I guess this is directed to Joseph: Were you able to make a connection to President Coolidge and the arms of John Coolidge of Waterford, Mass., listed in Crozier’s General Armory?
http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1607
Yes, apparently so, and an artist painted the Coolidge arms and made a big news splash briefly during Silent Cal’s term, but there’s no evidence the President himself actually used them. I’ll be adding them to the series in due course.
Here’s the image (a little cleaning up needs to be done, I see) for the Coolidge arms. I’m going to try to find time to write up the (brief) article this weekend.
I’m not surprised that Silent Cal wouldn’t have been a fan of a screaming griffin. 
I look forward to the article.
Very nice article.
Is there modern genealogical research on his British roots?
Nice article and artwork.
Nice arms and you ended the Article with a little twist, I guess it was hard not to 
Interesting article in that there was an increase in interest in coats of arms by the general public at this time, and yet Coolidge didn’t share that interest. But from what little I’ve read about him, he doesn’t seem to be one who would have been interested in anything that might have appeared to him to be "ostentatious."
So Joseph, if I’ve been paying attention, this now leaves the two Harrisons, Hoover, maybe Nixon, Pierce, Polk, Van Buren and Wilson to complete the series – unless Ireland gives Obama a new coat.
arriano;66124 wrote:
Interesting article in that there was an increase in interest in coats of arms by the general public at this time, and yet Coolidge didn’t share that interest. But from what little I’ve read about him, he doesn’t seem to be one who would have been interested in anything that might have appeared to him to be "ostentatious."
And the fact that there seems to have been no actual history of the use of these arms in his family. If I were in his shoes, I’d be very skeptical about the legitimacy of the Banks/Vermont attribution.
Quote:
So Joseph, if I’ve been paying attention, this now leaves the two Harrisons, Hoover, maybe Nixon, Pierce, Polk, Van Buren and Wilson to complete the series
Well, I keep trying to figure out just how much there is left to do.
I have the Van Buren shield finished and part of the crest. The story is that Van Buren displayed the arms in his home for sure, and is alleged by his political enemies to have placed them on his carriage as well. He was apparently given a painting of a Van Buren coat of arms when visiting the Netherlands long after leaving office, and this was the painting he hung up in his house. Van Buren was characteristically ambiguous about whether he was claiming the arms as his or not.
As for the others, I haven’t fully decided who gets a full article and who doesn’t.
Washington - done
J. Adams - done
Jefferson - done
Madison - Arms have been attributed to James Madison, but apparently without basis.
Monroe was apparently a cadet of the Scottish house of Munro of Foulis. He would have been entitled by Scottish custom to matriculate a differenced version of the Munro arms, Or an eagle’s head erased Gules. By American custom, he probably could have reasonably used the arms without difference. But there’s no evidence that either he or his American ancestors did so, and his seal on the Louisiana Purchase treaty has a shield outline with a script M on it.
J. Q. Adams - done
Jackson - no known arms
Van Buren - see above
W. H. Harrison - He and his grandson Benjamin were scions of the old James River, Virginia, Harrison family. There are at least five different and apparently unrelated sets of arms that have been used by or attributed to this family over the centuries, at least two of them appearing on colonial era tombstones and silver. Clearly a full article, but I haven’t figured out how to get my arms around the facts yet.
Tyler - no known arms; some interesting stories about comments on heraldry
Polk - Like Monroe, James K. Polk was the descendant of a Scottish armigerous house, the Pollocks. I haven’t found anything to prove that he used the arms, although there’s a seal at the Smithsonian that belonged to him and I plan to try and find out what the design is. However, he did have fairly close relatives (nieces and nephews and maybe his cousin Leonidas) who did use the arms, so therefore probably merits an article.
