The Washington herald., 1916-09-24
Answers to CORRESPONDENTS.


To c. z. G. who writes: Il have con-
cluded to ask you II you can tell US any
thing about the Gilbert family. I have
always heard OF three brothers from
England about 1s3o-3O, or earlier perhaps,
the three settling in different parts OF
the Atlantic Coast. Is the family OF
English origin?"
This family is beyond dispute OF English
origin. The coat-of-arms Of the family,
which was borne by Captain Nathaniel
Gilbert, OF Middletown. Connecticut In
l776 is Identical with the coat Of arms
for the family Of Cornwall, England. 1t
is blazoned thus: Argent on chevron
gules, three roses Of the field The crest
is a squirrel cracking a nut. The motto
is "Mallem moH guam mutare."
The coat-of-arms used by John GIL
bert, OF Dorchester, Mass, in 1880 Is
Identical to that OF the English GIL
berts. of Somerset II is described:
Argent, on a chevron sable. three
roses Of the field. The crest is
squirrel cracking a nut proper. The
motto is: Tenax PropositL
A John Gilbert who was born in
Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1896. had
four sons, Thaddeus, Ebenezer, Joseph
and John. and although IT is not
known from whence in the old coun-
try the father Of the elder John GIL
bert came, It is quite likely that they
were related to the Gilberts Of Dor
chester. Mass. whose arms are de-
scribed above. Unfortunately tne
"three-brother" founding Of a family
of this name suggested by our CORE
spondent does not appear in the available
family records.
F. c. writes: viii you kindly publish
what you can concerning the Calvert
family. The crest and coat-of-arms. The
name is pronounced Kolvert.
The coat-of-arms for the Southern fam
uv Of the name is described thus: An
inescutcheon within an orb Of owls,
argent. The crest Is q horned owl, ar
gent This family was founded on these
shores by Cornelius Calvert, OF Lancas-
ter, England. who settled in Princess
Anne county. It is interesting TO note
that the same coat Of arms is borne
by an English family Of Calverly.
Cornelius Calvert, the founder OF the
family, married Mary Saunders, Of Prin-
cess Anne county July q, l1ls. They
had twelve children, whose names were;
Jonathan, Maximilnan, Cornelius, Thomas.
Saunders Joseph, William, Christopher
John, Mary, Samuel and Elizabeth. From
this large family are descended most
Of those bearing the name Of Calvert
in this country.
Two correspondents ask for informa-
ton OF the Bruce family NJ c. asks
for information Of the family who came
from Scotland and also information about
the Coat-of-arms" c. O. B. writes:
INV ancestors were pioneer settlers OF
Northern Indiana about one hundred miles
south Of Chicago and assisted greatly
in the development OF that country. Our
kinsfolk still reside there around the
lake that bears the family name. A
great-uncle Of my grandfather, Stephen
Bruce, was always very insistent that
our family was descended directly from
one Of the three sons Of Robert Bruce
OF Scotland. We have. however, no evil
dence Of that fact.
"Our family holds a reunion every year
and we are making every effort to as
certain our ancestry as far back as pos
sible We sure would like to be con-
nected with King Robert"
The first settler OF the name Of Bruce
on these shores was probably George
Bruce, who came directly from Scotland.
He landed in Boston and later settled
In woburn, Mass. In 1853 he married his
wife Elizabeth and they had the follow
ing children: John, William, William.
Elizabeth, Mary, William, Elizabeth.
George, Joseph, Joseph, Samuel, Margery
and Lydia Another first settler of the
name was John Bruce. who perhaps came
from Edinburgh. He settled in Sudbury,
Mass in 1872. He had son, Roger. Of
Marlboro, Mass. New York State fam
lily OF the name was founded by Jonas
Bruce. of Scotland. He was born in 174O
Many families OF the name may be en-
titled to bear one Of the many different
coat-of-arns for the name. One whose
claim was well substantiated was Ed
ward Moncrien Bruce. OF New York. who
bore this coat Of arms: Or, a satire
and chief gules, in the dexter chief point
or. shield argent and chief sable The
crest is described thus: On a cap OF
maintenance a dexter arm, armed from
the shoulder resting on the elbow, and
holding in the hand scepter all proper
The notices are either "Fuimus" or DO
we'll and doubt not" There seems to be
no proof Of royal descent.
L H T. writes thus: Please give me
what information you can Of the Tarp-
ley family. BY this I mean the lineage,
social rank coat-of-arms, motto, colors,
etc. This family was one of the first
families of Virginia. having resided in
the southern part OF that state moving
from there to Tennessee about 1850"
The coat-of-arms OF this family which
appears to be of English origin is de-
scribed thus: Argent a fess scotised
gules between six hurts"
Unfortunately the record Of the Vir-
ginia family of the name is not avail
able.
(Copyrisht, 1861