A Diversion From One Person's Trip to Another

We're going to take a short break from reviewing the pictures of heraldry that my friend Katie sent me from her European cruise trip, and look at a little heraldry that I ran across in a short trip to Utah for a family funeral.

Okay, that last bit sounded funny. It was a funeral for someone in the family, not a funeral for the whole family. I just want to make that clear.

Anyway, there was some time after lunch on Saturday, and so my oldest daughter and her family took me to Moon's Rare Books ("A Museum Disguised As a Bookstore") up in Provo. (If you're really interested, you can find them on-line at https://moons-rare-books.myshopify.com/)* They do have an amazing collection of old and rare and newer and signed books there. Alas, they did not, while I was there, have any old heraldry books. The closest they came was a 17th Century peerage by William Dugdale, one time Garter Principal King of Arms at the College of Arms in London. I admit, it was a little tempting, even though it was a peerage and not heraldry per se, but they were asking more for it than I was willing to pay, and so I let it go back to its place on the shelf in the store.

But they did indeed have an interesting piece of heraldry in there! (Not that I was going to buy it; it was so big and heavy that I would have had more difficulty than it was worth get on the airplane home!) But it was sitting right out there for anyone to see, and so I asked if I could take a picture of it. And, gratefully, they said yes.

The object was this big, old, and heraldic iron fireback.**

What we see here, beneath the Royal Crown of France, are two shields: that to dexter (on the left), the Royal Arms of France; and that to sinister (the right as you look at it), the Arms of the Kingdom of Navarre. The two shields encircled by the collar of the Order of St. Michael inside the collar of the Order of the Holy Spirit.

This collection of symbols on the fireback indicate that it may date to the reign of King Henry IV (King of France 1589-1610, and King of Navarre 1572-1610) and Queen Margaret of Valois (Queen of Navarre 1572-1599).

The Order of St. Michael (the inner collar) was founded in 1469. The Order of the Holy Spirit (the outer collar) was founded in 1578 by King Henry III, Henry IV's father predecessor as king.

What an odd, and fun, practical piece of both history and heraldry to run across in a rare book store in the wilds of northern Utah!

* "Moon’s Rare Books is a museum disguised as a bookstore. We specialize in high points in literature (Shakespeare to J. R. R. Tolkien), Bibles from 1482-1899, early Utah and Mormon history, and pop culture (including movie props from Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, Indiana Jones and more). Fun for all ages."

**A fireback is a heavy cast-iron or steel plate placed against the rear wall of a fireplace to protect the masonry from heat damage, increase efficiency by reflecting heat back into the room, and to act as a decorative element. All the things that this one would, installed in a fireplace.

An Armorial Memorial in Vienna

Today's coats of arms come from a carved stone memorial mounted on the outside wall of St. Stephen’s Cathedral (German: Stephansdom), the main cathedral of Vienna. It stands in Stephansplatz in the 1st District (Innere Stadt) in the historic center of the city.

The memorial is one of several Renaissance-era memorial plaques set into the exterior walls of the cathedral. It is located along the north side of the nave, near one of the smaller side entrances, mounted high on the stone wall.

For centuries, grave markers and memorial epitaphs were embedded in the exterior walls of the cathedral because the churchyard cemetery once surrounded the building. When the cemetery was later removed, many stones remained built into the walls. I have seen such memorials mounted on the exterior walls of churches in other places, e.g., the Peterskirche (St. Peter's Church) in Heidelburg, Germany, where my great-grandfather was baptized.

But I digress. Here is the photograph that Katie took of this memorial:

The inscription is in two parts:

The shorter inscription on the small plaque above the two shields translates roughly into English as:

Those who die in God are blessed from now on. So that they all, who here in Christ fall asleep (die), shall be saved. (This is a paraphrase of Revelation 14:13 — a very common funerary text.)