Taylor - done
Fillmore - arms sometimes fancifully attributed without any basis
Pierce - A coat of arms is attributed to one of Franklin Pierce’s New England ancestors, but it seems to fall into a similar category as Coolidge’s, with the difference that there’s no evidence I’ve ever seen that the president was aware of these arms or that they were used by any American Pierce during or before his lifetime. He was once asked about his family coat of arms and replied that it must be the shirt his grandfather wore on the battlefield at Bunker Hill.
Buchanan - Sometimes attributed with the undifferenced Scottish arms of Buchanan of that Ilk. I’ve seen nothing suggesting that he or any of his relatives ever used these arms.
Lincoln - no known arms
A. Johnson - no known arms
Grant - no known arms
Hayes - done
Garfield - done
Arthur - done
Cleveland - done
B. Harrison - see above
McKinley -no known arms
T. Roosevelt - done
Taft - no known arms
Wilson - Apparently a print of the coat of arms of a totally unrelated Wilson family, dating to his own lifetime, hangs in Woodrow Wilson’s house here in Washington. Need to address it somehow. He also used an interesting non-heraldic seal with his name written in Pitman shorthand, looking rather like an old German housemark.
Harding - no known arms
Coolidge - done
Hoover - several groups claimed to have located Hoover’s ancestral arms from Oberkulm, Aargau, Switzerland, and discussed them in the press, etc., during his term. Clearly an article on its own—if nothing else, it illustrates the growing presumption that a President would have a coat of arms.
F. D. Roosevelt - done.
Truman - Apparently there’s some heraldic material in the Truman Library, not clear whether it’s just bucket-shop stuff or what. Research to be done.
Eisenhower - done
Kennedy - done
L. B. Johnson - done
Nixon - got a "grant" from the American College of Heraldry and Arms (the same outfit that gave LBJ his arms, not the present-day ACH), but no one’s yet tracked down what it was. Will try the Nixon Library now that they have all his Presidential material.
Ford - no known arms
Carter - not known to have used arms; possibly related to the James River Carters of Virginia fame.
Reagan - done
G. H. W. Bush - no known arms
Clinton - done
G. W. Bush - no known arms
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– unless Ireland gives Obama a new coat.
Or Kenya.
Or the Netherlands. There was a funny story going around over here that Obama had Frisian ancestors with the name of Obbema.
According to the story he is the descendant of Jelle Obbema who went to Kenia to trade in peppermint oil. The name Obbema mutated to Oobema and then to Obama. One of the sons of Jelle Obbema was called Sjoerd-Bark the second part lived on in the family and became Barack. The family arms were Or, two fleur de lis leaves and a kaats bal ( a smal ball used in the sport of Kaatsen) Vert. The motto of the familyarms : Ja Wy Kinne which is Frisian for Yes We Can. 
Joseph McMillan;66127 wrote:
Monroe was apparently a cadet of the Scottish house of Munro of Foulis. He would have been entitled by Scottish custom to matriculate a differenced version of the Munro arms, Or an eagle’s head erased Gules. By American custom, he probably could have reasonably used the arms without difference. But there’s no evidence that either he or his American ancestors did so, and his seal on the Louisiana Purchase treaty has a shield outline with a script M on it.
I think he would have adopted the Munros of Katewell’s arms. But I don’t think he did, perhaps because his Scottish ancestry was not important to him.
Michael Swanson;66130 wrote:
I think he would have adopted the Munros of Katewell’s arms.
Do arms exist for Munro of Katewell?
Joseph McMillan;66127 wrote:
Well, I keep trying to figure out just how much there is left to do.
Perhaps you may want to consider writing a miscellaneous article to tie up all the other presidential bits and pieces that do not warrant full individual articles. Maybe something like the name of the president and then a paragraph or two (whatever it merits):
John Tyler
There is no evidence that President Tyler was entitled to a coat of arms. However, he did make a number of interesting comments regarding heraldry that deserve noting…...
Joseph McMillan;66135 wrote:
Do arms exist for Munro of Katewell?
