Other Historic Figures

Founders of European Settlements in the Present-Day USA


  • ARM NAME BLAZON COMMENTS
  • Bienville, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de (Montreal, 1680-Paris, 1767) Graphic

    Bienville, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de (Montreal, 1680-Paris, 1767)

    Azure three roses Or on a chief Gules a crescent between two stars Or

    Arms on his seal. Founder of Mobile and New Orleans; governor of Louisiana four times between 1701 and 1743. Brother of Sieur d’Iberville, below.

  • Brewster, William (Scrooby, Notts, c 1566-Duxbury, Mass, 1644) Graphic

    Brewster, William (Scrooby, Notts, c 1566-Duxbury, Mass, 1644)

    Sable a chevron Ermine between three estoiles Argent

    Leader of the Plymouth Colony, founded 1620.

  • Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe de (St-Nicolas de la Grave, France, 1658-Castelsarrasin, France, 1730) Graphic

    Cadillac, Antoine de la Mothe de (St-Nicolas de la Grave, France, 1658-Castelsarrasin, France, 1730)

    Quarterly 1st and 4th Argent a fess between three merlettes Sable; 2nd and 3rd quarterly i and iv Gules plain, ii and iii Argent three bars Azure

    Born Antoine Laumet; designed and adopted the arms ca 1687, based on those of a noble family from his home area. In present-day Michigan, 1694; founded Detroit, 1701; governor of Louisiana, 1710-16.

  • Calvert, Hon Leonard (England, c 1610-St Mary’ County, Md, 1647) Graphic

    Calvert, Hon Leonard (England, c 1610-St Mary' County, Md, 1647)

    Paly of six Or and Sable a bend counterchanged

    First governor of Maryland, 1634-47; younger brother of the lord proprietor, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore.

  • Escandón y Helguera, José de, Conde de Sierra Gorda (Soto de la Marina, Cantabria, 1700-Mexico City, Graphic

    Escandón y Helguera, José de, Conde de Sierra Gorda (Soto de la Marina, Cantabria, 1700-Mexico City, 1770)

    Quarterly, 1st Gules a castle triple-towered [upon a terrace] Argent; 2nd Argent an eagle displayed with wings inverted between two roses in bend sinister Gules; 3rd Azure upon a staff issuant from a cook-pot Or a forked pennon Gules; 4th Vert a castle triple-towered [upon a terrace] Argent; overall in chief point a cross couped Or

    Founder and first governor of the first permanent Spanish settlements in Texas, 1748.

  • Gorges, William (Keynsham, Somt, 1605-1658) Graphic

    Gorges, William (Keynsham, Somt, 1605-1658)

    Lozengy Or and Azure a chevron Gules

    First governor of the English colony of New Somersetshire, later the province of Maine, 1636-38.

  • Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d’ (Ville-Marie, Canada, 1661-Havana, 1706) Graphic

    Iberville, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d' (Ville-Marie, Canada, 1661-Havana, 1706)

    Azure three roses Or on a chief Gules a crescent between two stars Or

    Founder of Biloxi, Miss.; founder and first governor of Louisiana, 1697-1702. Arms on his seal. Brother of Sieur de Bienville, above.

  • Lane, Ralph (England, c. 1532-Dublin, 1603) Graphic

    Lane, Ralph (England, c. 1532-Dublin, 1603)

    Per pale Azure and Gules three saltires Argent

    Deputy general and de facto governor of the first attempt in 1585 to establish an English colony on Roanoke Island, now in North Carolina.

  • Menéndez de Avilés, Adm Pedro (Avilés, Asturias, 1519-Santander, 1574) Graphic

    Menéndez de Avilés, Adm Pedro (Avilés, Asturias, 1519-Santander, 1574)

    Quarterly, 1st Gules on a terrace upon waves of the sea two palm trees with a human head at the foot of each all proper between two towers, that to sinister higher, the two connected by a ladder Or, in the sinister tower a man-at-arms holding a sword in his right hand and a stew pot on his left arm proper, reaching to receive a cross offered by an angel Or, in dexter chief the legend IVDICA DOMINE CAVSAN TVAN; 2nd Argent on a terrace upon waves of the sea proper an ounce rampant Or against the trunk of a pine tree proper; 3rd Argent six crows contourny 2, 2, and 2 Sable; 4th Gules a sword palewise proper between five fleurs-de-lis Or one in chief and two each in flanks, surmounted on the upper blade by a lunel Sable all within a bordure Gules fimbriated Sable charged with eight saltires Or.

