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
Weaver, Henry (in Lancaster Co, Pa, 1680)

Quarterly, 1st and 4th Azure a sinister arm Or holding in the hand the point of a lance Proper; 2nd and 3rd Or an oak tree Proper

Crozier 1
Wayne, Maj Gen Anthony (Easttown, Pa, 1745-Ft Presque Isle, Pa, 1796)

Gules a chevron Ermine between three gauntlets Or

Seal ring

Bolton, Zieber
Watts, Robert (in New York, 1700)

Argent an oak tree [proper] growing out of a mount in base Vert overall on a bar Azure a crescent between two mullets Argent

Crozier 1
Watmough, [James Horatio (Halifax, 1754-Philadelphia, 1812)?]

Sable a chevron between three fleurs-de-lis Or

Bookplate

Bolton
Watkins, John W. (New York, 1790s)

Gyronny of eight Ermine and Sable a lion rampant Or

Bookplate by Rollinson

Bolton
1. Waters, William (Virginia, 1624-ca 1685)
2. Waters, Edward (in Elizabeth City Co, Va, 1610)

Sable on a fess wavy between three swans Argent two bars wavy Azure

1. Crozier 2
2. Crozier 1, Crozier 2, Bolton, Matthews
Waterman, Thomas (in Marshfield, Mass, 1638)

Paly of six Argent and Gules three crescents counterchanged

Crozier 1, Matthews
Waterman, Richard (in Salem, Mass, 1638)

Or a buck’s head caboshed Gules

Crozier 1, Matthews
1. Washington, John (England, 1631-Bridges Creek, Va, 1677)
2. Washington, George (Westmoreland Co, Va, 1732-Mount Vernon, Fairfax Co, Va, 1799)
3. Washington, Bushrod (Westmoreland Co, Va, 1762-Philadelphia, 1829)
4. Washington, John (d. Virginia, 1785)

Argent two bars in chief three mullets Gules

1. On original tomb, since replaced
2. See [[President.Washington">George Washington
3. Bookplate
4. Seal

1. Crozier 1, Matthews, NEHGS #1
2. Bolton, Crozier 2
3. Bolton
4. Bolton
Washburn, John (Evesham, Worcs, 1620-Duxbury, Mass, 1684)

Argent on a fess between six martlets Gules three cinquefoils Argent

See similar arms (of same man?) above

Crozier 1, Matthews