The much longer inscription at the base of the monument translates roughly into English as:

To the honor of Almighty God and in special remembrance of the noble and learned lord Jacob Himmelreich Bieder, Doctor of Law of the Roman Emperor Ferdinand, city judge and also elder of the inner city council here in Vienna, who died on the 8th day of January in the year 1570, this epitaph was erected for the first lady of the house, Katherine née Freislebin, who passed away peacefully in God before the month of May 1555, and for her deceased children. This epitaph was erected by the aforementioned Count's retired son, Barthelm Himmelreich the expediter and tax assessor of the government of Archduke Charles of Austria, and Leopold Himmelreich, his brother, chamberlain to the Empress. May Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, raise them up again on the Last Day.

I have been unable to locate either the husband's or the wife's arms in the sources I have at hand. Not that I am surprised at this; armorials for German-speaking Europe and many and not easy to research; it often involves going though armorial after armorial page by page, and successful searches are pretty rare barring something like inclusion in J.-B. Rietstap's Armorial Général, which, alas, contains no arms for Bieder or Freislbin (or anything like it; yes, I know that often the "in" ending in German is a gender marker, i.e., "Mrs. Freisleb").

Herr Bieder's coat of arms (oh the left) appear to be: Quarterly: 1 and 4, An image of Atlas (a man dressed in a loincloth which is issuing a length of cloth to each side and bearing a globe of the world upon one shoulder); 2 and 3, A lion rampant. His wife Catherine's arms are:  A lion rampant maintaining in three paws a halberd.

The crests are: Issuant from a ducal coronet a crowned demi-man dressed in a loincloth which is issuing a length of cloth to each side between and holding a pair of buffalo horns/elephant's trunks each tipped with a comet (Bieder); Issuant from a ducal coronet a demi-lion erect mainting in its paws a halberd (Freislebin).

Still and all, though, I'm always grateful to be able to put a name to a coat of arms, or here, names to two coats of arms, whether or not we can determine the colors of the shield and its charges.

The Emperor's Beasts?

Well, admittedly, I ask that question in the title above because of the well-known British "Queen's Beasts", various animals holding shields which appeared at Queen Elizabeth II's coronation at Westminster Abbey.

Anyway ....

Having sailed up the Danube from Bratislava to Vienna, Austria, my friend Katie took two pictures of what I like to think of as the "Emperor's Beasts", crowned lions holding shields of arms, just outside of and flanking the way up to the Schweizertor (Swiss Gate) of the Hofburg Palace there.

The Schweizertor is a historic Renaissance-style archway built between 1552-1553 under Emperor Ferdinand I. Recognized by its striking red and black design, it serves as the entrance to the Schweizerhof (Swiss Court) and connects it to the Innerer Burghof. It is a beautiful example of 16th-century fortification architecture.

The crown that each lion is shown wearing is, of course, the Crown of St. Stephen, the coronation crown used by the Kingdom of Hungary since the 12th Century.

This lion holds the very well-known arms of Austria (Österreich): Gules a fess argent.

Directly across from the first lion is this one, holding what I believe are the arms of Niederösterreich (Lower Austria): Azure five eagles displayed or.

That said, the arrangement of the birds (which don't especially look like eagles, more like the quail on the arms of Wachtler that we looked in our last post) on the shield is unusual: one, two, and two, rather than the more common two, two, and one. Now, this could, of course, simply be an error of the stonecarver. (I mean, I've seen some heraldic carvings that really didn't match the blazon of the arms closely at all!) Or not.

Niederösterreich was created as a Duchy in 1156 and became part of Austria in 1282. Around 1450 a large part, now mainly Oberosterreich, was removed from the Duchy.

The arms with the five eagles first appears in 1335, as the legendary arms of the H. Leopold, who originated from the area. Around 1360 Duke Rudolf IV adopted the eagles as the arms of Old Austria. Ever since the arms represented Niederösterreich in the ducal and imperial arms.

The arms were not officially granted until 1920.

