The Myth of Family Coats of Arms

 

The holiday gift giving season will be here soon and what better personal gift to give than something with the recipient's family coat of arms? I'd suggest that isn't such a great gift. You'd be lying.
Lots of gullible people purchase various trinkets that display the "family coat of arms" without realizing there is no such thing. Coats of arms? Yes. But "family?" No. There is no such thing as a family coat of arms.

NOTE: I do have to point out two exceptions. Several hundred years ago, merchants in Belgium did adopt coats of arms that were similar to the coats of arms displayed by nobility, but with some differences. Those Belgian coats of arms, or family crests, displayed by merchants are assigned to families and are inherited. However, coats of arms displayed by nobility in Belgium are not inherited.
In addition, Samurai soldiers in Japan also have family "insignia" that are assigned to families and are passed down from generation to generation. The Japanese symbols do not look like European coats of arms with shields and helmets, adorned with lions and dragons and birds and such things, however.
If your male line descends from a few families in Belgium or from the Samurai class in Japan, you can ignore the rest of this article. However, if your family comes from the British Isles or any place in Europe, other than a few families in Belgium, this applies to you.

The truth is, except for the exceptions listed, families do not have family crests, correctly known as "coats of arms." The crest is only a small section of the entire design and was usually depicted above the helmet.
Coats of arms were designed for use in battle. If you can imagine wearing a full suit of armor, complete with a helmet with tiny eye slits for vision, the combatants had a difficult time differentiating friend from foe. It was bad form to stick a broadsword into your friend's midsection, although that did happen occasionally in the heat of battle. As a visual aid, the knights and a few other combatants started wearing brightly painted designs on their shields and elsewhere, designs that were known to their fellow combatants. The intent was to help their fellow combatants distinguish friends from foe. The brightly colored insignia was used on shields, on clothing, and on horse dressings.
Occasionally, a knight might have an attendant or two, such as a groomsman who tended the horse or even multiple horses. The attendant also might be a “squire;” a young apprentice who hoped to become a knight on his 21st birthday. The attendant might wear clothing with the same colors as his master, signifying that he was a part of "the team." However, such attendants normally did not wear armor.
If the knight had a close relative in battle as a combatant, such as his son, a brother, a nephew, or other relative, that relative never wore the same insignia as the first knight. In battle, sons never wore the same insignia as their fathers. Each had his own insignia and colors.
Off the battlefield, coats of arms were also used during tournaments to distinguish competitors. Knights, royalty, and a few wealthy individuals displayed their colorful crests and coats of arms as a symbol of themselves. In effect, the coat of arms said, "This is me." Coats of arms were never used to declare, "This is my family."
In fact, the only time that the same coat of arms can be used by more than one person is when the eldest is dead. At that point, the direct heir (typically his oldest son) can petition for the right to bear the same arms that were used by the deceased.
In the case of multiple sons, or when the father was still alive, all the sons could use SIMILAR coats of arms as their father but always added their own variations to the design. Each son created his own variations. These variations are called "cadency" and the son's insignia is referred to as "cadet coat of arms." When the father died, the oldest son removed his personal cadency, reverting the coat of arms back to his father's original design. The other sons kept their cadet coat of arms; they never used the father's original design.
Daughters can also inherit the coat of arms if no sons are living.
In olden times and today, not every coat of arms can be used by everyone with that surname. First of all, not everyone with the same surname is related. I suspect there was more than one knight named Smith, and they certainly didn't want to wear the same coats of arms in battle!
Despite what the man at the pushcart told you at the local shopping mall, the rules always required that a coat of arms was for use by a single living individual, not a family. A coat of arms is similar to an individual's signature and was used as seals on official documents.
Another requirement has been in effect since the 15th century and still applies today: the person who wishes to display a coat of arms must first register the design in a central clearinghouse and obtain permission to display it. Registration was required in the 15th century, and it is still expected today. If you are displaying a coat of arms without written permission, you are guilty of an impolite form of forgery. In the U.S., you won't get arrested for doing so because the U.S. has no laws concerning display of forged coats of arms. Such laws do exist on the books in England and in many other countries, but they are rarely enforced.
The official office regulating coats of arms and the granting of new arms for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland is the College of Arms (http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/). It was founded by King Richard III in 1484. If you would like to display your own personally designed coat of arms, and if your male ancestry is from England, you start at the College of Arms. That would be true even if you now live in the United States. You cannot apply online but you can do so by mail.
To learn more about coat of arms granted in Scotland, visit the Court of the Lord Lyon (http://www.lyon-court.com/lordlyon/CCC_FirstPage.jsp). Scottish descendants would apply to the Court of the Lord Lyon.
Canada has its own heraldic office, the Canadian Heraldic Authority (http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=81). The rules for applying for a coat of arms are slightly different in Canada. Contact the Canadian Heraldic Authority for details.