I think Foulis and the Katewell, Fyrish, and Alness cadets had different arms. Each estate in within a few kilometers north or east of Foulis. Fyrish had a wavy border. The others I am told were different, but I am not sure what they were. The man in the article below would know. Also, there are Munros living in each cadet’s hamlet who would know. Another option is to write the clan chief at Foulis, who hosts annual reunions for the clan. At the most recent Foulis gathering last summer, they featured a booth with President Monroe information and pictures. They sent out a newsletter with the information, but I no longer have it.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/American+receives+award+of+Arms.-a030138376
There are no Monro arms for the Katewell branch in Lyon Register (up to 1973) described as such and none in the following rolls: Slains, Dunvegan Lord Crawfords. Neither do any Katewell arms appear in MacDonald’s "Scottish Armorial Seals"
Alex Maxwell Findlater notes the "Munro of Foules" arms in Lord Crawford’s Armorial as "This would seem to be the first record of the Monro Arms" They are shown as
Azure an eagle’s head couped Or langued Gules
Since the creation of Lyon Register Foulis bears the stem arms Or an eagle’s head Gules
The differences borne by various Monro/Munro armigers are
Dr Alexander Monro, Principal of Edinburgh University (son of Fyrish, descended of Kildermoor): bordure waved Gules LR i/372 1687
Dr Alexander Monro, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh: in its beak a branch of laurel Proper, in dexter chief a sinister hand couped Gules, all within a bordure engrailed Azure LR i/527 1780
Alexander Monro of Bearcrofts: in her beak a laurel branch Vert LR i/367 1672x1692
Andrew Monro of Coull: bordure waved Gules LR i/371 1672x1692
George Monro Esq (younger of Auchinbowie): in its beak a laurel branch Proper all within a bordure Azure LR i/587 1802
George Monro of Pitlundie: in her beak an olive branch vert LR i/367 1672x1692
George Gun Munro of Braemore & Poyntzfield: differenced by quartering Gun and Poyntz LR i/583 1800
Sir Arthur Munro of Foulis-Obsdale: langued Azure a label of three points Gules charged with three lions’ heads erased Argent LR 40/10 1954
George Kenneth Monro: bordure waved Gules LR 43/117 1960
George Nowlan Monro: in its beak a branch of laurel Proper, in dexter chief a sinister hand couped and in sinister chief a mullet Gules, all within a bordure engrailed Azure LR 19/13 1906
Sir Charles Carmichael Monro: in its beak a branch of laurel Proper, in dexter chief a sinister hand couped and in sinister chief a mullet Gules, all within a bordure engrailed Azure LR 23/16 1916
Charles Lloyd Doveton Monro of Allan: on a chief Azure a stag’s head cabossed between two martlets Or LR 21/41 1912
Sir Thomas Torquil Munro of Lindertis: encircled by a branch of laurel on the dexter and oak on the sinister both Proper on a chief Argent the representation of an Indian hill fort and beneath in letters of Gold the word "Badamy" on a canton Gules a representation of the gold medal presented by the East India Company to the first baronet for services at Seringapatam in 1790 LR 54/63 1970
William Munro Munro, Malta: langued Azure in its beak a sprig of heather Proper on a chief Azure a toison between two weavers shuttles Or LR 52/73 1970
John Winston Thomas Munro-Spencer of Teaninich: on a chief Azure a fraise between two escallops Argent LR 21/53 1912 (2&3 quarters for Munro of Teaninich)
Innes Arundell du Sautoy Innes-Watson: langued Azure within a bordure wavy Gules LR 46/145 1963 (3rd quarter for Munro of Coull)
John Hugh Munro Mackenzie of Mornish: within a bordure wavy Gules charged with three cross-crosslets Or LR 47/40 1964 (3rd quarter for Munro of Erribol)
Arthur Brocklehurst Luttrell Munro-Ferguson: within a bordure per pale dexter counter compony Or and Gules sinister compony engrailed Argent and Azure LR 38/141 1952 (4th quarter for Munro of Novar)
Thus arms can be defined for many of the cadet lines but none for Katewell.
James