And Vienna was the capital of Niederösterreich at least until the city became a separate state in 1921.

So all of this history leads me to believe that this shield is the arms of Niederösterreich, at least until someone can lead me to a different conclusion.

Do you have thoughts about these "Emperor's Beasts" and the coats of arms they hold?

Artificial Intelligence, Maybe Not Quite So Intelligent After All

At least not for correctly identifying coats of arms, anyway.

My on-going, and only partly successful, attempts to use artificial intelligence (AI) as an aid in the identification of coats of arms continues, with mixed results.

For today's coat of arms, photographed in Bratislava, Slovakia, it was eventually mostly successful, but only after several attempts where I had to keep double-checking everything it was trying to tell me, explain why what it said was incorrect, and have it try again.

I was asking AI for the specific building in Bratislava with this coat of arms above the doorway, and the name of the family whose coat it was.

AI did manage to give me the name of the building pretty quickly (naturally, I had told it that this building was in Bratislava, to enable it to narrow down its search).

It told me that this building is the "Palffy Palace, and is among the oldest historic sights in Bratislava. Detailed research in the interior discovered masonry from the first half of the 13th century. In 1988 the palace was taken over by the Bratislava City Gallery that holds here a range of permanent expositions and temporary exhibitions."

Super! Now I have an identification of the building.

For the arms, though, I had to go through several iterations with AI to get a good identification.

First it told me that the bird was an eagle (a close look at the arms makes this unlikely), and I had to keep guiding guiding it back on track to get it to finally produce an identification that not only made sense, but was also corroborated by other information on the internet.

This is what AI finally told me (my comments about its findings are contained in square brackets):

"It [the coat of arms] belongs to Bernhard Wachtler, a member of the Prešov city council. [I question this; Prešov is quite a distance from Bratislava. Other information I found about Bernhard tells me that Bernhard Wachtler (†1827) became a member of the city council of ... Bratislava, Slovakia in 1801.]

The Wachtler family was the owner of the palace from 1870 to 1945. [So the arms are in fact not those of this Bernhard; he died 43 years before the family owned the palace.] The coat of arms shows a quail holding a stalk in its beak. It is a so-called speaking [canting] coat of arms (quail, German: wachtl), which corresponds to the surname of its bearer. The crown above the coat of arms with five pearls (baronial) indicates that its bearer was a nobleman. [I decided not to get into a conversation with AI about this statement. I was looking for the identification of the arms, and not the family's status.] The Wachtlers were wealthy merchants and city officials, and owned or renovated several properties in central Bratislava."

I've not been able to find a blazon for the Wachtler arms in any of the usual suspects (most importantly, J-B Rietstap's Armorial Général). The field, presumably, is blue. The trimount in base, equally presumably, is green. The quail, likely silver, but possibly gold, and is either rising or displayed. I have not been able to identify the sprig in its beak; it appears to consist of a short branch with three or four leaves and what may be a couple of berries of some type on it. (Though this last could just by my misinterpretation of the way the carving looks.)

Be that as it may, with at least a fair bit of coaching and explaining and telling it outright that it was wrong, AI finally did come up with an accurate (mostly) identification of the arms over the doorway on the façade of the Palffy Palace in Bratislava, Slovakia.

My thanks once again to my friend Katie, who thought to take pictures of heraldry for me while on her river cruise through Europe.

I Love My Friends. Artificial Intelligence, Not So Much

Late last year a friend of mine, Katie, returned from a two-week river cruise vacation in Europe, and here and there amidst all of the fun and good times she was having there, she thought to take some pictures of the coats of arms she saw there just for me!

And now, with her kind permission, I get to share some of her photos of heraldry with you.

The trick, of course, is to identify all of these coats of arms. "Ah,", I thought. "This could be a good trial of just how effective artificial intelligence can be in helping to identify at least the buildings, and likely the coats of arms carved on their facades."

Well, I was half right.