National Archives Launches New Online Reservation System

The following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration:

Beat the crowds! Reserved tours and visits are now just a mouse click away!
WASHINGTON, Nov. 11  -- For the first time, the National Archives today launches a new online reservation system to make it easier for individuals, families, and large groups alike to visit National Archives. By simply going online, visitors can reserve their choice of dates and times in a matter of minutes. While reservations are not required to visit the National Archives and admission is free, this new system will eliminate the long lines and often lengthy wait.

"This important step will simplify the vacation planning process for our visitors and provide an opportunity for easy access to the National Archives Experience," said Acting Archivist Adrienne Thomas. Reservations will be handled through the National Recreation Reservation Service (NRRS).
Starting today, November 11, visitors to the National Archives Experience can make reservations online at www.archives.gov/nae/visit/reserved-visits.html, from the NRRS website at www.recreation.gov. Reservations can also be made through the NRRS Call Center: 1-877-444-6777, Group Sales Reservations: 1-877-559-6777, or TDD: 1-877-833-6777.
Advance reservations will allow visitors to avoid the exterior portion of the line to see the Charters of Freedom during the height of the tourist season (mid-March through Labor Day) and during holiday seasons such as the weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's. The convenience fee for online reservations is $1.50 per person and admission to all of the National Archives Experience exhibits is free.
About the National Archives Experience
A "must see" tourist destination, the National Archives Experience houses this nation's true "National Treasures" -- the Charters of Freedom -- the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights. The National Archives Experience also includes the Public Vaults permanent exhibition, the Lawrence F. O'Brien temporary exhibition gallery, the Boeing Learning Center, and the William G. McGowan Theater. Museum hours are 10 am - 5:30 pm through March 14, and 10 am - 7 pm from March 15 - Labor Day. Closed Thanksgiving and December 25. The National Archives Experience is located in Washington, DC on Constitution Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, NW, and the building is fully accessible.
About the National Recreation Reservation Service
Reservations will be handled through the National Recreation Reservation Service (NRRS), a federal interagency reservation service for recreation facilities and activities.
The NRRS serves numerous other federal agencies including the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service. This reservation system is part of a government initiative to simplify how citizens interact with the government. For more information, see http://www.recreation.gov.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, or What the Pilgrims Really Ate at Thanksgiving

 

Millions of American families will sit down to dine together in this month's annual Thanksgiving Day celebration. Menus will vary a bit but most will feature turkey along with stuffing, gravy, squash, cranberries, and other vegetables. Pumpkin pie has always been popular with my family as well. Did you ever wonder what the Pilgrims and their Wampanoag Indian guests ate during their first Thanksgiving in 1621?
Unfortunately, we cannot be certain. The Pilgrims did not print menus for their guests. After all, none of their Indian guests could read, nor could very many of the Pilgrims themselves. Most were illiterate. Luckily, several colonists who were literate wrote personal accounts of the 1621 feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and those accounts have survived. These accounts give a few hints as to the menu.

