was partly talking that out to make sure I had it right in my head as I didn’t have paper with me. 😉 And as a teaching experience for others. You did a great job with this! And I’ve worked on a little on a few cases where records were in Spanish and found it difficult. Have you tried using FamilySearch’s Full Text search? I have a Livestream on that if you aren’t familiar with it.

I don't remember if I mentioned that other Pearce in the video, but I'm glad you pointed it out. I haven't looked at this other Pearce line in-depth, but some quick research shows that there isn't a very recent connection. There might be one quite a ways back, though. And you're welcome, and thank you for leaving this feedback! 😊

Going farther back in time and finding a more recent descendant is an excellent strategy for Y-DNA testing. And congrats on finding someone to test! But my point, in this case, was that I couldn't test William Emmitt Hunter's Y-DNA to help identify his father because his 2 sons were deceased & they only had daughters. Now that I know he was actually born a Beddingfield, I could find someone to test that line.

That does make it more difficult! Y-DNA testing is a good idea, and the best place to test is FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA). However, you'll still encounter the same issue with surnames! A family member's Y-DNA turned out surprisingly to be Scandinavian, and I haven't worked that out yet. 😉For this case, I am first working to determine where the surprise "break" in his Y-DNA occurred. So I need to prove one generation at a time until I find a generation I cannot prove. Best wishes!

@@debwilliams611, Hi! This relates to my previous video about 1st cousins. I’d also talked about age in that video, though I don’t know if that applies here. But the older testers sometimes have the issue of the matches between 90-400 as all younger 1st cousins with various “removed” levels. The fewer matches, though, have to do with the Scottish ancestry. I would focus on the 83 and 81 cM matches and their shared matches - even though there are only a few of them. If you have the Pro Tools, you can see how they’re related. Hopefully you’ll have a few that are fairly closely related and you can figure out how they’re related. So that’s my recommendation! If age is part of the issue, could I use this as an example case of how age can affect the matches? If so, please message or email me. I’d keep everything private. Thanks, and hope this helps! 😊

@@DanaLeeds Hi Dana I emailed you.

@@debwilliams611 Thanks!

I'm new to the channel but have been doing genetic genealogist for a while, even using the Leeds method, and even though I don't have the same problem as you I wanted to go a little deeper back and get "sub clusters" of the 4 grandparent groups and so I've taken matches that are less than the recommended lowest limit so maybe you could try this because it is a bit hit and miss as to whether you get close enough matches to turn the groups using this method by the exact rules prescribed. I know there are reasons why the method is the way it is and as you get more distant matches there is more chance of overlap between groups, but if the ancestor isn't from the same area I've found that the majority of people don't overlap groups. I just thought I should add this as I try and add all my matches into groups where possible to maximise the number of trees to be able to look at.

@@mattpotter8725, Thanks for sharing! And for watching & commenting! The main reasons I teach the range of 400 to 90 cM is because 1) it gives most people the best odds of seeing 4 grandparent lines and 2) when people go lower they often end up with so many clusters that they get confused and overwhelmed. But going lower, or even starting lower, can help you see different clusters of matches. For me the main thing to do with each cluster is to figure out what it means. I do this by diagramming and figuring out how the people in a cluster are related to each other & then how they’re related to me. Thanks again for sharing! - Dana

@@shuttlepilot, Thank you! I really enjoy creating these videos and appreciate the feedback. 🥰

Wow! No, I wouldn't use Word. Personally, I use LucidChart for more complicated trees. I have a subscription, but you can probably start for free. There is also a popular free version: www.drawio.com/ But I learned LucidChart & enjoy it so never switched over. It's a bit of a learning curve to make it "pretty," but you can make huge trees and still navigate them easily. Let me know how it goes! Best wishes! 🙂

You're welcome! And I appreciate your kind words. 😊

Great question, @Disblair! I know you need to check because there are sometimes trees. But I don't know what this wording means. Let me look into it, and I'll get back to you! 🙂

I’m very interested in this too. I’ve spent hundreds of hours reviewing tttees of shared matches and always skipped those that said tree unavailable. Are you just clicking on the words “tree unavailable “?

@@davidk4869, No, I click on their name. And they don't always have a tree. But, sometimes they do! So I always check. 🙂 I hope you find some "new" trees!

