"Bigham" Tombstones

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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30 October 2015 21:32
 

In another thread, the subject came up of the armorial tombstones produced by the Bigham family of stonecarvers for the cemeteries of Presbyterian churches in the vicinity of Charlotte, N.C., in the late 1700s. I mentioned some common patterns.

Pattern 1A: Quarterly 13 stars overall, three in each quarter and one at fess point, with a crest two swords in saltire. Two examples, Francis Bradly (Hopewell Pres Ch, Huntersville, NC) and Robert Bigham (Steele Creek Pres Ch, Charlotte).

 

Pattern 1B: Per fess the chief per pale, 13 stars overall, four in each upper quarter 2-2, four in fess in base, one in fess point. One example, Joseph Bigger (Bethel Pres Ch, Clover, SC).

 

Pattern 2: Per pale, dexter a pistol aimed to sinister and in chief several bars wavy; sinister a bayonet and in chief several bars wavy. Two examples: John McKee (Providence Pres Ch, Matthews, NC); James Greer, (Steele Creek).

 

All five of the above have the same crest, two swords in saltire. McKee and Bigham both have the motto "Arma libertatis," Bigger "Signa libertatis." I can’t make out the mottos on the other two from the photos available. Doing some digging a while back, I think all of the men with patterns 1A, 1B, and 2 appeared to be Revolutionary soldiers.

 

Pattern 3: Three swords pilewise. Five examples: Samuel McComb (Old Settlers Cem, Charlotte); his wife Mary McComb (also Old Settlers; Samuel McCleary (Polk Family Cem, Pineville, NC); Robert McCleary (Steele Creek); John Parks (Coddle Creek Pres. Ch.)

 

Pattern 4: An eagle displayed, some with various numbers of stars surrounding it. Seven examples: William Spiears (Spears Cem, Mecklenburg Co, NC; eagle holding olive branch and arrows, stars around the head); Elisabeth Adams (Bethel Pres Ch; eagle between five stars, nothing in talons); Henry Foster (Old Waxhaw Pres Ch, Lancaster, SC; olive and arrows but no stars); William Foster (Old Waxhaw; same); Benjamin Harper (Old Waxhaw; same); John Hoey (Old Waxhaw, same); John Stephenson (Old Waxhaw; same)

 

I have not found anything that the people with patterns 3 and 4 have in common, other than apparent family relationships in some cases.

 

No big takeaway, I just find it an interesting subject for examination.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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30 October 2015 23:16
 

On reflection, I think patterns 3 and 4 probably have no particular significance.  The Bighams also produced a large number of stones with a chevron between three mullets; these may all just be things to select from the catalogue.

Patterns 1A, 1B, and 2 are unusual enough to stand out, and the shared crest of crossed swords seems to set them apart for further study.

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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31 October 2015 11:21
 

I recently finished reading Daniel Patterson’s The True Image.  He does a great job of documenting the life of the Bighams, a good job generally discussing Scotch-Irish culture in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, a good job discussing themes within the gravestones, and a meager job investigating the heraldic stones, in particular.

There are approximately 50 stones with full coats of arms.  I’ve toyed with the idea of doing and in-depth study of these.  I’m convinced that the sources used for the stones could probably be narrowed down to 2 or 3 printed works.  I think it would be neat to identify those based on the arms depicted.

 

I’ve found no evidence that any of the individuals* with heraldic headstones ever used these arms.  I’ve found no evidence that their descendants did either.  I tend to think that these heraldic images are just another type of decoration, similar to the winged faces, etc. that are used on other stones.  I agree with Joe that the use of these images is evidence that 1) neither the carvers nor commissioners knew much about heraldry, and 2) heraldry was not viewed by these Scotch-Irish as unit-republican.

 

Patterson does a pretty good job of investigating the patriotic motifs that you have identified, along with Freemason imagery.  If you haven’t read it, it’s worth picking up.

 

*the Davie family being the exception.  William R. Davie did use his arms in his bookplate and as a seal.  I’ve found no evidence that his parents or his uncle, William Richardson, used arms in this manner.  Ironically, Davie’s arms were not used on his gravestone, which was commissioned from Charleston.

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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31 October 2015 11:23
 

Joe,

There are also several stones bearing derivations of the Pennsylvania coat of arms.  My theory is that these motifs were used to illustrate the tie to these individuals’ Pennsylvania origins.

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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31 October 2015 11:34
 

David Pope;105104 wrote:

Joe,

There are also several stones bearing derivations of the Pennsylvania coat of arms.  My theory is that these motifs were used to illustrate the tie to these individuals’ Pennsylvania origins.


I think so, too.  On the other hand, there’s also one with the Portuguese royal arms, or a close approximation thereof, which is a little harder to account for!

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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31 October 2015 11:53
 

Joseph McMillan;105105 wrote:

I think so, too.  On the other hand, there’s also one with the Portuguese royal arms, or a close approximation thereof, which is a little harder to account for!


Yep.  I’m looking for a c. 1770 sourcebook that has the Portuguese Royal arms and the Duke of Argyll’s achievement, side by side. smile

 
Joseph McMillan
 
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Joseph McMillan
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31 October 2015 12:54
 

Quite seriously, I do think it’s entirely appropriate (pace Fred) for male line descendants of those whose arms are not obvious rip-offs to assign tinctures and use the arms on their ancestors’ stones.  As long as they don’t make up a fairy tale that makes them something they’re not.

("These arms are carved on the tombstone of my ancestor Alexander McBlaggart.  We don’t think he really used them, but the design doesn’t belong to anyone else, so my family has adopted them as our arms in memory of him.")

 
David Pope
 
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David Pope
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31 October 2015 13:00
 

Joseph McMillan;105110 wrote:

Quite seriously, I do think it’s entirely appropriate (pace Fred) for male line descendants of those whose arms are not obvious rip-offs to assign tinctures and use the arms on their ancestors’ stones.  As long as they don’t make up a fairy tale that makes them something they’re not.

("These arms are carved on the tombstone of my ancestor Alexander McBlaggart.  We don’t think he really used them, but the design doesn’t belong to anyone else, so my family has adopted them as our arms in memory of him.")

 


I agree.  I wish my surname was Walkup.  smile

 

I’ve thought about appropriating James Walkup’s crest on the same principle:

 

"This is the crest that is on one of maternal ancestor’s tombstones.  We don’t think he used them, and this isn’t a crest that is associated with the surname Wauchope in Scotland, but when I decided to assume arms I chose to use the same crest as a memorial to him and that particular family line.  Since the tincture wasn’t indicated, I chose gold as a contrast to my assumed shield design of red and white.  I didn’t reference his shield design in my own arms because arms follow the surname and my surname is Pope.  Crests tend to be more duplicative by nature."

 
Michael F. McCartney
 
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Michael F. McCartney
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31 October 2015 20:04
 

smile

Depending on the crest design (??), you might consider some small difference - though I wouldn’t see that as mandatory.