Charles Norman Harrington La Crosse, Wisconsin BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN. FAMILY HARRINGTON BY CHARLES NORMAN IIARRINGTON CHICAGO PRIVATELY PRINTED 1934 COPYRIGHT 1934 CHARLES N. HARRINGTON All Rights Reserved HARRINGTON ARMS ARMS: Sable, a fret argent. CREST: A Lion's head erased, or collared gules and buckled_ gold. MOTTO: ~ odo firmo (in a firm knot). The name "Harrington" is derived from the name of the family es­ tate in Cumberland Co., England. SYMBOLISM: Black was the foundation of matter in creation of the world. It is theref ore the most ancient of colors. Antiquity in genealogy is the highest honor. The field of the shield is sable or black formed of diamonds (pure carbon) when the arms is jewelled. It means conservatism-prudence-constancy-stability. The fret of silver is called the "Harrington Knot." It is a net to catch, capture, snare and represents strategy in dealing with enemies. Strategy in advancing his Sovereign's interests. The first Harring­ ton upon. whom .this coat of arms was con£erred was a man of superior, persuasive power. The Lion denotes courage, majesty and strength-the head means policy in connection with a high public mission. · The Collar of red with gold buckle means victorious fidelity in author­ ity, rewarded by wealth. See Burke's General .A.. rmory, p. 459. December 16, 1922 Newberry Library These excerpts made by Miss Taylor, Librarian Chicago, Illinois V ORIGIN OF COATS OF 4\RNIS Extract of a Talk on Heralilry by DR. E. W. MUNDY before the Central .lVew York Genealogical Society ER.A.. LDRY is derived from the Crusades. The knights who led in those romantic campaigns were inclosed in their H armor and so for the purpose of identification they painted their personality on their shields, though not in letters, but in the language of symbols. Sometimes all the vassals of these feudal lead­ ers would adopt their leaders~ symbols. When the heroes returned from their expedition they naturally retained their symbolized shields, and as they won distinction by valor in subsequent military under­ takings, they attempted to tell the story of their achievements in additional pictures on the shield. The armor w:1s handed down from generation to generation and the pictured story came to attach to the family name. There were two classes of people in the land, gentle­ men and yeomanry, or peasants, and of course society was composed entirely of the former. Gentlemen were divided into clergy and mili­ tary; and as the priesthood had no families, the military was all that constituted society. .A.. ll gentlemen were, therefore, descended from :fighting stock. The king by-and-by undertook to regulate the wearing of coat of armor, as it was called, from being worn on the coat or surtout, the custom having been aped by many who had never fought. Henry v· limited the right to wear coat armor to those who fought at .A.gincourt and their descendants. Richard III established the college of armor and still further restricted and systematized the custom. Henry \ 1111 instituted a strict inquiry into the matter, took a census of the coated nobility and prohibited the wearing of arms except by heredity or grant from the crown. Of course the grant was for sup­ posed gallantry but it opened a way of revenue of which Henry was fond. The law of England today is as Henry left it, but like much other old la"r, is gone into oblivion or disuse. The reason why a woman can not wear the full arms is because she has no shield to paint them on, not being herself a warrior. She can have no motto, for the motto is a battle cry. For describing the various devices used, heraldry has a language of its own. The shield is represented by the escutcheon, and the fig­ ures are called "charges." The colors used are called "tinctures"; gold is "or," silver "argent," blue "azure," red "gules," purple "purpure," green '" vert," and black "sable." The side of the es­ cutcheon opposite the left hand of the person looking at it is the "dexter" side, while that opposite the right hand is the "sinister" .. Vll Vlll ORIGIN OF COATS OF ARMS side, the center being called the "fess" point. "Impaling" is the division of the shield into two equal parts by a perpendicular line, for the representation of the union of two families; the "dexter" is the man's side, and the "sinister" is the woman's. The attitudes of animals on the shield are indicated by such terms as "rampant," "passant" and "sejant." When a lion or other beast of prey stands upright, with only one eye and one ear seen, he is said to be "ram­ pant"; when walking forward, with one ear and eye seen, he is "passant"; when sitting, "sejant," when lying down, "couchant." When