Hi, Emma. Great point! And the histograms can be very helpful. 🙂

@@DanaLeeds That's what I was getting at. On many of the FB DNA sites I belong to, too often people don't look at the histogram to see the details. It happens more often with lower cm matches. I wasn't trying to 2nd guess you. :)

@, Great point! And I will make a video about it. I already have a presentation I gave in the past. And I actually misunderstood you! When you said “top” of the curve, I thought you meant top like on the right. 😜 No idea why my brain went there! You’re absolutely right and I appreciate your bringing up the histograms. I will edit my comment to you. 😊

Thank you! 🥰

If I calculated correctly, you are looking for an unknown 2x great-grandfather, and you have siblings' DNA matches to work with. I would try to identify the highest match who is a descendant of the known great-grandparent couple. Then, create a custom group with that person and their shared matches. If it's possible to zero in on a possible location, that could help you focus on what part of these trees might hold the answer. Hopefully you will start seeing some of these trees connect. Best wishes! 🧬

@ To confirm, my father’s maternal GF, John Williams, was the only child of James and Margaret Clement - James died (or disappeared) within a year of their marriage. Margaret remarried at least twice after James and even once before so I have managed to easily match DNA descendants of Margaret. My father and his sister are the closest descendants and I’ve been trying to eliminate matches known from their pool. I’ve done some clustering as well but wanted to give The Leeds method another go so wasn’t sure if there was a best way to do it for this scenario. I appreciate the advice. TY

@@sleepdprived4193, You can go lower, it’s just that you start creating a lot of clusters. But, you can do that and then try to identify what part of your tree the various clusters represent. It doesn’t really work, though, that there is a certain range where you would find your great-grandparent clusters or 2x great grandparent clusters. Hope that makes sense! I’ll keep making videos and show how I’m working further back on my tree. 😊

I've gone down to 40cM on my dad's side (his father's side is basically a huge brick wall). Sometimes, my dad, or my aunt will also have a match with a higher cM than the other (i.e., 66cM compared to 32cM). The problem on my dad's side is, his dad was the "youngest of the youngest of the youngest", so any cousin matches would be once, twice or three times removed (and possibly distantly related to his mother's side, too, if they're from the same region - a lot of Polish-Ukrainian matches are like this). I've at least been able to identify 3 or 4 possible groups (a Polesian group (mostly Northern Ukraine, some Southern Belarus, also linked to Lublin in Poland), Ukrainian group, Polish-Rusyn-Hungarian (the latter was a surprise) group, and Silesian-Czechia group). The Polish-Ukrainians seem to be on my great-grandfather's side, and Silesians possibly on my great-grandmother's side (partially with surname searches in matches, too).

@@DanaLeeds I too am trying to go back further in my tree, for 3X, so I'm looking forward to your future videos.

@@jennifer255, That's a GREAT point that having a father who is the "youngest of the youngest of the youngest" will affect your results. And, yes, siblings will have matches that can be quite different in terms of cM shared and whether or not they're a match. It's a great reason to test and use the DNA of multiple siblings! It sounds like you have a difficult case! And I have never worked in these regions. I hope you make some real progress! 🙂

@@kathyl2839, Great! And thanks for sharing!🙂

@@suzannechalifoux8587, You’re welcome! And thanks for leaving a comment. I think diagramming is such a huge help! I couldn’t do what I do without it. I have another video that showcases diagramming if you want to see more: ua-cam.com/video/pJSbPdFWevc/v-deo.htmlsi=0DL194XS7Xq6EP-b Best wishes!

@ thank you! I also watched the webinar on Legacy Family Tree that you suggested in the video. Wow, what a great story and a lot of work too. And here I am thinking that my mystery maternal grandfather is hard to catch… 😂 My situation is that on the 2X GParent’s line, I have 2 sisters that married 2 brothers so it was not simple to split the network. So I had to do genealogy and got a big and wide tree but in the final I succeeded in putting every matches (400 to 90 cM) on the tree. Now I just need to diagram and verify everything!

@@suzannechalifoux8587, I'm glad you watched and enjoyed it! I tease my husband of 30+ years that I'm glad I married into his family so I could have this great case to work on. 😂 And siblings marrying siblings does complicate the DNA aspect of our research! It sounds like you are doing a great job, though. And, yes, please diagram it and see if that helps! I find diagramming to be essential for this work. Best wishes! And thanks for sharing. 🙂

@@kathleenkelley1299, You’re welcome! And thanks for sharing. I love hearing that my videos and teachings are helpful. 💕

@@MarkFlaherty-h3v, Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to give Canvas a try, too. I’ve primarily been using Claude & Artifacts for several months.

