I’ve pretty much finished going through the available standard sources (and a few others) to fill out the listings in our Roll of Early American Arms http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Main.Roll . There are undoubtedly still some typos to fix and standardizing of blazon style to be done, but in substance it’s getting close to complete.
So I’d like to solicit help with three things:
- Additions: arms that can be shown to have been used in the present-day United States prior to 1825. Not just attributed after the fact—we have plenty of those—but actually used. Absent evidence to the contrary, I’ve included arms known to have been used by a person born in or before 1800 who was in the U.S. before 1825.
- Corrections/clarifications: there are numerous cases where different sources—Bolton, NEHGS, Crozier, Matthews, Vermont, Zieber—give different versions of what were probably the same arms. Anyone who has better information (a photo of a tombstone or bookplate or armorial silver, etc), please share it to help us get to ground truth.
- ILLUSTRATIONS! Lots of opportunities for graphic artists to do (mostly) easy work. Clip-art is fine for this. I’ve been making my images in roughly 250 x 300 pixel size, but any size in that general range will do. The thumbnail feature of the editing software will make them all the same height on the page.
Contact me here on the forum or by PM if you’re interested in contributing.
Hi Joe,
Great work! I’m sure I’ve got the pre-1825 blazons of some Spanish governors of places like New Mexico and Alta California around here somewhere…I’ll see if I can dig them up. In the meantime, here is a suggested clarification/addition for the arms of Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786) as given in his Spanish patent of nobility from 1783 (currently in the Albert H. Small Special Collections Library at the University of Virginia): quarterly, 1st grandquarterly, i Or a bend Gules ii Argent a cross flory Gules iii Argent a lion rampant Pupure iv Or a castle Proper (for Madrid) 2nd per pale dexter Gules three marcos de oro within a bordure counter-compony Azure and Argent sinister Gules a castle Or flagged Azure (for Marques) 3rd Argent two goats Sable in pale (for Cabrera), 4th Argent a man standing on the bound-house of the brigantine Galveztown in full sail flagged with a streamer charged with the words “Yo Solo” (augmentation of honor) on a point in base Azure a fleur-de-lis Or over all an escutcheon of pretence per pale dexter Argent a tree Vert surmounted by two wolves passant Sable langued Gules in pale sinister Argent three escallops Azure (for Galvez).
Cheers,
Joe,
Would the "Early American" arms exclude "Colonial American" arms? If not excluded, I nominate Sir Nathaniel Johnson’s inclusion.
1. http://americanheraldry.org/forums/showpost.php?p=38049&postcount=17
2. http://americanheraldry.org/forums/showpost.php?p=29385&postcount=1
Illustrated use (upper left of portrait):
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3255/natjohnsonktcn2.jpg
Thanks,
—Guy
Guy,
The roll definitely includes the colonial period, but Sir Nathaniel is already included. See the J page about 2/3 of the way down.
Johnson, Sir Nathaniel (in Charleston, S.C., by 1702)Per pale Sable and Azure on a saltire between three towers Argent inflamed and in base two tilting spears broken in saltire Or five cocks Sable.Contemporary portrait at Gibbes Museum, Charleston. Governor of Carolina, 1702-09.NEHGS #326
(Note that alphabetization within a given last name is complicated given the number of people with different first names who use the same arms. I’ve generally tried to group similar arms together within a particular last name, but am open to other suggestions, etc.)
Ahhhh! Thanks Joe. Will you be adding at least the black and white emblazon to his entry?
—Guy
Guy Power;93135 wrote:
Ahhhh! Thanks Joe. Will you be adding at least the black and white emblazon to his entry?
—Guy
As I said in my initial post, I hope someone will do an emblazonment of Johnson’s and/or any of the other hundreds of arms that need to be illustrated!
Shrink to fit:
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg224/scaled.php?server=224&filename=sirnathanjohnsonvx1.jpg&res=landing
Joe thanks for working on this and putting everything together. It’s a great roll of arms. I enjoy scrolling through and reading everything. I wish I could help with the emblazonments but sadly, I do not have that talent.
I also have no ability to do emblazons.. although.. I am finally looking into graphic programs… The inability is annoying (Now that my PC is so old, that is becoming even more annoying… I may require a new one before I embarrass myself with graphics).
Guy Power;93146 wrote:
Shrink to fit:
http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg224/scaled.php?server=224&filename=sirnathanjohnsonvx1.jpg&res=landing
Not quite shrinking to fit—that wouldn’t match the style of the roll—but done in any case.
http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/uploads/Roll/johnsonn.gif
But I have to say that between various and sundry websites I’m getting a whole new appreciation of the public goods dilemma.
Good job, Joe!! (and many thanks!)
—Guy
Kathy McClurg;93152 wrote:
I also have no ability to do emblazons.. although.. I am finally looking into graphic programs… The inability is annoying (Now that my PC is so old, that is becoming even more annoying… I may require a new one before I embarrass myself with graphics).
Ditto.
Great work Joe, as always.
For the John Coolidge arms, can you cut and paste those of Calvin Coolidge?
A while ago I did a little research regarding the heraldic heritage of Morse High School. I thought I posted it in the forums, but I haven’t been able to locate it.
Either way, I have a rendition of the arms used by the school’s founder, Charles W. Morse and by the school itself for quite a long time. It’s the same arms as those belonging to Samuel and Benjamin Morse on this page: http://www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Roll.M
I’m not at my own computer now, but when I get home, I’ll gladly look to see if I have the original illustration if you’d like to include it.
###
UPDATE: Found it! It’s in my Heraldry of Maine thread: http://www.americanheraldry.org/forums/showthread.php?t=4261&highlight=morse&page=2
It’ll either need to be cropped, or I might have the source files and can send it alone later.
I should be clearer on the illustration issue. We can’t just take other people’s drawings and post them on our website without permission. What we need is for some of our members/participatns with computer graphic skills to prepare images that will belong to us.
Jeremy, if the color emblazonment shown in the thread you linked was done by you, then I can indeed crop it and upload it to the roll with no problem.
Joseph McMillan;93287 wrote:
I should be clearer on the illustration issue. We can’t just take other people’s drawings and post them on our website without permission. What we need is for some of our members/participatns with computer graphic skills to prepare images that will belong to us.
Jeremy, if the color emblazonment shown in the thread you linked was done by you, then I can indeed crop it and upload it to the roll with no problem.
Joe, agree we can’t "steal" others artowrk, but… If permission is obtained from the owner of the image, can it be used?.. Just asking from one who has no artistic ability… 