The first trial was this shot, taken in Bratislava, Slovakia.

I uploaded this photo to AI, and it quickly (and accurately; I checked) told me that this building is the Reduta, the historic home of the Slovak Philharmonic in Bratislava, Slovakia, built between 1913 and 1915.

Then I asked it specifically about the coats of arms above the doorway. (Alas, the oval cartouche in the center of the triangular pediment in the upper portion of this picture is blank. No arms or any other carving.)

It quickly and, again, accurately, identified the arms on the shield on the right as the coat of arms of the city of Bratislava: Gules a triple-towered castle argent roofed proper portcullised or. These arms have been used by the city since 1436.

However, regarding the arms in the oval frame on the left, AI flat out lied to me! It explained that the arms on the left were those of the Kingdom of Hungary.

A close look at the photograph above, and comparing to some other photographs of this doorway I found on-line, what I see there is not one, but four overlapping shields: Two behind and flanking, with eagles displayed; a larger one in the center, with looks like a pale, but I can’t see it clearly enough to be sure; and a smaller uppermost shield which looks a bit like Slovakia (or the sinister half of the arms of the Kingdom of Hungary). The Slovakian arms are a 20th century creation based on an existing 14th century Hungarian coat of arms in the seal of King Louis I of Hungary.

So, not a single shield with the arms of Hungary, but four shields with different charges on them, none of which appear to be the arms of Hungary.

But who am I going to believe, AI or my own eyes?

For some reason, I am reminded of Carol Kane playing Miracle Max's wife in The Princess Bride:

Liar! Liar!

A Heraldic "Stray" in Massachusetts

I have often said that "You can find heraldry everywhere," and my travels, both local and further away, still confirm that.

Nearing the end of my trip to Massachusetts last year, "visiting relatives, both living and dead," I found myself facing a commercial van with a heraldic flag on its rear door.

A few minutes of research upon arriving back home, and I learn that this is the heraldic banner (a flag of the coat of arms) of Sicily.

The arms of Sicily are blazoned, in Italian: Trinciato di rosso e d'oro alla triscele di carnagione, con il gorgoneion e le spighe al naturale.

My attempt at a blazon in English  is: Per bend gules and or a triskelion of legs surmounted by a Medusa’s face wreathed in ears of wheat all proper.

I had already known that there was a large Italian presence in the state; my father grew up in Milford hearing a lot of Italian being spoken, and a lot (as much as half, perhaps, though I haven't actually counted them) on the World War II Memorial listing the names of all the men from Milford who served in that war were of Italian origin.

Still, it was unexpected to see the arms of Sicily right there over the hood of my rental car! But again, "You can find heraldry everywhere!"

A Final Armorial Tomb from Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts

For our final tombstone with a coat of arms on it, we come to the tomb of Thomas Jackson.

The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, p. 140, informs us: This tomb, situated next to the Quincy tomb in the easterly corner of the yard, is recorded as belonging to Thomas Jackson. The arms and motto seem to show that it was intended to be one of the coats recorded by Burke. These are all a fesse between three birds—in one case three shovellers; in another three shovellers, each charged wit6h a trefoil slipped; in a third three magpies; in a fourth three shell-drakes; in a fifth three falcons, close. The motto is given to the family at Beach Hill, co. Surrey, baronets, who have three shovellers charged with a trefoil. The coats have undoubtedly a common origin, and the family seems to have been settled chiefly in Yorkshire.

Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks: Boston’s Burying Ground Guide to King’s Chapel, Granary and Central Cemeteries, by Charles C. and Suzanne Austin Wells, adds: Jonathan Jackson (1743-1810), ae 67, Loc Tomb 23, A-389. Continental Congress 1782, member of Constitutional Convention 1779, Treasurer of MA 1802, president of Boston Bank, now Bank of Boston 1803-1810.

