Union County's Unusual Seal

The Complete Report on Union County’s Seal

At a meeting of the Union County Historical Society held May 12, 1932, Mr. Callahan J. McCarthy, a member of the Society, reported that he had made some investigation as to whether Union County had an official seal, and he was thereupon requested “to continue his research in this connection with power to select other members of his committee.”

At a meeting held October 13, 1932, he presented a full report, substantially as follows:

Your Committee, appointed to inquire into the several seals now being used by officials of the County of Union, respectfully reports that it has examined the imprints of the several seals used by county officials at various timed, and is in a quandary as to which is the official county seal—the seal in use in the Register’s office, the seal in use in the Surrogate’s office, the one in use in the County Clerk’s office, or the seal used by the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders. All these seals purport to represent the official seal of the County of Union, yet they are of different designs.

The seal in use in the County Clerk’s office shows the Presbyterian parsonage at Connecticut Farms, now Union, New Jersey, the wife of Parson James Caldwell standing in the doorway and a British soldier with a rifle aimed at her, which purports to represent the murder of the Pastor’s wife, June 7, 1780. The fasces seal used to imprint official papers presented to the County Clerk for certification and recording was in use while the present emblematic seal was being repaired, during the latter part of the first term of County Clerk William F. Howard, in the year 1898. During the year 1902 and for a short time subsequent thereto, the fasces emblem was again used by the County Clerk, as the official seal for Union County was said to have been lost in moving the records from the Old Court House to the temporary quarters on South Broad Street in the Veteran Zouave Armory. However, it appears that Declarations of Intention were imprinted with the fasces seal as late as 1926. The seal in the County Clerk’s office, now used to imprint all official papers requiring a seal, reads: “Seal of the County of Union, County Clerk’s Office,” surrounding the house, and at the bottom or middle base point are the words: “Clerk of the County of Union, New Jersey.”

The seal used by the Clerk of the Board of Chosen Freeholders is a duplicate of the seal used by the County Clerk, except that the printed matter on the circular border of the seal designates the office using the seal.

The seal used by the County Register is the fasces seal in use since 1904, the only seal used in the Register’s office since its separation from the County Clerk’s office by act of legislature creating the office of County Register. This seal is emblazoned with a bundle of birch rods, bound together with a red thong, containing an axe with a blade projecting from the side. The birch rods on the seal represent agriculture, the red thong learning, and the axe authority or power. The crown of laurel which adorns the seal, forming a circle with sets of five berries and eighteen leaves, evenly divided on each side by a bow at the bottom, indicates honor, high merit, or distinction. Two five pointed stars, one on each side of the seal, represent the provinces of East and West Jersey.

The seal used by the Surrogate is the seal used by the Orphans’ Court, and is of a different design. It is a facsimile of a horse’s head in a vertical position, looking toward the left, with a plow underneath the horse’s head, indicating an agricultural community. This seal has been in use since the creation of the office of the Surrogate of Union County, April 13, 1857. It resembles the Great Seal of the State of New Jersey in many respects, but the state seal has three plows, whereas the Orphans’ Court seal has only one plow. The horse’s head is of the same dimensions and in the same position. Inasmuch as the Orphan’s Court does not keep a Minute Book there is no record in the Surrogate’s office providing for the official use of the seal.

Though no official record could be found adopting a seal for the County of Union, an act passed by the Legislature in 1910, establishes the seal of the County in use at the time of the approval of this act as the official seal of the County. As there are three different seals in use, and all purport to be the official seals of the County, your committee is in a quandary to determine which one of the three is the official seal of Union County.

In the quest to determine which is the official seal, it was found that the late William B. Martin, Clerk of the County of Union, recommended to the Chief of the Union County Park Police the fasces emblem as the official seal of the County. Pursuant to this recommendation the Union County Park Police had special badges made bearing the fasces emblem, and they are now wearing them with the understanding that it is the official seal of the County. On the other hand, a miniature of the Connecticut Farms Presbyterian parsonage is engraved on all the door knobs of the County Court House, and a similar design is carved above the entrance of the new county building on the Rahway Avenue side.