Hi, Karen. I’ve never worked with that situation, but essentially you’d be first trying to separate those 2 sides - basically their parents. Then you could hopefully split the next generation into 4 clusters. It would also be helpful if you had a 1st cousin of theirs that was paternal and another that was maternal. Wishing you the best!

I can’t really separate the matches for my mother and father because the cousins are the same. I can get 4 lines if I go to my great grandparents. So should I just do that as if they were grandparents?

​@@KarenL8426, (Not a great excuse, but I've been sick and just getting up & around & trying to work) Yes, I would focus on the 4 lines of your great-grandparents and act as if they're your grandparents.

@@shuttlepilot, Thank you for sharing! 💕

You're welcome! There is a drawback, though. You can only have one person or couple at the top. So I still use LucidChart for more complex family trees.

Thanks! 😊

When I start working with DNA matches, I break them into four clusters based on the four grandparents. Then, I work on breaking each of those into two parts-so working toward clusters of the 8 great-grandparents. And then I do it again to work toward 16 great-great-grandparents. Besides the initial four clusters, I usually focus on just one line at a time. I've been getting a lot of questions about identifying more distant generations, so I will create some videos showing my process. :) Thanks for the question!

@@andreashiock301, Are you using Excel? If so, don’t highlight any cells. Or, you can select the entire chart with the tiny triangle in the top left by the A and the 1. Then when you sort, if you have headers - so words in row A - click the box that says you have headers. Try that. If it doesn’t work, I can make a quick video. :)

@@DanaLeeds Yes, I am using Excel. I tried the things you listed and the names are still not sorting with the colors. Thanks though :)

@@andreashiock301, Let me create a quick video and I'll share it. :)

@@andreashiock301, Hi! I was going to film a short video to share with you, but I am sick today and not up to it. But you can find where I sorted in Excel on this video at 6:29: ua-cam.com/video/zMDbU72_-Ms/v-deo.html Hope that helps! If not, I use AI or search UA-cam to help me troubleshoot.

@@DanaLeeds Thanks for the link to your video. I got it to work finally but not exactly the way you did. If I highlighted the whole page, the sort feature was grayed out and I couldn't select it. Finally, only highlighted the headers and was able to select sort.

@@staceybenson2259, Great question! First of all, when I created this method in 2018, many people only had about 10 matches in this range. So it often wasn’t enough to represent all 4 grandparents, but sometimes it was. And, it was still useful in creating meaningful clusters! At the time, Ancestry didn’t sort our matches into parent sides so that was another huge benefit. When trying to identify someone further back, like the parents of your 3rd great grandfather, here’s my basic method. (And I’ll put it on the list to make a video about!) Find one or a few highest match descendants of his child, your 2nd great grandparent. Then create a custom group of them and their shared matches. Each of those matches should be descendants of either the 2nd great grandparent couple, or his relatives, or her relatives. The trick is to start figuring out which group they are in and labeling them or even creating additional custom groups. This is easier when you are only looking for one side - often the unknown mother. Anyway, I call it the His, Hers, and Theirs Method. I hope this helps! And if you haven’t already identified any of these matches, you might see if ThruLines will help you. I have a couple of videos on ThruLines.

You mention one of your cousins is a half first cousin. If you know which side they come from you can use that person go to shared matches and mark everyone on that list as that Surname of which grandparent they are related through. That can help at least knock out one line.

@@MusicInMotion_67 That half 1st cousin descends from my paternal grandmother, not my paternal grandfather. I have already assigned them to my paternal grandmother line of Bates. I want the Benson line but keep striking out.

You're very welcome! And thanks for sharing. I should also stress this: When you know how a match is related to you, do not use them as a key person if they share more than one grandparent with you. 🙂

The big difference is we can now see how much DNA our matches share with each other! And that means that we can identify many people we weren't able to identify before. For example, maybe Jane Smith doesn't have a tree. But now we can see that Mary Bell is her SISTER, and she has a tree, and we can place her on our tree! So now we know exactly who Jane Smith is. That's amazing!

To see shared matches, you need an Ancestry Family History Membership or AncestryDNA Plus. They just had great sales for Thanksgiving, and I'm sure they'll have sales again soon.