Of the arms on the tomb, Bolton’s An American Armory tells us: Jackson. Gules a fess argent between three shovellers (tufted on the head and breast) argent (each charged with a trefoil slipped vert, on an inescutcheon the Badge of Ulster in chief.
        Crest: A shoveller.
        Motto: Innocentiæ securus (Secure in his innocence.)
        Thomas Jackson’s tomb, Granary Burying Ground, by Tremont Building, Boston. Stone is reinforced or reset. Arms of the baronets of Beach Hill, Co. Surrey. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 140.

Crozier’s General Armory cites: Jackson. Massachusetts. Thomas Jackson, Boston. (Surrey.) Gules a fess between three shovellers tufted on the head and breast argent each charged with a trefoil slipped vert.
    Crest: A shoveller as in the arms.
    Motto: Innocentia securus.

Beyond what all these worthies have to say about the man, his tomb, and his heraldry, I cannot add much, beyond noting that the name "JACKSON" is inscribed underneath, and nearly as wide as, the arms.

And with this, we end our tour of heraldic memorials and tombs to be found in three old burying grounds in Boston, Massachusetts, which I was able to visit last year.

A "Freaky" Coat of Arms

You must pardon me for the pun in the title of this post. (Well, not necessarily "must", but I wish that you would.)

But whether you do or not, our next armoiral tombstone is that of John and Elizabeth Freke.

Again, it's not the greatest photograph, but I was limited in what I could do by having to stay on the paved paths.

The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, pp. 130-131, says of this armorial tomb: “The Arms of John and Elizabeth Freke.” An examination of this stone satisfies us that the impaled coat is “on a bend, between three roundles as many swans,” which arms were borne by many family of Clarke. Hence we identify the persons here commemorated as John Freke, who m. in 1661, Elizabeth, dau. of Capt. Thomas Clark, by whom he had several children. He was a merchant, and was killed by an explosion on board a ship in Boston harbor, 4 May, 1675, ages less than 40 years. His widow m. Elisha Hutchinson.

Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks: Boston’s Burying Ground Guide to King’s Chapel, Granary and Central Cemeteries, by Charles C. and Suzanne Austin Wells, adds the following information about this lady: Elizabeth (Clarke) Freake Hutchinson (1632-1712/3) is famous for her portrait with baby Mary at the Worcester Art Museum. Her father Thomas Clarke was a rich Boston merchant. She married merchant Thomas Freake and had 8 children. He was killed in 1675 in a ship explosion in Boston Harbor and was also the subject of a portrait also in Worchester [sic]. Next she married Elisha Hutchinson,* Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, and had 5 or possibly 6 children. He was a wealthy North End merchant, owner of Hutchinson’s wharf, and who with two other merchants had a salt works near Roxbury. They were the great grandparents of Gov. Thomas Hutchinson, Royal governor just before the Revolution. All except Gov. Thomas are buried in Tomb 18 (next to John Molineux Tomb [in Granary Burying Ground]). Her funeral is noted in Judge Sewall’s diary.

In the photo below, I have tried to modify the perspective to give you a clearer view. It's still not really up to snuff, and you will want to click on the image to go to the full-size picture so that you can zoom in to see more detail.

Bolton’s An American Armory tells us: Freke. Sable two bars and in chief three mullets or, impaling: Argent(?) on a bend gules between three pellets as many swans argent(?) (Clarke).**
        Crest: A bull’s or talbot’s head sable collared or.
        “The armes of John and Elizabeth Freke.” She was the daughter of Major Thomas Clarke and married in 1661. He was killed in 1675. Granary Burying Ground, Boston, altar tomb. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 130.

As I said in the title, a "Freaky" coat of arms.

* We have seen the Hutchinson arms in our recent (January 26, 2026) review of heraldic memorials in Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Boston.

** This is a variant of the Clark/Clarke coat of arms that we recently saw up on Copp's Hill Burying Ground, which there was blazoned Argent a ragged staff bendwise between three roundels sable.