While 103 people landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620, about half of them died during the first winter. Those who survived managed to plant crops the following spring and reaped a good harvest during the summer and fall. The first Thanksgiving at Plimoth Colony was held to celebrate that harvest.

William Bradford wrote,

“They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports."

Edward Winslow wrote,

“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty."

The Thanksgiving feast lasted three whole days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians. While we do not know the exact menu, historians have studied the food supply of the time and have been able to guess the items that likely appeared on the menu those three days.
The Pilgrims and the Indians obviously dined on venison. Winslow wrote, "They went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation." Turkey also was on the menu. As Winslow stated, "They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week." The word "fowl" probably included turkeys although there may have been ducks, geese, swans, and other birds as well.
The turkeys probably were a bit skinnier than today's Butterball turkeys, and probably had a stronger flavor as well. I live about 70 miles from Plymouth and can tell you that today's descendants of the wild turkeys that escaped the Pilgrims certainly look big and fat. They are also plentiful in this area. We can guess that the same was true in 1621.
The turkeys and most other meat dishes undoubtedly were roasted on a spit over an open fire. Someone must have been assigned to turn the spit frequently to make sure the food was not burnt on one side. Gravy was unknown.
The other foods at the table probably included fish, clams, berries, apples, dried fruit, pumpkin, squash, turnips, peas, onions, beans and other vegetables.
Some accounts state that lobster was on the menu, although I have my doubts. It seems unlikely when so many other items were already on the menu. In 1621, lobster was considered to be a "trash fish" and typically was eaten only by the poor, the starving, or by indentured servants. This makes it unlikely that lobster would be served at a feast celebrating a plentiful harvest.
Indeed, lobsters were used as fertilizer to help grow corn; the Pilgrims and the Indians would plant a few corn seeds and then throw a lobster into the ground beside the seeds before covering all of that with soil. What a change we have nearly 400 years later! Lobster is now a major export of the Plymouth area with prices that are far too high for the poorer citizens of today.
Pumpkin pie wasn't on the menu in 1621 because there were no ovens for baking, but the pilgrims probably did eat boiled pumpkin. Due to the diminishing supply of flour, there was no bread of any kind.
Cranberries existed as wild plants in the Plymouth area at the time, and it is possible that the Pilgrims were aware of the food value of these plants. However, cranberries were largely ignored until American Revolutionary War veteran Henry Hall became the first to farm cranberries in the nearby Cape Cod town of Dennis around 1816. Aside from their food value, the Pilgrims would have been eating unsweetened cranberries, a less than tasty sensation without benefit of sugar.
Salt was readily available in Plimoth Colony with the ocean being only a few yards away. Pepper was commonly used in England but probably not available in Plimoth Colony at the time.
Some sugar was transported on the Mayflower but probably had been consumed before the feast of 1621. Sugar could have been made from maple syrup but it is doubtful that the Pilgrims learned these skills the first year. Maple sap has to be collected early in the spring when there is still snow on the ground. In the spring of 1621, the Pilgrims were too weak from disease and starvation to organize efforts to tap maple trees and collect the sap.
The list of beverages served at the three-day feast was not recorded. The Pilgrims had no tea or coffee, as those imported items were missing due to a lack of trade routes at the time.
Beer undoubtedly was served. As the Pilgrims set out for America the previous year, they brought a considerable amount of this beverage with them for the voyage (reportedly more than 28,617 liters = 7,560 gallons). An entry in the diary of a Mayflower passenger explains the unplanned landing at Plymouth Rock: "We could not now take time for further search...our victuals being much spent, especially our beer..."
Once settled, the Pilgrims undoubtedly followed the English customs of the time with most families brewing beer in large quantities. They served it at virtually all functions, including ordinations, funerals, and regular Sabbath meals.
Plenty of clear water was available in the New World but the Pilgrims were largely ignorant of the need for sanitation. As a result, it is believed that many of the wells in Plimoth Colony were polluted. Admittedly, this is all conjecture, since no one today knows for sure.
Serving meals in the seventeenth century was very different from serving today. People weren't served their meals individually. Foods were placed on the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. In fact, this "family style" of dining was similar to what most families do today.
Pilgrims didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time, and people ate in any order they chose. Meat dishes, puddings, and sweets were all served at the same time. Desserts were eaten at the same time as the meats and other dishes.
Canning and freezing had not yet been invented. With no method of preserving food, other than salting food for preservation, the Pilgrims ate whatever was fresh. It is unlikely that they ate corn, other than perhaps dried corn. The corn crop had come and gone before the autumn feast. Late season vegetables, such as turnips, onions, pumpkin and squash, certainly would have been available. However, the meal was probably mostly meat, fish, and fowl, with few vegetables.
We can also imagine the table manners of those who dined. The Pilgrims did not use silverware nicely arranged on linen napkins. Napkins were in use although they were usually simple pieces of cloth, often rags. The Pilgrims wiped their hands on the cloth napkins, which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. Linen was unknown. We can imagine that the Indian guests probably wiped their hands and mouths on whatever was available, such as on the back of the hand or on clothing.
The Pilgrims also did not use forks at the table. As Englishmen and Englishwomen, they had no knowledge of forks. The fork was first described in English by Thomas Coryat in a volume of writings about his Italian travels only ten years earlier (1611). Very few English people had even heard of a fork by 1621. For many years the fork was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation and was never seen in English homes. Some writers of the Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use: "God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating."

