Direct Ancestors
Each traces generation-by-generation to John, Perry, and Patrick Long through the maternal line, documented in full on the Plantagenet Descent page.
Charlemagne
742–814 · King of the Franks, Holy Roman Emperor
36th-great-grandfather. Thirty-eight generations are preserved in canonical record, from his coronation in 800 to the present family.
View the proof →Rollo of Normandy
c. 860–c. 933 · First ruler of Normandy
31st-great-grandfather. The Norse founder of the Norman line, granted Frankish land under the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte in 911.
View the proof →William the Conqueror
c. 1028–1087 · Duke of Normandy, King of England
26th-great-grandfather. Crossed the Channel and took the English throne at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
View the proof →King John
1166–1216 · King of England
22nd-great-grandfather. Sealed Magna Carta at Runnymede in 1215, binding the English crown to the rule of law.
View the proof →King Edward III
1312–1377 · King of England
A direct ancestor in the Plantagenet line, and head of the House of York through his son Edmund of Langley.
View the proof →King Edward IV
1442–1483 · First Yorkist King of England
16th-great-grandfather. The royal descent enters the family through his acknowledged son, Arthur Plantagenet.
View the proof →Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle
c. 1480–1542 · Viscount Lisle, Lord Deputy of Calais
The entry point of the royal descent — the acknowledged biological son of Edward IV, created Viscount Lisle in 1523.
View the proof →Rev. John Robinson
1576–1625 · Pilgrim pastor of Leiden
11th-great-grandfather. Theological founder of the Pilgrim movement — his Leiden congregation became the Mayflower Pilgrims; the line descends through his son Isaac into the maternal Swift family.
View the proof →Documented Cousins
Collateral kin reached through a shared ancestor rather than direct descent. The royal cousins descend from Edward IV; the American cousins descend by independent New England lines.
King Henry VIII
1491–1547 · King of England
Documented cousin — 1st cousin, sixteen times removed — through the shared descent from King Edward IV.
View the proof →Mary, Queen of Scots
1542–1587 · Queen of Scotland
Documented cousin — 3rd cousin, fourteen times removed — through the same Yorkist descent.
View the proof →Benjamin Franklin
1706–1790 · Statesman and polymath
Documented cousin — 1st cousin, ten times removed — through Peter Folger of Nantucket.
View the proof →Kezia “Miriam” Folger Coffin
1723–1798 · Nantucket merchant
Documented cousin — 1st cousin, nine times removed — through John Folger (father of the direct ancestor Jethro Folger).
View the proof →Lucretia Coffin Mott
1793–1880 · Abolitionist and suffragist
Documented cousin through the Coffin line of Nantucket; co-organizer of the Seneca Falls Convention.
View the proof →Maj. Gen. Benedict Arnold V
1741–1801 · Continental Army general
Documented cousin — 4th cousin, seven times removed — through Stukely Westcott’s daughter Damaris.
View the proof →Capt. Lt. Joseph Arnold
1755–1840 · RI Society of the Cincinnati
Documented cousin — 4th cousin, seven times removed — through Stukely Westcott via the colonial Arnold line; the patriot side of Benedict Arnold V’s branch.
View the proof →Capt.-Lt. James Gardner
d. 1787 · Crane’s 3rd Continental Artillery
Documented cousin — 4th cousin, seven times removed — through Lt. George Gardiner Sr of Newport (the Gardiner line shared with Herodias Long).
View the proof →Walter Folger Jr.
1765–1849 · Inventor, astronomer, U.S. Congressman
Documented cousin — 4th cousin, seven times removed — through Tristram Coffin of Nantucket.
View the proof →Maria Mitchell
1818–1889 · First American woman astronomer
Documented cousin — 5th cousin, six times removed — through Tristram Coffin; at the boundary of the inclusion filter, graded sourced.
View the proof →Levi Coffin II
1798–1877 · “President of the Underground Railroad”
Documented cousin — 4th cousin, seven times removed — through Tristram Coffin of Nantucket.
View the proof →