An Important Tomb With an Unusual Coat of Arms

Our next armorial tomb in Granary Burying Ground in Boston, Massachusetts, is the table tomb of the Faneuil family.

The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, pp. 121-122, informs us about this family:

[T]he tomb of the Faneuils, which was probably erected by Andrew F., who died in 1737. This family, whose name is indelibly associated with Boston [e.g., the famous Faneuil Hall there], was of Huguenot origin. … It seems that in 1685, there were living in or near Rochelle, in France, three brothers and two sisters of the Faneuil family. These were Benjamin, Andrew, John, Susanna and Janes; of whom John and Susanna were Catholic, and remained at Rochelle, Jane was a Huguenot, married Pierre Cossart, and died in Ireland. Andrew settled in Boston, as early as 1709, and married, but had no children. He acquired a large fortune by commerce, which was left, at his death, in 1737, to his nephew Peter.
        Benjamin Faneuil, the other brother, married in 1699 to Anne Bureau, and settled at New Rochelle, N.Y., by whom he had eleven children. Of these the survivors were Peter; Benjamin; Anne, who m. Rev. Addington Davenport; Maray, wife of Gillam Phillips; Susanna, wife of James Boutineau; and Mary Anne, wife of John Jones.
        Peter Faneuil, so well known for his gift to the town of the public hall which bears his name, died unm. In 1743.
        Benjamin Faneuil, his brother, married, and had Benjamin, peter, and Mary, wife of George Bethune. He died October 1785.
        In regard to the arms here figured, we may note first, that they are on Andrew Faneuil’s will, and in that will he directs three pieces of plate to be given the French Church in Boston, “with the coat of arms and name of the donor engraven upon each of them.” Peter Faneuil also had these arms painted on his chariot, and engraven on his silver. With this distinct claim to a right we must remain content.

And Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks: Boston’s Burying Ground Guide to King’s Chapel, Granary and Central Cemeteries, by Charles C. and Suzanne Austin Wells, tells us:

        Peter Faneuil (1700-1743), gave us Faneuil Hall. The “Jolly Bachelor,” was born in New Rochelle, NY, the oldest of 11 children. He came to Boston in 1719 to live with his rich uncle Andrew Faneuil (pronounced Funnel at that time) when his father died. Andrew’s businesses were trade in West India goods, imports from England, owning and building ships, Boston real estate, and probably slave trading. He was the richest man in Boston.
        When Andrew became incapacitated, Peter managed his affairs and, after his uncle died in 1738, he inherited all of his immense wealth and businesses. Peter became Boston’s richest resident and benefactor. In 1740, he contributed to the construction of King’s Chapel and was an early member, generous donor and trustee of the Boston Episcopal Charitable Society. He provided funds for Faneuil Hall, designed by his intimate friend and artist John Smibert. Peter Faneuil died suddenly March 3, 1742/3, unmarried.
        Tomb 138, loc. D-70, is his burial place. It hold a lot of other people: Uncle Andrew Faneuil; brother Benjamin and his family; and sisters Mary Ann Faneuil Jones, Anne Faneuil Davenport, Marie Faneuil Phillips, and their families. The “P. Furnal 1742” is a phonetic spelling of the name and it was also prounced “Fennel.”
        The Faneuils were all Tories and most went to England during the Revolution. However, the name Faneuil Hall is synonymous with the Independence movement because of all the meetings held there.

But of course it is the arms on the tomb that really catch our attention:

Bolton’s An American Armory cites this coat of arms as: Faneuil. A heart in the center, four six-pointed stars in chief, three like stars below the dexter star, all in pale, and a cross within an annulet in the sinister base.
        Crest: A martlet(?). (I personally don’t think so; click on the image above to take a closer look at its legs and feet.)
        Peter Faneuil’s box-tomb, 1743. Granary Burying Ground, Boston. Heral. Jour., vol. .2, p. 121.

