This original county seal is now used by the Cecil County Historical Society. Credit: Anne Copley of Newark, DE.
CECIL COUNTY SEAL
by Robert Barnes
Cecil County seems to have had two seals since its establishment as a county in 1674. The first is in the best heraldic tradition, and the second one is a modern pictorial seal. The compiler is indebted to Anne Copley of Newark, Delaware, for information and an illustration of the first seal.
The first seal was devised at the erection of the county in 1674, and was based on the Lesser Seal at Arms of the Lords Baltimore in England. Except for an incorrect rendering by the artist, this seal is in the true heraldic mode. The seal consists of a shield emblazoned with the Black and Gold (Sable and Or) vertical stripes (Pales) with a diagonal stripe (Bend) in alternating colors (Counterchanged). The shield is ensigned by a Baron's Coronet (On a band six silver gilt balls, only four of which are visible). Over this is a helmet. Behind the helmet is some scrollwork (the mantling). Atop the helmet is a second coronet consisting of a decorated circlet with nine gilt balls (five in the front, and four in the rear of the circlet). This is an artist's incorrect rendering of the coronet of a Viscount which has sixteen silver gilt balls, but only nine are visible. From this second coronet two staves rise, each with a triangular shaped flag (Pennon or half-Banneret) flowing. The shield is supported by two gold leopards with black spots. At the top of the shield are the words "Cecil" and "County." Below the shield is a ribbon which would usually carry a family's motto, but in this place, carries the date "1674."
This original county seal is now used by the Cecil County Historical Society. Credit: Anne Copley of Newark, DE.
Illustration of the actual seal used on a document.
Credit: Provincial Court of Appeals, MSA SC 1603, Box B#47.
The present seal approved by the Cecil County Board of Commissioners on 11 June 1968 is described in the County Code: "The official seal for the county shall consist of a river scene which will reflect the water itself, together with a scene of the sky and on which shall be shown a male mallard duck in flight, and underneath the male duck shall be a female mallard duck also in flight. In addition to the left of the heads of the ducks in flight shall be shown a cluster of cattails and reeds (County Code of Cecil County, Sec. 32-10).
The present Cecil County Seal.
Credit: The Maryland Manual, 1996-1997, p. 757.
In 1694 the county was assigned the color crimson (Gules) for its standard (For the act authorizing county colors, see "An Act of Francis Nicholson" dated 9 October 1694, in the Archives of Maryland, Vol. XX, p. 154).
In 1974 the county commissioners approved an official county flag, divided into two equal sections, one of crimson and one of white. The official seal appears on the white section and reaches from top to bottom of the flag (John Murphey, "Making It Official ... State and County Seals Still Do It," Maryland, Summer 1982, p. 39).
MARYLAND WEATHER
by Lee Evans
In the course of your visit
to our Hall of Records,
you will see that for the most part
our Public Searchroom depends
upon Solar Illumination.
In the course of a day,
there will be many changes
in its moods and your perceptions;
like epiphenomena born
of the ever-evolving Brain.
But as we say here in Maryland
concerning the weather,
"If you don't like it, wait a minute,
and it will change."
For instance, in the full sun
the three-story room seems youthful,
full of possibilities--
like Terrae Mariae herself,
in the days of old John Ogilby,
whose map of the colony swelled to a mural
that leans over the mezzanine
like an imperious, visiting Queen
comtemplating patrons
too self-absorbed to notice her.
Suddenly, a cloud passes before the sun,
and Terrae Mariae recedes into the Shadowy Past.
The Searchroom grows smaller,
gnarled out of shape like an old man
who shuffles and complains
all the way from the indexes to the Reference Desk,
clutching yellowed notebooks of illegible scrawl,
hunchbacked with the burden of his ancestry,
consciousness flickering
like a guttering candle's flame.
But if this apparition
casts a pall upon your visit,
you will do well to remember
what we say about the weather.
LIBRARY ACCESSIONS
by Shashi Thapar
Anderson, Elizabeth Ella, Descendants of Abraham Clark
Merryweather, Melanie, Genealogy of the Henry Family
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Alexander Coleman and Margaret Ann Hartlove of Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Richard and Rachel Purnell of Ann Arundel County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Conrad Wildensteiner and Anna Margaretha Lohin of Germany
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Thomas J. Niblett and Elizabeth Phillips of Talbot County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Anton Rytina of Bohemia and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of James and Elizabeth Pickering of Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Henrich and Margaretha Werner of Germany and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Anton Mallej (Malle) and Francesca Parhver of Bohemia and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Jacob Martinek of Bohemia and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Nicholas and Catherine Broadway of Talbot County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Captain Thomas Benson (Besson ) of Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Joseph Finley Kyle and Matilda Scotten of Pennsylvania
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Richard and Elinor Dudley of Talbot County, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Nicholas and Mary Gross of Germany and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Herman F. Kirmes and Annie Lange of Germany and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of George W. Henrickle, Sr. and Ellen Jane Gill of Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Gottlieb Friedrich Eckert and Caroline Zimmermann of Germany and Baltimore, Maryland
Orrell, Reverdy Lewin, III, Descendants of Richard Cheney of Anne Arundel County, Maryland
Pusey, Lloyd Albert, Jr., Descendants of William Pusey: 300 Years of History on the Eastern Shore
Smith, Ralph D., Tennison Family of Southern Maryland
Taylor, Karl and Judy, Mary Grace Strock: Mrs. Wellington Eckstine Griffith, 1872-1918, Hagerstown, Maryland
Walker, Charles, Jacob Walker/Wacker: Berlin, Pennsylvania Pioneer, 1749-1783
Warthen, Robert Orr, Early Wathen/Worthen/Warthen Colonists in America, rev.
Edward C. Papenfuse, State Archivist
Patricia V. Melville, Editor
Mimi Calver, Assistant Editor
Lynne MacAdam, Production Editor
Rita Molter, Circulation
The Maryland State Archives is an independent agency in the Office of Governor Parris N. Glendening and is advised by the Hall of Records Commission. The Chairman of the Hall of Records Commission is the Honorable Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller, and the Vice Chairman is the Honorable Robert M. Bell, Chief Judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals.
The Archivists' Bulldog is issued bi-monthly to publicize records collections, finding aids, and other activities of the Archives and its staff. Subscription cost is $25 per year, and the proceeds go to the State Archives Fund. To subscribe, please send your name, address, and remittance to: the Maryland State Archives, 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, Maryland 21401-1686. Phone: MD toll free: (800) 235 4045; or (410) 260-6400. FAX: (410) 974 3895. E-mail: archives@mdarchives.state.md.us. The Editor welcomes editorial comments and contributions from the public.
The Archives maintains a Website on the Internet at: http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us
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