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 sh...