The arms are most unusual in their assymetry and arrangement of charges. Indeed, I cannot recall seeing anything like this coat anywhere else, ever.

Researching further, Rietstap's Armorial Général does not have Faneuil listed, nor does the surname appear in the Index to d'Hozier's Armorial Général de France of 1696. The closest surname in the latter is le Fanu of Brittany and Caen.

So we have an important New England colonial family, with a coat of arms which they used at that time, but whose origins are somewhat cloudy. Or perhaps, just "lost in the mists of time."

The Armorial Tomb of the Rev. Joseph Eckley

Once again, The Heraldic Journal, Vol. II, pp. 128-129, gives us a lot of biographical and genealogical information about the owner of this tomb:

“The Rev. Joseph Eckley, D.D., was born in London 22 Oct., 1750, His father removing to New Jersey, about 1767, he was graduated at Princeton in 1772. He was ordained as the successor of Mr. Hunt at the Old South Church in Boston in 1779, and remained there till his death, 30 April, 1811.” Dr. Allen’s account, from which we collect these facts, furnishes other particulars of his ministerial labors.
        Mr. Eckley married Sarah Jeffries, and had three sons, Joseph, Thomas, and David.
        Joseph died unm. at Marblehead, about 1860.
        Thomas m. his cousin of the half blood, Julia Ann Jeffries, and had Julia Ann, now deceased; Sarah, wife of Prof. H. L. Eustis of Harvard College; and Elizabeth, wife of Thomas Rhett. David Eckley m. Caroline S., daughter of Jonathan Amory of Boston, and had Joseph S. of Buffalo, David, Edward (deceased), John L., William (deceased), Henry of Framingham, Arthur A. and Frances A. Mrs. Eckley died in June, 1866.

And Preachers, Patriots & Plain Folks: Boston’s Burying Ground Guide to King’s Chapel, Granary and Central Cemeteries, by Charles C. and Suzanne Austin Wells, adds: Rev. Joseph Eckley (1750-1811) ae 61, Loc Tomb 67, called “the evangelist,” he served 2nd Baptist Church 1790-1826 and edited the Baptist Missionary magazine for 23 years. Honorary degrees from Brown University and Union College.

Bolton’s An American Armory cites: Eckley. Gules three swords in fess paleways points upward argent hilts and pommels or the middle one surmounted by an inescutcheon bearing a dexter hand couped. (Given the usual heraldic defaults, this blazon could be made a little shorter: Gules three swords in fess proper, the central one surmounted by an inescutcheon bearing a dexter hand.)
        Crest: A dexter arm embowed and armed.
        Rev. Joseph Eckley, D.D. Box tomb, 1811, Granary Burying Ground, Boston. Heral. Jour., vol. 2, p. 128. These are the arms of Clarke of Salford, Co. Warwick, Baronet.

Researching Burke’s General Armory for Clarke of Salford, we find: Clarke (Salford, co. Warwick. See Woodchurch. These arms were confirmed as a quartering by the Deputies of Camden, Clarenceux, to Sir Simon Clarke, 19th in descent from Clarke Woodchurch, who m. Susan, dau. and heir of Henry Clarke). Gules three swords in pale argent. Crest—A fleur-de-lis per pale argent and sable.

Looking further for Woodchurch, we find only one: Woodchurch (Woodchurch, co. Kent). Gules three swords in pale argent.

Burke also cites: Clarke (Shirland, co. Nottingham, bart.). Gules three sword erect in pale argent hilts or. Crest—A hand couped at the wrist proper holding a sword as in the arms.

I am left thinking that there is more to it than what Bolton and Burke are showing us, because the crest on the Eckley tomb does not match either of the Clarke coats of arms cited. On the other hand, the only Eckley to be found in Burke matches neither the arms nor the crest shown here.

So we are left with a bit of a conundrum: where did the arms and crest on the Eckley tomb come from? I am at a loss to say.