About the SDGS "Coat of Arms"
by Matthew Martyniuk (D)
Assistant Dufford Historian

The "Coat of Arms" is a design that has adorned the cover of the SDGS Bulletin since 1982. A brief explnation and history of the design is given below.

The CoA first appeared on the cover of the Summer 1982 Bulletin. It was designed by then-President Frederick Q. Swackhamer. The following description was given in that issue:

• "Coat of Arms" Upper left - Indian peacepipe - coexistence with Indians. The Head - German symbol. Upper right - Cross for the Pilgrim religion - Lutheran doctrine mostly; olive branch peace; American Eagle is the symbol of the colonies; Lower left Wheat - the farmers who were our ancestors; Lower right, the English Crown - before 1776 - King of England. Coat of Arms (old French) for Duffors-Huguenots.
  

A few observations on the original design and description: First, note that the years surrounding the wheat, and therefore the design itself, appear to have been meant to commemmorate the anniversary of the arrival of the Swackhamer family in New Jersey (1731). Second, both the spelling DuFord and the inclusion of a French Coat of Arms in the design refer to the theory, espoused by some Dufford historians in the early 20th century, that the origin of the family is to be found among the French Huguenots, specifically a family in France named DuFord. More recent research has very solidly placed the origin of the family among the German speaking Palatines at the French/German border. It may not be coincidental that the Huguenot theory rose to prominance during the 1930s at the height of anti-German sentiment in the US. It can be assumed that the placement of the German symbol in the upper left and French symbol in the lower right are meant to represent the two families, in which case the symbolism here reflects an error, because both families likely originated in the same region, the Palatinate. Lastly, the "Indian peacepipe" and reference to "cooperation with Indians" likely refers to one or two family legends - first, that Native Americans (in some tellings, the sons of King Tamanand) guided our ancestors from Philadelphia to the Long Valley; and, second, the legend of "Jacob the Disinherited", who was supposedly left out of his father Philip Dufforth's will for marrying a Lenape woman.



In 2019, the author updated the "Coat of Arms" to include revised original spellings of both surnames, and to replace the year 1981 with 1738, the year of the Dufford family's arrival in America.

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