both eyes and ears can be seen, the word "gardant" is added to "passant," "rampant," "sejant" or "couchant," as the case may be. Looking back, he is said to be "regardant," and leaning forward "salient." The position of other animals is differently indicated. A horse when running is "courant," when leaping, "salient." When shown with full face, a deer is said to be "at gaze," when standing, "statant," when walking, "tripping," and when at rest on the ground, "lodged." Birds with wings down are "close"; when preparing to fly they are "rising"; when flying "volant," and when their breasts are fully exposed, they are "displayed." When their wings are open and drawn over their heads, they are said to be "indorsed." PREFACE AS this volume is being privately published, and con­ n tains only the genealogy of my particular branch of the family, it has been stated by unquestionable authority that anything of an intimate family nature may be in­ cluded. Advantage has been taken of this fact: many items will be found which are intended to depict, in some degree, personal characteristics; and much will be discovered in the form of arrangements of the text, that is not con­ ventional. Some twenty-five years ago, soon after my father's death, it dawned upon me that very little was known of his history, and how important it was that some one should be willing to contribute the time and money neces­ sary to assemble and place on file, all available information relating to his ancestry. No one else appearing to be inter­ ested in the subject, it became evident that it was to be my hobby for many years. The desire to be of service, and the thought that I was creating an "Endurable Invest­ ment," were the sparks which from time to time set aflame my sluggish ambition and faltering determination. The facts set forth in this volume are as reliable as such facts usually are. Those relating to the first seven genera­ tions were transcribed from Hudson's, Bond's and other histories found in the genealogical and vital record sections in many of t~e New England Libraries. Those relating to the last five generations were gathered from relatives or various records, and from my own acquaintance with them. In all my research very meager reference was found to the mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and aunts of the "valiant men" whose histories fill thousands of volumes. This produced a grievous impression upon me and resulted in the presentation in this volume of the "Allied Families." . IX X PREFACE Only a few of these genealogies are being printed; they will be of no interest to the public and are not for sale. No attention has been given to Literary Rules and Regula- - tions. They are dedicated exclusively to my progeny, and consist of a few simple stories your dear old gramp is tell­ ing you, thinking you would like to know something about us folk-who we were, what we did and what some of us looked like a way back here in the N .R.A. period; and how you will smile at our funny photographs and the peculiar clothes we wore. I trust that this, the result of my prolonged endeavor will be accepted with a reasonable degree of appreciation by you youngsters. Many thanks to you all for the assistance you have been· to me, and for the patience you have manifested in re­ sponding to my repeated inquiries for vital records and biological information. Your loving Grandfather, CONTENTS PAGE The Name, Harrington 1 FIRST GENERATION Robert Harrington 11 SECOND GENERATION John Harrington 19 THIRD GENERATION John Harrington, Jr. 20 FOURTH GENERATION Richard Harrington 21 FIFTH GENERATION Thaddeus Harrington . 22 SIXTH GENERATION Ammi Harrington 26 SEVENTH GENERATION Ira Harrington 84 EIGHTH GENERATION N or1nan Slade Harrington 37 NINTH GENERATION Charles Norman Harrington 55 TENTH GENERATION Norman Taylor Harrington . 95 . Xl .. Xll CONTENTS PAGE ELEVENTH GENERATION Norman Spencer Harrington 113. TWELFTH GENERATION Norman Taylor Harrington, 2nd . 115 ELEVENTH GENERATION Rowland Taylor Harrington . 117 (Second son of Norman Taylor Harrington) Appendix 121 Allied Families 125 HARRINGTON "NOW these are the generations" of Charles Norman Harrington, a descendant of Robert Harrington, an Englishman by birth, who came to Watertown, Mass. in the year 1642, and is the original ancestor of the American Harrington family. 1. Robert Born 1616 Begat John 2. John Born ...,\.ug. 24, 1651 Begat John, Jr. 3. John, Jr. Born Oct., 1684 Begat Richard 4. Richard Born Sept. 26, 1707 Begat Thaddeus 5. Thaddeus Born Sept. 9, 1735 Begat Ammi 6. Ammi Born Sept. I 0, 1760 Begat Ira 7. Ira Born 1790 Begat Norman Slade 8. Norman Slade Born Jan. 22, 1820 Begat Charles .