Re: Early US Arms (was Re: Benjamin Coat of Arms)

In article
<e307acdd-a970-40f9-8c09-b51e25ce1ee8@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Joseph McMillan <mcmillanndu@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Nov 28, 10:34 am, Nathaniel Taylor <nltay...@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

I would be interested in a more explicit database of early use of arms
in the US.

<snip>

The difference in the two projects is that the CoH Roll doesn't require
actual use of the arms: people proved to be armigerous by descent but
who may not have used arms are welcome there. On the other hand, the
many people who used arms but whose pre-colonial ancestry is unknown, or
who can be proved NOT to be armigerous by descent but who used arms
anyway (including more than one early president), form distinct but also
interesting categories.

This is the ultimate objective of the AHS Roll of Early American
Arms. We started with Matthews 1907 for the simple reason that the
member who came up with the initiative happened to own a copy. I've
been doing the cross-references to Zieber, Vermont, Bolton, Crozier
(both the General Armory and Virginia Heraldica), NEHGS Roll of Arms,
and the Heraldic Journal. In the long term, I would see working
through all these and whatever other sources can be found, with the
evidence for the use of the arms annotated in the comments, as it is,
for example, in the entry for Davenport at <http://
www.americanheraldry.org/pages/index.php?n=Roll.D>.

This is fascinating. Looking at the entries for Davenport and Denison,
with numbered subitems tied to comments, I could see it growing to the
point where a real server-held relational database might be justified
(especially if images of actual artifacts like gravestones & seal
impressions might be added). In Davenport & Denison, is it already
known that all individuals listed are descendants of the first
individual listed? If not, maybe separate entries would be justified;
it would help weed out 19th-century first uses by people of the same
surname not known to be descended from someone using those (or any) arms
before say 1800.

I can't start contributing right away, but look forward to seeing this
grow. I do plan to launch an online version of the NEHGS roll, and an
official website for the committee, sometime in the new year.

Nat Taylor
http://www.nltaylor.net
.

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