Westerfield Family Coat of Arms Coaster

Westerfield Family Coat of Arms hard plastic coasters with cork bottoms Tray with the Westerfield Family ancestral Harderwijk Gelderland Netherlands Old Church family tomb Historical Dutch van Westervelt coat of arms that I colorized on computer according to the description under it from a 1905 book the Genealogy of the Westervelt Family by Walter Tallman Westervelt ... the van Westervelts and our further back ancestors the van Wijnbergens and the van Hueckelums and cousins van Spueldes had ruled the Dutch town of Harderwijk many generations. The family coat of arms had three gold fleur de lis upon an emerald green shield, knight's armour in silver, a gold ducal coronet crown likely reference to the Duchy Gelre / Geldriae that later became Province Gelderland (Harderwijk was given city rights in 1231 by a count Otto II of Gelre ... the counts of Gelre became dukes when one married Princess Eleanor of England), the knight's hands hold another gold fleur de lis, and a pair of golden lions hold up the entire coat of arms. This is found on the family tomb on the floor of the nave of the Old Church in Harderwijk. The family name was spelled variously (spellings then not conventionalized at all) as Westervelt, Westerveld, or Westerveldt. A nearby family estate of same name (variously spelled also) was in neighbouring Province Over-Ijssel North of Zwolle. The family ancestral immigrants to America had raised cattle just a bit further North of that near Meppel in Drenthe Province. Westerfield Family Coat of Arms ... the Dutch spellings for our ancestors' last name include van Westervelt, van Westerveldt, and van Westerveld ... after the family estate in Province Overijssel (Over-Ijssel ... near River Ijssel and River Vecht) North of Zwolle / Zwol ... near River Vecht in the Netherlands. The family lived all along the South Eastern former sea coast shore of Zuider Zee (which since then was partly drained to create more farm land.) ... This formerly coastal region included parts of three Dutch Provinces of Gelderland (duchy Gelre / Geldriae / Guelders), Overijssel (Over-Ijssel), and Drenthe ... specifically, Harderwijk in Gelderland and Zwolle / Zwol in Overijssell and Meppel in Drenthe. Our direct ancestor who immigrated to America with his wife and children and brother also with wife and children arrived to New Amsterdam (late became New York City after English took it over) on 24 May 1662 ... he was Lubbert Lubbertsen Westervelt. He and his brother Willem were from Province Drenthe SW of Meppel where they had raised cattle on land just NE of Westerveld which was (is) just North of Zwolle (Zwol on old maps) in Province Over-Ijssel. Their ancestors and cousins ruled the Town or City of Harderwijk in Gelderland Province for many generations as hereditary mayors or 'Burgomasters'. Ancestors and their cousins who had other last names who ruled Harderwijk included van Haersolte en Westervelt, van Wijnbergen, van Spuelde, and van Hueckelum going back at least into the 1400s. Harderwijk was given city rights by Count Otto II of County Guelders in 1231 and since the burgomaster position was hereditary it could be possible that our direct ancestors ruled there as early as that. The earliest name for the county was Gelre and its name spelling is various depending upon Dutch, English, German versions. Legend says the name derived when a knight slew the dragon there which cried out Gelre Gelre Gelre! County Gelre (or Guelders or Geldriae on old maps) was upgraded to Duchy by the Holy Roman Emperor when a count there married Eleanor Princess of England in 1339. Old maps show a place called Westerveld / Westervelt / Westerveldt just North of Zwol in Over-ijssel and show Harderwijk as being in Duchy Geldriae with the duchy coat of arms having two upright lions similar to those in our family coat of arms. So, I believe our coat of arms gold ducal coronet crown refers to Duchy Gelre / Geldriae. The main feature of our ancestral Dutch van Westervelt family coat of arms includes the three gold fleur de lis upon an emerald green shield. The Harderwijk burgomaster herteditary ruling van Westevelt family signet ring as worn in official family portraits had the three fleur de lis used to impress wax seals on documents. The use of symbol fleur de lis goes back circa 500 to Merovingian King of the Salian Franks Clovis I who began rule not far away, after the yellow iris flowers found along Dutch streams. That king's ancestor Salian Franks originated in exactly the same region around River Ijssel around a 1,200 or 1,300 years before the earliest known van Westervelt name (being about 1550). In fact, the words Salian, River Ijssel, Zwol, Zwolle, region Salaland, Province Over-ijssel all come from a common root. We know our own family here descend from the Salian Frank kings through my great grandmother's Talla Norwegian ancestors ... but the exact relationship of the Dutch van Westervelt family is as yet unclear even though our family coat of arms and the vicinity of family origin seem to suggest such a relationship. The origin of the Salian Frank tribes was in fact very near Westervelt about 1,200 years earlier than 1550 ... near the then Zuider Zee at the mouth of River Ijssel and River Vecht, the general area called Salaland. Eventually, the Salian Frank tribes moved a bit West and South toward the part of the Dutch region that later became Belgium. Clovis I converted to his wife's Christian faith circa 500 at which time, per legend, angels from Heaven brought him his golden fleur de lis symbol from the yellow iris flowers found along Dutch streams. How or why or whether our family coat of arms relates to that is unknown. Clovis I became king of France and the French symbol became a field of golden fleur de lis upon a dark blue background. But ours is emerald green. 1,200 to 1,300 years before the first known use of our ancestral Dutch name van Westervelt the Salian Frankish tribes were recorded to be in the same exact area near the area of the South East coastline shore of Zuider Zee ... this means about some 36 or 39 to perhaps about some 42 or so generations after the Frankish tribes were there the first known use of the name van Westervelt was known there. A connection to the Frankish tribes and to the Merovingian kings and to the Duchy of Gelre which later became the Province of Gelderland is hinted in our family coat of arms. And since our ancestors ruled Harderwijk Gelderland many generations and Harderwijk was given city rights in 1231 by Count Otto II of Gelre / Guelders and the rule over Harderwijk was hereditary it well could be that our direct ancestors or their cousins ruled Harderwijk since 1231 or at least from the 1400s (through the van Hueckelums) ... I found that an acknowledged bastard daughter of a duke of Gelre /Geldriae / Guelders was known to have married a van Hueckelum so there is that family connection at least. Any other family connections to the dukes of Gelre / Geldriae / Guelders as hinted in the gold ducal coronet crown or to the Merovingian King Clovis I as hinted in the three gold fleur de lis on the emerald green shield as well as a larger gold fleur de lis held by knight's arms through the ducal crown which derive from the yellow iris flowers naturally found on the banks of Dutch streams and the fact that the Salian Frankish tribes ancestors of the Merovingian kings originated in the same area of River Ijssel near what became later Westerveld are only just intriguing mysteries as yet now. Of course there lies the possibility of descent from the Princess Eleanor of England who married a count of Gelre who was then made duke ... should we ever find that we actually descend from later dukes of Gelre. A possibly more likely connection might be to earlier counts of Gelre since in 1231 Gelre Count Otto II created city rights for Harderwijk and the van Westervelt hereditary burgomasters there descended from earlier families who were hereditary burgomasters there going at least back to the 1400s (van Hueckelum) and possibly Otto II gave the earliest rule of Harderwijk to an ancestor of ours who was family connected to him? Just an idea. But, intriguingly possible.