While the Pilgrims were not Catholics, we can assume they used the same eating customs as most everyone else in England at the time: they scooped up meat, fish, and boiled peas alike with their fingers. It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain, with the United States following soon after.

Knives were used at the table but were not the same knives that we think of as silverware. The knives of 1621 were multi-purpose tools: any one knife might be used to cut a tree limb, to dissect a deer, or to cut meat at the table.

In short, the Pilgrims had a great meal by their standards. They and their Indian guests ate well for three days. That must have been a great joy for the 53 hardy souls who had watched half of their group die of malnourishment and disease only a few months earlier.
Their table manners didn't match today's standards, but they undoubtedly didn't mind. Their diet was high in protein, especially red meats. They undoubtedly had high cholesterol meals, especially in the months when fresh fruits and vegetables were not available. However, their diet probably met the needs of these people who led rugged, outdoor lifestyles. They had little fear of heart attacks; the more common cause of death was malnutrition and disease.
The Pilgrims of 1621 undoubtedly were delighted with their feast but I don't think I would want to join them.

Harry Houdini Died on Halloween

 

It may seem appropriate that the world's greatest escape artist and illusionist, Harry Houdini, died on the day when many people try to portray themselves as something other than what they really are.
Houdini always claimed that he was born in Appleton, Wisconsin, on April 6, 1874. However, a birth certificate found after his death revealed that he was born on March 24, 1874, in Budapest, Hungary. He was the son of Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz (1829-1892) and Cecilia Steiner. At birth, his name was Ehrich Weiss (or Weisz). He immigrated at the age of 4 on July 3, 1878, on the SS Fresia with his mother (listed as Cisy), sister Aurine, and brothers Nathan and Willi. At first, the family lived in Appleton, where Rabbi Mayer Samuel Weisz served at the Zion Reform Jewish Congregation. In the 1880 U.S. census, the family was living on Appleton Street. His name was listed as Ehrich Weiss, but friends called him "Erie" or "Harry."