    Founder of St. Augustine, 1565, and first governor of Spanish Florida. Arms painted on the headboard of his coffin, Nombre de Dios Mission, St. Augustine.

  • Oglethorpe, Gen James Edward (Surrey, Eng, 1696-Cranham, Essex, 1785) Graphic

    Oglethorpe, Gen James Edward (Surrey, Eng, 1696-Cranham, Essex, 1785)

    Argent a chevron between three boars' heads couped Sable

    Founder and first governor of Georgia, 1732-43. Arms confirmed to his grandfather Sutton Oglethorpe at the 1665 visitation of Yorkshire.

  • Oñate y Salazar, Juan de (Zacatecas, Mexico, 1550-Spain, 1626) Graphic

    Oñate y Salazar, Juan de (Zacatecas, Mexico, 1550-Spain, 1626)

    Per pale, dexter Argent three bendlets Gules; sinister Or a tree eradicated proper supported on the sinister side by a wolf Sable

    Founder and first governor of the Spanish province of New Mexico, 1598-1610. Arms on a 1622 book of poems in memory of his son.

  • Popham, George (Somersetshire, 1550-Fort St. George, Me, 1608) Graphic

    Popham, George (Somersetshire, 1550-Fort St. George, Me, 1608)

    Argent on a chief Gules two stags' heads caboshed Or

    Leader of the Popham Colony, the first attempted permanent settlement in New England, 1607-08.

  • Smith, Capt John (1580-1631) Graphic

    Smith, Capt John (1580-1631)

    Vert a chevron Gules between three Turks’ heads couped proper turbans Or

    Explored Virginia and New England coasts; key leader in Jamestown settlement. Arms granted by Sigismund Bathory, Duke of Transylvania, 1603, for service against the Ottomans, and confirmed by the English College of Arms, 1625.

  • White, John (London, c 1540-Co Cork, Ire (?), 1593) Graphic

    White, John (London, c 1540-Co Cork, Ire (?), 1593)

    Quarterly of eight, 1st Ermine on a canton Gules a fusil Argent (augmentation of honor); 2nd Argent a chevron between three goats' heads erased Sable (White); 3rd Argent on a bend cotised Azure three escutcheons Argent (Wymark); 4th Gules two bars gemels between three martlets Argent (Wyatt); 5th Or a chevron between two cinquefoils in chief and a mullet in base Sable (Kyllyowe); 6th Ermine on a bend Sable three phoenix heads erased Or (Saker); 7th Gules a chevron Argent between three cinquefoils Or (Buddyer); 8th Gules a fess counter-compony Argent and Sable between three crosses formy fitched at the foot Argent (Butler)

    Governor of the Roanoke Island colony, 1587. Granted by Garter King of Arms, 1587.

  • Williams, Rev Roger (London, 1603-Providence, 1682/3) Graphic

    Williams, Rev Roger (London, 1603-Providence, 1682/3)

    A lion rampant within an orle of pheons (tinctures unknown)

    Founder of Rhode Island; arms on his seal.

  • Wingfield, Edward Maria ((Stonely, Hunts., 1550-New Hampshire, 1631) Graphic

    Wingfield, Edward Maria ((Stonely, Hunts., 1550-New Hampshire, 1631)

    Argent on a bend Gules cotised Sable three pairs of wings conjoined in lure Argent

    First president of the Virginia Council, Jamestown, 1607. Arms confirmed to his father at the 1619 visitation of Kent.

  • Winthrop, John (Edwardstone, Suff, 1587/8-Boston, 1649) Graphic

    Winthrop, John (Edwardstone, Suff, 1587/8-Boston, 1649)

    Argent three chevronels Gules overall a lion rampant Sable

    Arms on his seal, with a label for difference. Similar arms were confirmed to an uncle in 1592. Key leader in establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.