Just ten weeks to Lineage! I’m excited. More here and on social media about some upcoming talks, but among other book news OUP has offered a very nice discount of 30% off the cover price when you order from their site with this code: AUFLY30.
The place of heraldry in early America is a topic I discuss in a couple of chapters of Lineage, and suffice to say it’s fascinating. I can’t wait for you to see what I’ve made of it. One of the things that intrigued me is the interest of “Founding Fathers” in displaying coats of arms, which seems–or does it–contrary to their work to establish a democracy.
When I was in Philadelphia last month I renewed my keen interest in all things Norris-Logan-Dickinson thanks to a wonderful tour of Stenton and (per my last post, “Deeds and Papers”) the opportunity to see some incredible family history-making objects. I also started to explore more fully the more recent scholarship (mostly Jane Calvert’s and the Dickinson Papers) on John Dickinson, the founder without a huge reputation beyond that of being a moderate, but with a college named for him.
Among the things that are said about Dickinson are that he eschewed his family’s coat of arms, and that the college thus uses a lion because the family shield was charged with two lions (technically lions passant, or walking). And because Dickinson himself used the lion as a symbol, had a marble statue that he apparently travelled with, and that is now in “Old West, the oldest building and the college’s senior administrative offices.
But when Dickinson died this elaborate funeral hatchment was created and presumably hung outside the family’s house (in Wilmington, Delaware). Funeral hatchments were not uncommon in 18th century British America, though the largest number I’ve seen are from New England, and earlier in the century. An example of a hatchment from Philadelphia c 1800 can be seen as part of the Christ Church collections.
The Dickinson hatchment is painted, presumably on wood, and sizable (almost 3 feet square). It features the traditional hatchment styling, with the Dickinson coat of arms on an angle. The shield is charged with the two walking lions on a divided sable field, topped by a knight’s helmet and another lion rampant (rearing). As anyone who is can tell, I’m by no means an expert on the grammar of heraldry (though I read a bit and can recommend The Oxford Guide to Heraldry)! There is more to say about the shape of the shield, and the specific patterning, as well as the elaborate acanthus leaves but suffice to say that the detail here suggests that the hatchment was created with some care and attention. It was gifted to the Library Company of Philadelphia by his great-granddaughter, Maria Dickinson Logan.
Although scholarly accounts and more casual references to Dickinson emphasize his interest in a more simple style, he was very wealthy, he married the exceptionally rich Mary Norris, he had multiple homes in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and he was an enslaver. When Quakers absolutely required manumission to remain in good standing, in 1777 he conditionally manumitted more than 3 dozen people at his plantation outside Wilmington. Only in 1786 was this complete. The Plantation Stories Project aims to document some of these people’s lives. Dickinson’s wealth came with plenty of symbols of status, and that included the coat of arms as displayed in his funeral hatchment. Like George Washington and his extended family, John Dickinson had silver objects engraved with those arms. This silver caster and cruet stand at the Delaware Public Archives is an example.
The scholarship on heraldry in 18th century British America is relatively thin, but some material culture scholars, notably Betty Ring, have written critical work on needlework in particular; I’ve also just read a terrific new piece by Erica Lome in Winterthur Portfolio. Even as Lineage is being printed, I’m still reading and researching about the range of subjects it encompasses! And I’d really love to see that marble lion at Dickinson.