An Introduction to the Committee on Heraldry at American Ancestors
Yesterday — November 30, 2023 — I watched the webinar An Introduction to the Committee on Heraldry at American Ancestors, hosted by the New England Historical Genealogical Society (NEHGS). Ginevra Morse, the Vice President for Education and Programming at NEHGS, moderated the session, while Dr. Nathaniel Lane Taylor, a former Harvard University professor of Medieval Studies, lead the informative talk. This presentation was the sequel to An Introduction to Heraldry for Genealogists, which I watched in September 2023. Self-described as “the oldest non-governmental heraldic body in the world”, the Committee sets standards for coats of arms used by families who live in the United States.
Dr. Taylor began the talk by reviewing the overlap between genealogy, heraldry, and history, which he first presented during the September webinar. Once considered a “sister field” to genealogy, heraldry fell out of favor during the 1970s, but interest renewed in the 2000s. The Committee on Heraldry at NEHGS began on February 3, 1864 during the American Civil War to fuel a debate between the North and the South. Each side argued that their ancestors had more “gentility”, or people with heraldry from Europe. Committee co-founder William H. Whitmore even wrote a book, The Cavalier Dismounted: An Essay on the Origin of the Founders of the Thirteen Colonies, seemingly proving that the North was more noble. Whitmore followed up his first book with Elements of Heraldry in 1866, and the committee briefly published The Heraldic Journal from 1865 to 1868. These texts are considered standards for modern heraldry researchers.
From the 1870s through the 1910s, the Committee debated how to record coats of arms or if arms should be displayed. Historic coats of arms were granted by heralds of the king and past from father to son. The Committee asked for “pedigrees of lineal ancestors” to verify. Standardized recording began in 1914 with the Roll of Arms. The first two entries had great importance in American history. #1 was John Washington, an ancestor of President George Washington, while #2 was Samuel Appleton, ancestor of Committee members William Sumner Appleton Sr. and William Sumner Appleton Jr. (Regular readers of the blog will find the latter name familiar, as Sumner Jr. also founded Historic New England (HNE) as the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA).) These entries contained handwritten descriptions of each shield, along with a painted example.
When the handmade Roll was discontinued in 1945, the project became a printed publication with coats of arms in black-and-white instead of full color. The project continues to the present day with an average of twenty new arms added per year. As of the date of presentation, the Roll had 978 entries, with entries #1 through #741 published as a single book in 2013, and an update coming out in 2024.
During the “Second Golden Age of Heraldry” from the 1920s to the 1960s, heraldist Harold Bowditch and genealogist Arthur Adams led the Committee. Bowditch was my type of leader, as Dr. Taylor described him as “well-organized and kept voluminous and meticulous records of the committee… significant collector of heraldic artifacts and manuscripts in his own personal collection…” During this time, the Committee began tracking privately designed coats of arms. For decades, these results were not systematically published or known outside of extreme heraldry enthusiasts. However, since 2020, the Committee has included new arms in their annual reports. Anyone can enroll arms as long as the design aligns with Committee criteria. The design must be original and based on European heraldic convention. Registration of the arms is completed online and costs $50. People whose arms are accepted receive a formal letter of record, similar to a patent or copyright notice.
Nearing the end of the talk, Dr. Taylor reviewed important records in the Committee collection. Gore Roll, created by the Gore family of painters and recently digitized, contains thousands of hand painted coats of arms. The Committee also has Promptuarium Armorum, described as “a major pre-colonial English armory” and an inspiration for the Gore Roll. This resource was digitized earlier this year. A Boston local with the surname of Browne donated the Browne Patent, which grants a coat of arms to Christopher Browne of Lincolnshire, England. He turned out not to be the ancestor of the donor. Besides depictions of arms on paper, the Committee has a collection of wax seals used to mark legal documents such as charters. The seals collection, first started by Bowditch, appears to be the largest in the United States.
Dr. Taylor closed the talk with a few comments on the current Committee, the upcoming 36th International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences to be held in Boston next year, and answering several questions during the Q&A. The most important information for researchers was that the building housing Committee records is currently undergoing extensive renovations, so paper records are not currently available. This talk had excellent slides, with plenty of colorful images. The order of information was part thematic, part chronological, and I occasionally struggled to follow the timeline. Overall, I enjoyed learning about heraldry, and I look forward to the next talk in the series.