The Order of Americans of Armorial Ancestry is the only lineage organization based on the right to bear arms as a qualification for membership. The arms to which each Order member's most recent American ancestor was entitled, through either his/her paternal or maternal ancestry, is the basis for this publication. First comes the lineages of the more than 700 members admitted to the order since its inception, arranged in order of membership. The lineages are followed by a section of 300 black-and-white coats of arms (complete with descriptions of colors, etc.). Preceding the arms themselves is a very helpful glossary of heraldic terms. At the back of the volume, the compiler has assembled two indexes: a name index to the nearly 20,000 persons identified in the lineages, and another to the arms, which arranges all the bearers in alphabetical order.

Samuel A. Bayer was born in Germany in the early 1700s. He married Maria. Their children included Anna, Blasius, Johann Philip, Johannes, Hans, Anna, Johann Heinrich, Andreas, Anna Maria (who died young), Anna Maria, and Maria Barbara. Their descendant, Samuel Boyer was born in Philadelphia in 1751. He married Maria Catherine Kuser. Their children included John, Hannah, Elizabeth, Jacob, Maria, Henry, Eva and Rachel.