Press "Enter" to skip to content

A history of Mathews, Gloucester county seals

As the nation geared up for its Bicentennial in 1976, county officials were looking for ways to link into the historical revelry.

They found a way to prove that everything old is new again. They adopted, in 1973 and 1974, county seals based on ancient depictions found by dedicated researchers of dusty files.

Mathews went first.

Milton Murray II of Mathews started his search in the 1960s, based on this account from the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, January, 1896:

“At a court held for the County of Mathews this 11th day of February, 1793. This day was presented to the court, as a donation from the Honorable Thomas Mathews, esquire, a seal for the use of the county, in grateful return of the high esteem and respect which was shown him on the erection and establishment of the county.

“Ordered, that the said seal, which is emblematic and descriptive of the valuation, dependence and prospects of the mechanic inhabitants of the County of Mathews, who have been in the habit of shipbuilding, be thankfully received by this Court; is recognized under the description aforesaid as their County seat; and as such is delivered to the clerk both for safe custody as well as for the occasional use of the County.”

(Mathews County, established in 1791 in separation from Gloucester, named itself in gratitude for Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Thomas Mathews of Norfolk, who shepherded the separation bill through the General Assembly.)

When Murray began his search, he was looking for the original seal, which could not be located in Mathews, or in archives in Richmond, or anywhere else. His breakthrough came when he received from the National Archives a photostatic copy of a legal document dated 1833, after noting a possible seal on a smaller version.

As the county began its Bicentennial preparations, it adopted as its official seal—or readopted—an image taken from that photostat.

Gloucester County adopted its beehive seal in November 1974. That image also was uncovered by a researcher.

In this case Robert W. Robins, a Gloucester native and genealogist living in Northern Virginia, found in the National Archives two depictions of the beehive image. The beehive is a symbol for industry, of a population working together for the common good.

Robins found the seals on two applications made by Lt. Joshua Singleton, a veteran of the American Revolution, one dated 1832 and the second 1845. The first was signed by Arthur L. Davis, county clerk from 1818-1837; and the second by John R. Carey, Gloucester’s clerk from 1837-1867.

Russell Bradley, a graphic artist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, rendered the modern image, which replaced a county seal with no design.

Then and now

Time has rolled on, and both counties now have new images that represent them leading up to the nation’s 250th anniversary.

Again, Mathews County went first, putting into use 2022 an image featuring a workboat in front of New Point Comfort Lighthouse.

Mathews supervisors discussed the new image at the board’s May 2022 meeting, with chairman Paul Hudgins stating that the 200-year-old image then in use, while depicting a boat under construction, was actually hard to interpret. Speaking of the new image, he said, “I think it is nice … whoever did this did a good job” and he pointed out that Sheriff Mark Barrick, in attendance, had the image on his shoulder patch.

Barrick would not take credit, stating that Investigator April Edwards (now sheriff) responded to a call for a “challenge coin” design, proposing the workboat and lighthouse. Working with a design company, they came up with this new look.

(A challenge coin, according to Wikipedia, is “a small coin or medallion, bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members.”)

Gloucester followed with a new logo, featuring a wave superimposed on a large G.

The county unveiled this new look in April 2023. According to a Gazette-Journal report, “the process to create the logo began three years ago when county administration made the decision to unify the county’s image.”

It was designed through a partnership of multiple county departments, bringing all of the county’s various agencies under “one cohesive brand,” the article said.

The new logo, however, was not intended to replace the county’s beehive seal, which continues to be used on official documents.