The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1893-11-09
ITS HISTORY TRACED.
ALL ABOUT THE ORIGIN OF THE
COAT-OF-ARMS.
Found In DraYton's Memoirs by MIR. Theo.
ID. rvey--ExceedinRly Interesting
Reading for South Carolinisns.


Reading for South Carolinisns.
COLUMBIA, S. g., Nov. 1.-Gover-
nor Tillman has been trying for months
to get an accurate history of the coat OF
arms of South Carolina. A few days
ago Governor TUlman heard that Mr..
Theodore D. JerveY could give him q
great deal of the Information he was In
search of, an he accordingly wrote to
HIM requesting him to send him what.
ever data he had secured. Yesterday
the Governor received the following re-.
ply.
| CHARLESTON, S. c., Oct. 28, 1898.
His Excellency. b. II. Tillman, Gov
ernor South Carolina. Columbia,
S. T.:
| Dear Sir-Your letter of 9th was re-
ceived by me today, and answer at
once.
In volume 2, Drayton's Memoirs,
page 372, appears the following account,
which quote:
$50 soon as the government under
the constitution Of March, l776, was
| organized, the necessity of having q
public seal became evident aud on mo.
ton in the General Assembly it was
resolved "That His EXcellency the
President and commander in chief, by
and with the advice and consent of
the privy council may, and he Is here
by authorized to design and cauue to
be made great seal of South Caroli-
ma, and until such an one can be made
to fix upsn a temporary pubic seal.
"In pursuance of this "esolution Will
liam Henry Drayton and some Of the
privY council were Charged with de-
signing the great seal and causing 1t
TO be made; aud IN the meantime q
temporary public seal was adopted by
the President and privy council tor
purposes Of the State.
1.-The first use OF this temporary seal
(Which appears to have been the seal
at arms Of the President) was for
commissioning the civil officers OF gov
ernmeat and for a pardon Issued by
President Rutledge, dated 1st of May,
177G, III favor of person who had
been convicted of manslaughter before
Chief Justice William Henry Dryton,
and his associated Justices at court
commenced in Charleston of the 23d
of April, l776. In these commissions it
was called his (ihe President's) seal, but
in pardOpa and other instruments it was
afterwards called tho temporary seal OF
the said colony or the temporary public
seal; and it was used through that time
OF the year 1776 until about the 22nd OF
May, 1877, end on that President Rut
ledge issued pardon under "seal Of the
said State,' omitting the word tempo.
rary,' whence there is reason for believ.
ing the great seal was then made; and
from that time the temporary seal does
not appear to have been used. (GoYer-
nor John Drayton remembers seeing the
die brought to his father in Charleston }
1.-The device tor the armorial achieve
ment and reverse to the great seal of the
State of South Carolina ia as follows:
Arms, a.palmetto tree growing on the sea
shore street; atits base torn-up oak tree,
it's branches Topped off, prostra @; both
proper. Just below the branches ofthe
palmetto two shields pendent, one Of
them on the dexter side is inscribed
March 26,' the other on the sinister
side July 4th.' Thirteen spears proper
are bound CrOssWlsc tc the stem OF the
palmetto. their points raised; the band
knotting them together bearing the IN.
scription Quis Separabit.' Under the
PROSTATE oak Is insribed 'Meliorem
Lapsa locavit,' below which appears in
large figures, 1776.' AT the summit of
the eXerge are the words South Caro-.
ina,' and at the botto n of the same
'Animis Opibusque ParaG.'
"Reyerse: A woman walking on the
seashOre over swords and daggers;
she holds in her dexter hand laurel
branch and in her sinister hand the folds
OF her robe; she looks towards the sun
lust rising above the sea; all proper. On
the upper part is the sky, azure. At the
summit OF the eXergue are the words
Dunn Spiro Spero' and within the field
below the figure is inscribed the word
'Spes.' The seal is In the form OF q CIR.
Gle, 4 incHes in diameter and four.tenths
of an inch thick. II was not designed
until after tho fort al Sullivan's Island
had defeated the British feet, as all OF
its devices will prove. The fort was
constructed of the stems of the palmet
to Tree which grow abundantly on our
sea islands, which grew on Sulliyan's q
Island at the time the fort was made.
grow there Ills day.
"The arms were designed by Will
liam Henry dayton, and the original,
when the battle, was fought, and which
executed by him with pen, bearing
n great sirnilltude to what is represented
on the seal, is III the possession of his
son. 1t however, contains more de-
vices, hut this is easily reConclled by
supposny all he designed was not
deemed by the President and the privy
council necessary for the great seal.
"The explanation of this side of the
seal is the following. The palmetto
tee on the sea shore represents the
fort on Sullivan's Island, the shields
bearing March 26Lh and July 4th al
lude to the Con stitution Of South Car.
olna which was ratified on the first
of those days, and TO the Declaration or
Independence, which was made by the
Continental Congress on the second
date. The thirteen spears represent
the thirteen States which acceeded to
the Union. The dead oak tree alludes
TO the British feet as being constructed
OF oak timbers, and it is PROSTATE un-
der the paine tree because the tort
constructed Of that tree defeated the
British fleet; hence the inscription of
'Meliorem Lapsa Locavit,' is appropri.
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