French for silver. The crest which ornaments the top is the neck and head of a heron, resting on the usual support, a banded bar, or perhaps a striped cushion; in this case the bands are gold and silver (‘or’ and argent’). The heron’s head ‘ducallv gorged’ means that the throat, or ‘gorge,’ of the heron is ornamented with a ducal coronet. 'Ppr.' (proper) means its own natural color, gold, with red lining. The motto signifies: ‘He maintains the laws and his rights.’ The 'chevron' is really two bars meeting in the center of the shield like rafters in a roof, and resting on the base of the shield. I will not venture to decide on the significance of these emblems, but I think they must point back to some member of the Hearne family who was a duke and of royal lineage, or he may have won the title by his services on the bench. The heron I take to be a symbol of courage and devotion.

"I think the coat of arms is really a beautiful one, simple and eloquent of the merit on which the honor of the house was founded. There is a good deal in heredity: more than we Americans are wont to think. But meanness, as well as honor, is hereditary, and pride may be cruel, selfish, and sinful as well as noble, generous, and uplifting to others, as well as ourselves. Perhaps we can do no better than to say with the greatest of the apostles, 'God forbid that I should glory save in the cross."

It is known that two officers in Oliver Cromwell’s Army were named Hearne, and a number of his chaplains were ministers in the Baptist Church. One of these officers was William Hearne of Anglo-Norman descent, born in London, 1627, and was a wealthy merchant, he served as Captain with Cromwell, in all his famous battles, and after the restoration, found it not wholesome or safe to remain in London, hence with his wife, Mary--whom he married in London, a lady of culture and highly educated--he left London and went, in 1660, to St. Christopher’s, in the West India Islands, and opened a large trade in general merchandise from London to these islands, and the colonies on the coast of Maryland and Delaware. On his return trips to London he took large cargoes of Muscovada sugar, as his old ledgers show. In 1681 two of his brothers, Derby and Ebenezer, came with him, and settled in the then Province of Maryland, near what is now the Maryland and Delaware line, but on the Delaware side. Derby settled where what is known now as Theodore Brewington’s Mill, and Ebenezer at the Line Meeting

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