A Roll of Early American Arms

Heraldry in the USA
A Roll of Early American Arms

Compiled by Eric Hall, Arian Collins, and Joseph McMillan
Illustrated by Eric Hall, Robert Tucker, Scott Denison, Joseph McMillan, and Chuck Glass

Personal heraldry has been used in what is now the United States since the earliest European settlements. This roll of arms borne in the present-day United States before 1825, compiled by AHS members, is intended to document the vitality of the American heraldic tradition over the years.

Note: Arms are included in this roll based on use as attributed by the sources given. Where it has been possible to validate the user's right to the arms or actual use of them, that information is provided. Names given in italics indicate that we are unaware of any contemporary evidence that the person to whom the sources attribute the arms actually used them, but this should not necessarily be interpreted as evidence of non-use of the arms.

Arms are indexed by the first letter of the armiger's last name. Names beginning with the particules "de," "von," "van," and the like are generally found under the name of the principal word in the surname. Where a person bore multiple surnames, or a surname and title, the arms appear under the name by which he or she is best known in the United States.

ARM NAME BLAZON COMMENTS SOURCE
Whelen, James S. (in New York 1694)

Argent four lozenges conjoined in bend between two cotises Azure, on a chief Gules three fleurs-de-lis Argent

Crozier 1
1. Wheelwright, Rev. John (Saleby, Lincs,1592-Salisbury, Mass, 1679)
2. Wheelwright, John (d. Boston, 1740)
3. Wheelwright, Nathaniel (Boston, 1721-65)

Ermines on a fess Or between three wolves’ heads erased three roundels [other tinctures not given]

2. On tomb, King’s Chapel graveyard, Boston
3. On silver candlesticks impaling Apthorp; on bookplate.

1. Matthews
2. Bolton
3. Bolton
Wheelock, Rev Ralph (Shropshire, 1600-Medfield, Mass, 1683)

Argent a chevron between three catherine wheels Sable

Crozier 1
Wheeler, ----- (Massachusetts?, ca 1800)

Or a chevron between three leopards’ faces Azure

Water color by John Coles
Wheeler, Isaac (in Boston, 1638)

Or a chevron between three leopards’ faces Sable

Crozier 1
Whatley, Joseph (ca 1800?)

Gules a lion rampant Argent on a chief Or three mullets Gules

On his bookplate

Bolton
1. Wharton, Walter (d. New Castle, Del, 1678)
2. Wharton, Thomas (Chester Co, Pa, 1735-Lancaster, Pa, 1778)

Sable a maunch Argent on a bordure Or eight pairs of lions’ gambs erased crossed in saltire Gules

1. Surveyor of the Three Lower Counties on Delaware.
2. On his bookplate; president (governor) of Pennsylvania, 1777-78.

1. Crozier 1
1. Wharton, Richard (Charlestown, Mass, 1659-1690)
2. Wharton, Thomas (in Philadelphia, 1688)

Sable a maunch Argent

1. Seal on document, 1686
2. Son of Richard Wharton, #1

1. Bolton, Matthews, Crozier 1, NEHGS #426
2. Matthews
Whalley, Edward (England, 1607-Hadley, Mass, 1675)

Argent three whales' heads hauriant erased Sable

NEHGS #122
Whaley, Theophilis (in Narragansett, R.I., 1680)

Argent three whales’ heads hauriant erased Sable, on a canton Sable a mascle Argent

Crozier 1