Charlemagne

Charlemagne lived from 747 to 814, conquered large areas of Europe, and was the first to be coronated as Holy Roman Emperor. He left a large mark on European history and he also left behind a lot of children: 18.

Recent genealogical, genetic, and statistical research^[1] shows that it's not just the number of children Charlemagne had. In fact, it is thought that the most recent common ancestor of everyone of European descent may have lived only about 600 years ago. So for anyone alive at the time of Charlemagne, that person either has no living descendents or that person is an ancestor for everyone living of European descent. Charlemagne is only special in so far as that he is well documented.

Of course, knowing I (like many others) am descended from Charlemagne is different than actually knowing a lineage. There are, of course, many lineages. Most or all of my ancestors going back several generations are probably descended from Charlemagne. But few of those lineages can be traced back far enough.

The easiest way to find a lineage back to Charlemagne is to find a so-called gateway ancestor. These are more recent ancestors that have a documented lineage to Charlemagne. Lists of such ancestors can be found online, such as at the Order of the Crown of Charlemagne in the USA. A couple notes on such sites, though. One is to take their data with a healthy dose of skepticism, and another is to remember the words of Groucho Marx: "I don’t want to belong to any club that would accept me as one of its members." Being able to trace your ancestry back more than a few generations is a privilege and we should be wary of any organization that is exclusive based on such privilege.

Peter Worden

My gateway ancestor (there may be more, but he's the one I've found so far) is Peter Worden. Two Peter Wordens—father and son—immigrated from England to Yarmouth, MA in the early 1600s.

I discovered my connection to Peter Worden and from there his connection to Charlemagne in 2012. I immediately added the entire lineage to my family tree and excitedly showed it to relatives. My excitement has since faded. I had copied this entire lineage from some website without any verification. So my current "active" family tree doesn't include it.

I've since done some research and found that the lineage of Peter Worden may be supported by the work of Douglas Richardson, who appears to be a well-respected genealogist. The Newberry Library in Chicago has some of his works, so one of my tasks is to visit the library and see if his research warrants adding the lineage back to the tree.

But here is that lineage, divided into three sections: the lineage that is notable enough to be on Wikipedia, the lineage from there to Peter Worden, and the lineage from Peter Worden to me.

Wikipedia

If it's on Wikipedia, it must be true, right?

1. Charlemagne (747-814)
2. Pepin of Italy (777-810) was the son of Charlemagne and his second wife Hildegard. He was crowned King of Italy in 781.
3. Bernard of Italy (797-818) was the son of Pepin of Italy. He was the king of Italy from 810-818. His mother may have been Chrotais.
4. Pepin, Count of Vermandois (817-850) was the son of Bernard and his wife Cunigunde. Little is known about Cunigunde.
5. Herbert I, Count of Vermandois (c. 848/850 - 907) was the third son of Pepin of Vermandois. His mother is unknown.
6. Herbert II, Count of Vermandois (c. 880-943) was the son of Herbert I. His mother was possibly named Bertha.
7. Adalbert I, Count of Vermandois (c. 915-987) was the son of Herbert II and Adela of France.
8. Herbert III, Count of Vermandois (953-1015) was the son of Adalbert I and Gerberge of Lorraine.
9. Otto, Count of Vermandois (979-1045) was the son of Herbert III and Ermengarde of Bar-sur-Seine.
10. Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois (1028-1080) was the son of Otto and Parvie (or Pavia or Patia).
11. Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois (?-1120) was the daughter of Herbert IV and Adele of Valois.
12. Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (c. 1085-1131) was the third daughter of Adelaide and Hugh.
13. Ada de Warenne (c. 1120-1178) was the daughter of Elizabeth and her second husband William.
14. William the Lion (c. 1142-1214) was the son of Ada and Henry. Henry was the son of David I, King of Scotland. William succeeded David to the Scottish throne in 1165.
15. William the Lion had several illegitimate children, one of whom was Isabella Mac William, born 1165 of Isabel d'Avenel, daughter of Robert Avenel.
16. William de Ros of Helmsley was the eldest son of Isabella and Robert de Ros.

Here the uninterrupted chain of ancestors with Wikipedia articles comes to an end.

The Intermediate Chain

This is what I copied from a website a decade ago and have done no independent verification on. Searching any of these names will turn up a large number of online family trees showing this same lineage, but I want to spend some time nailing down better sources someday.

17. William de Ros of Ingmanthorpe (?-?) was the son of William de Ros of Helmsley and Lucy FitzPeter.
18. Lucy de Ros (?-?) was the daughter of William de Ros and Eustache.
19. William de Plumpton (?-1362) was the son of Lucy and Robert de Plumpton.
20. Alice Plumpton (?-1400) was the daughter of William and Christina de Mowbray.
21. Margaret Sherburne (?-?) was the daughter of Alice and Richard Sherburne.
22. Richard de Sherburne (1381-1441) was the son of Margaret and Richard de Bayley.
23. Richard Sherburne (?-1441) was the son of Richard de Sherburne and Agnes Harrington.
24. Agnes Sherburne (?-1471) was the daughter of Richard Sherburne and Matilda Hamerton.
25. Nicolas Rushton was the son of Agnes and Henry Rushton.
26. Agnes Rishton (1470-1556) was the daughter of Nicolas Rushton and Margaret Radcliffe.
27. Peter Worthington (1514-1577) was the son of Agnes and Richard Worthington.
28. Isabel Worthington (?-?) was the daughter of Peter and Isabel Anderton.
29. Peter Worden (1576-1639) was the son of Isabel and Robert Worden.
30. Peter Worden (1609-1687) was the son of Peter and Margaret Grice.

Peter Worden the father and Peter Worden the son were both born in England and both died in Yarmouth, Massachusetts. Both apparently lie buried in Worden Cemetery.

Peter Worden to me

I came across Peter Worden while researching my Chase ancestry in Massachusetts. Not physically in Massachusetts, sadly, but that's on my todo list. The details below are based on that research. That research admittedly relies on secondary sources in places.

31. Mary Worden (1639-1723) was the daughter of Peter and Mary.
32. Joseph Burgess (1678-1723) was the son of Mary and John Burgess.
33. Mercy Burgess (1712-1795) was the daughter of Joseph and Thomasine Bangs.
34. Deborah Baker (1730-1807) was the daughter of Mercy and Judah Baker.
35. Anthony Chase (1758-1841) was the son of Deborah and Abner Chase.
36. Leonard Chase (1793-1841) was the son of Anthony Chase and Keziah Baker.
37. Anthony Chase (1829-1869) was the son of Leonard Chase and Mary Lee Ferris.
38. Morton Ellsworth Chase (1861-1939) was the son of Anthony Chase and Sarah Butterfield. He was born in Gary, Indiana and studied Photography at the University of Illinois from 1879-1882. He moved to Colorado soon afterwards.
39. Morton Beymer Chase (1939-1995) was the son of Morton Ellsworth Chase and Mary Annette Beymer. He was born in Hotchkiss Colorado, but the family soon moved to Southeast Colorado. He spent most of his life in La Junta. He died in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
40. My Grandmother was the daughter of Morton Beymer Chase and Verdie Standley.
41. My Mother.
42. Me.

Notes

1. Further reading on this topic:

• Humans Are All More Closely Related Than We Commonly Think (Scientific American)
• So you’re related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European… (The Guardian)
• Charlemagne's DNA and Our Universal Royalty (National Geographic)