Call for Volunteers

The DNA of our long-dead ancestors is not, of course, available for research, but through the “miracle” of Y-DNA we can approximate a male ancestor’s Y-DNA by testing that of his male descendants in his unbroken male line. Therefore, we need to have additional Y-DNA testing of at least three or four donors who are well-documented male descendants of Ralph Leigh, our earliest known Leigh ancestor (estimated birth in 1560). These new tests are expected to confirm the genealogical relationships previously established by our “paper trail” of documentary evidence given in the Leigh Descendancy Chart. And, if the new tests are sufficiently similar to the Y-DNA already tested from a descendant of Samuel Leigh, they will together show a composite profile that can be assumed to be sufficiently close to the Y-DNA of Ralph Leigh. Once we have determined the Y-DNA profile of Ralph Leigh we will use that profile to help us locate other relatives of Ralph, people who are presently unknown to us.

Be assured that the Y-DNA extracted from a donor does not contain any personal information about him. The only information extracted from the person's Y-DNA is information useful in determining when a potential common ancestor lived. Also, the test involves only wiping the inside of your mouth with cotton swabs and mailing the swabs to FamilyTree. It takes just a few minutes to do the wiping, and the procedure is noninvasive.

Volunteers for Y-DNA testing must satisfy the following conditions:

Be a male descendant in an unbroken all-male line from Ralph Leigh. Only males carry the Y-DNA.
Be willing to sign a release to have our webmaster, Allen W. Leigh, be your contact for your testing. This release will authorize FamilyTree to post Allen's email address so other persons can reach him when they have been tested and believe they have a match with you. You will be identified by your test code number, not your name, and you will not receive emails from other researchers unless you desire to be included in all such correspondence with Allen.
Be willing to have your markers and haplogroup posted anonymously in Ysearch.org and in the public database at FamilyTree. Allen W. Leigh will be listed as the contact person.
Be willing to have your general line from Ralph Leigh to the year 1900, your Ysearch ID (code number), and your haplogroup listed in our Y-DNA Results and/or DNA Relatives pages of our web site. Your name will never be listed.

If you fit these conditions we should like very much to hear from you! Some people start out slowly by having only a few markers tested, but ultimately the superior test of 67 markers will be needed, so we choose it at the beginning for all those shown by our paper trail to be descendants of Ralph Leigh. The 67 marker test costs $248; however, we have a Leigh project fund to help pay this fee for current donors. Also, contributions to this fund are always welcome!

To discuss the genealogical and historical data, please contact

To be added to the Leigh email list for occasional announcements, please contact