Van Westervelt Family Coat of Arms Postcard

Van Westervelt Family Coat of Arms ... The Dutch Family Van Westervelt / Van Westerveld / Van Westerveldt ... Hereditary Burgomasters (Mayors) of City Harderwijk in Province Gelderland ... formerly the Duchy of Gelre / Geldriae / Guelders in early 1600s, having inherited rule of the city through their direct ancestors or cousins ... including the families Van Haersolte, Van Spuelde, Van Wynbergen, Van Heukelom going back through the earliest 1500s ... possibly, back through the 1400s ... possibly, back through the 1300s ... possibly all the way back to the founding of the city by a Count of Gelre: Count Otto II of Guelders in 1231. When a later Count of Gelre / Guelders married an English princess, the Holy Roman Emperor made the county a duchy transforming the counts to dukes. The Van Westervelt family held a vast estate in adjacent province Overijssel (across River Ijssel) North of the ancient City of Zwolle, near the Village Zwollerker. This area was called Salaland and was the place of earliest known origin of the Salian Franks more than a thousand years earlier ... from whom came the golden fleur de lis symbol of kings of France after the golden yellow irises which grew naturally along the River Ijssel. NE of manor Westerveld was the town of Meppel in Province Drenthe. In between Westerveld and Mepple was good grazing land on which to raise cattle ... and it was from here that the American Westervelt / Westerfield ancestors came on the Ship Hoop (Hope) ... leaving at Amsterdam and arriving to New Amsterdam in America ... later renamed as New York by the English. The Dutch Van Westervelt Family Coat of Arms famously consisted of three gold fleur de lis upon an emerald green shield, held up by the two upright golden lions ... above which was a knight's helmet and a ducal coronet crown through which the knight holds a lager golden fleur de lis. The family coat of arms is found upon the family tomb on the floor of the nave of the Old Church of Harderwijk, Gelderland.