It seems that a great number of our citizens have given the present seal used by our County Clerk the popular title of “Log Cabin Seal.” This is erroneous, and every effort that this Society can put forth to discourage the use of this term should be made.

Your committee has gone into the matter of the several seals used by various County offices from a purely historical standpoint, free from bias or prejudice, but in search of truth and knowledge, and has come to the conclusion that a Committee from the Union County Historical Society should be appointed to confer with the Board of Chosen Freeholders, acquaint it with the facts, and recommend that one official county seal be adopted by resolution of the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Official Minutes

The action of the Society was communicated to the Board of Chosen Freeholders and at a meeting held July 6, 1933, the Board acted favorably in the matter as appears by the following extract from its official minutes:

Resolution by the Finance Committee.

“WHEREAS, the matter of the adoption of an official seal for the County of Union and concerning the design, coloring and form thereof, was referred to Finance Committee of this board, on October 20, 1932, by Director McMane, and

WHEREAS, the Finance Committee with the co-operation of a committee appointed by the Union County Historical Society, has made a careful investigation and study of all available data and historical information in regard to official seals of Union County, and

WHEREAS, in the opinion of your committee, it is suitable and proper that the present form of seal, now in use by this board, be adopted as the official seal of Union County.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Union, New Jersey, that the present seal now in use by this board, which is particularly described as follows:

On a circular shield, the seal, to be the same proportions and design as the seal now in use in the county clerk’s office, said seal, for legal purposes, to be without coloring as described in the following paragraphs, containing thereon a miniature of the Presbyterian parsonage of Connecticut Farms, the house to be of the Colonial frame type, executed in a grayish brown with a background of nature’s colors; standing in the doorway, Mrs. Hannah Ogden Caldwell, the wife of the chaplain of the Third Battalion of Company No. 1, N.J. Volunteers, being slain by a British soldier. The figure representing Mrs. Caldwell to be done in white, representing peace and sincerity. The British soldier in red or gules with gun leveled at Mrs. Caldwell.

One window on front of house, containing four panes of glass, to be executed in argent;

The roof shall be of the gable type, of the same general color as the house, with two chimneys of brick;

The surrounding landscape and shrubbery to be finished in green and brown tones.

The numerals 1857 indicating the year Union County was separated from Essex County, and the sky above, executed in blue; and engraved around the border, forming a circle, the following inscription:

‘Seal of the County of Union, N.J.,’ and at the middle base point, engraved thereon, the title of the office from which all papers emanate on which the seal is to be used; be and hereby is adopted by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Union, as the official seal of the County of Union, N.J., to be used by the Board of Chosen Freeholders, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that this committee be authorized to have executed a facsimile of the county seal in its prescribed colors on vellum (calfskin), and displayed permanently in the meeting room of the Board of Chosen Freeholders in the Courthouse, at Elizabeth, N.J., and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Honorable Judges of the Courts of Union County, New Jersey, the county clerk of Union County, the surrogate of Union County and the register of Union County, be and they are hereby respectfully requested to adopt the above described seal as the official seal for their respective courts and offices, with the exception that the wording on the seal used by the respective courts and offices be adapted so as to show the nature of the respective courts and offices in each case, and be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that this board and the Finance Committee does hereby extend its sincere thanks to the Union County Historical Society, particularly to Mr. Callahan J. McCarthy, chairman of the committee, for their aid and co-operation in connection with this matter.

We recommend this resolution for adoption.

Finance Committee—

EMERY L. LILLIBRIDGE,
JOHN Z. HATFIELD
RICHARD J. HARRIGAN
S.R. DROESCHER
C.H. VAN DOREN
WILLIAM I. McMANE, Director,
CHAS. M. AFFLECK, Clerk,
FRANCIS J. BLATZ, County Attorney.

On motion of Freeholder Lillibridge, this resolution was on roll call adopted.

Twenty-one members voting in the affirmative and one, Freeholder Sweet, voting in the negative.”

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