On June 6, 1882, Rabbi Weiss became an American citizen. According to the laws at that time, American citizenship was automatically given to all minor children, including young Ehrich, or Harry. The family moved to New York City in 1887.
As a child Ehrich took several jobs, one of which was as a locksmith's apprentice. He made his public debut as a 9-year-old trapeze artist, calling himself, "Ehrich, the prince of the air".
In 1891, Weiss became a professional magician and began calling himself "Harry Houdini" in honor of French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. He first specialized in card tricks, calling himself the "King of Cards." However, he also dabbled at escaping from handcuffs. He soon realized that the audiences were more interested in his escapes than in card tricks. He met fellow performer Wilhelmina Beatrice (Bess) Rahner in 1893 and married her three weeks later. For the rest of his performing career, Bess would work as his stage assistant.
Harry Houdini went on to enjoy success as a performer in the United States and abroad. He would free himself from handcuffs, chains, ropes, and straitjackets, often while hanging from a rope or suspended in water, sometimes in plain sight of the audience. In 1913, he changed his legal name to Harry Houdini.
In October of 1926, while riding in a train from Montreal to Detroit, Houdini complained of severe abdominal pains. Upon arrival in Detroit, he had a temperature of 104. Houdini insisted the show must go on at the Garrick Theatre. His last performance was on October 24, 1926. The next day he was hospitalized at Detroit's Grace Hospital.
On October 25, doctors removed his appendix, which had burst, rupturing far over on the left side of the abdomen, resulting in strepococcic peritonitis. A second operation was performed on October 29 to address the poison that was spreading through his system. Finally, on October 31, 1926, Harry Houdini passed away. After escaping death so many times on stage, Harry Houdini died in a hospital bed.
Houdini always was interested in psychics and spiritualists and their so-called powers. Houdini scoffed at such "powers" and often used his training and insights to expose frauds. Fearing that spiritualists would exploit his legacy by pretending to contact him after his death, Houdini left his wife a secret code - ten words chosen at random from a letter written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - that he would use to contact her from the afterlife. His wife held yearly séances on Halloween for ten years after his death, but Houdini never appeared.

State Historical Society of Missouri Hours and Services Cut

The following announcement was written by the State Historical Society of Missouri:

Due to a 25 percent withholding in its fiscal year 2010 state appropriation, the State Historical Society of Missouri is decreasing its hours open to the public to Mondays through Thursdays, 8:00 a.m.-4:45 p.m., effective immediately.  The Society will no longer be open for research on Fridays or Saturdays.  The withholding ($364,010), caused by the continued downturn in Missouri state revenues, was made public last Wednesday, October 28.  The State Historical Society’s response to the withholding, determined by its board of trustees, was announced at the annual membership meeting in Columbia on Saturday, October 31.

To continue operations and implement the withholding, the Society’s twenty-two staff members have voluntarily taken a 20 percent pay reduction, and three staff positions have been eliminated.  These positions included one unfilled position left temporarily vacant due to a 10 percent reduction in the Society’s FY2010 budget on July 1, 2009, one retirement, and one layoff.
The Society will seek private funds to continue its newspaper microfilming program and to print the award-winning Missouri Historical Review.  The microfilming program annually preserves over 250 Missouri newspaper titles and adds these papers to the fine collection available for research at the State Historical Society.  Missouri newspaper publishers, libraries, and local historical and genealogical societies also rely on purchasing these microfilmed papers for in-house use and to add to their research collections.  The Missouri Historical Review is sent quarterly to over 4,800 members of the State Historical Society in Missouri and throughout the United States.  Scholars, students, and the public use the journal for the study of the state’s history.
The popular Missouri History Speakers’ Bureau, which furnishes speakers to local civic, historical, and genealogical groups, will be discontinued.  The State Historical Society has sponsored 34 Speakers’ Bureau presentations around the state since the beginning of the fiscal year on July 1.   A MoHiP (Missouri History in Performance) Theatre production on the life and times of John William “Blind” Boone already scheduled for March 19, 2010, in Columbia will be held.  Future performances by MoHiP, the State Historical Society’s reader’s theatre offering original productions based on historical characters and events, will not be scheduled.
“The reduced hours will have a significant impact on genealogists, students, and scholars who make use of the State Historical Society’s collections,” said Gary R. Kremer, the executive director.  “And local organizations that have used scholars well-versed on a variety of historical topics will lose access to a much-needed source for speakers.”
The 25 percent withholding reduces the Society’s state funding to 65 percent of the FY2009 appropriation.