Descendants of Robert Boling and Anne Stith
Hopefully the following information below with help you in your genealogy travels with the Bolling family of Virginia.
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Robert Boling and Ann Stith are my 7th great-grandparents through their descendant Captain Robert Bolling (4) who married fourth Anne Dade Stith.
Descendants of Robert Boling and Ann Stith
Colonel Robert Boling “the emigrant” married second Ann Stith and had issue:
(A) Stith Bolling (married Elizabeth Browne)
(B) Drury Bolling
(C) Agnes Bolling (married Richard Kennon)
(D) Robert Bolling (2) of Bolling Brook (married Anne Cocke)
(A) Captain Stith Bolling married Elizabeth Browne and had issue:[1]
(A1) Robert Bolling
(A2) Stith Bolling
(A3) John Bolling
(2 unmentioned daughters)
(A4) Alexander Bolling (married Susan Bolling[2] [daughter of Robert Bolling (2) of Bolling Brook])
(A) In his inventory, the following slaves were identified:[3]
Peter (a boy) 12.0
Doll (a girle) 12.0
Phebe (a girle) 14.0
Patience (a girle) 14.0
Flora and Roger; a sucking child 30.0
Jenny 15.0
Harry 8.0
(B) Captain Drury Stith married unknown. Slaves taken in Inventory and Appraisement of Estate taken by his brother Robert Bolling adm:[4]
Cate (a negro woman) 25.0
Sue (a girl) 15.0
Mingo (a boy 9 year old) 12.0
Frank (a girl 2 year old) 8.0
Moll (a sucking Child) 5.0
Betty (a negro woman) Abram (a sucking Child) 30.0
Sary (a negro woman) 25.0
Yorke 25.0
Cuffe 30.0
Dick 30.0
Nan and Usoy her child 35.0
Harry 30.0
Annica 15.0
(C) Agnes Bolling married Richard Kennon and had issue:[5]
(C1) Robert Kennon
(C2) Mary Kennon (married _________ Clack)
*granddaughter Ann Clack
*granddaughter Patty Kennon Clack
*granddaughter Elizabeth Jones
(C)Agnes Bolling distributed slaves as such:
Daughter Mary Clack: (slave) Fanny
Granddaughter Ann Clack: (slave) Silvia
Granddaughter Patty Kennon Clack: (slave) Sue
Granddaughter Elizabeth Jones: (slave) Sarah
“I do direct that my negro man Tom be sold by my Executor and the money arising from such sale I give to be equally divided between my three Grand Daughters Elizabeth Jones, Ann Clack and Patty Kennon Clcack”[6]
(D) Robert Bolling (2) of Bolling Brook was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, representing Prince George County. Robert Bolling (2) married Anne Cocke and had issue[7]:
(D1) Elizabeth Bolling (married James Mumford)
(D2) Martha Bolling (married Richard Eppes)
*Richard Eppes and Martha Bolling are grandparents of US Senator/Congressman John Wayles Eppes (President Thomas Jefferson’s son-in-law)
(D3) Lucy Bolling (married Peter Randolph of Chatsworth)
*Peter Randolph of Chatsworth, grandson of William Randolph of Turkey Island and Mary Isham
(D4) Susanna Bolling (married Alexander Bolling [her cousin])
*Alexander Bolling, son of Stith Bolling and Elizabeth Browne
(D5) Ann Bolling (married John Hall)
(D6) Mary Bolling (married William Starke)
(D7) Robert Bolling (3) (married first Martha Bannister; second Mary Marshall Tabb)
*Mary Marshall Tabb, one of few women accepted in NSSAR
(D) Robert Bolling (2) of Bolling Brook distributed his slaves as follows:[8]
- Elizabeth Mumford (D5):
(slaves) Jack, Puncso
(after his daughter Elizabeth dies, these slaves are given to his grandson Thomas Bolling Mumford and his heirs forever)
(slaves) Guy, Luebonds, Jacob
(after his daughter Elizabeth dies, these slaves are given to his grandson Edward Mumford and his heirs forever)
- Wife Ann Bolling:
(slaves) Jammey, Ned, Will with his wife Angelica and her children, Abram, Ballica, Doctor, Sue, Phillis Young, Cletty, Hannah, Patience, Tris, Young Abram, Charles.
(D1) Elizabeth Bolling married James Mumford and had issue:[9]
Thomas Bolling Mumford
Edward Mumford
Robert Mumford
(D2) Martha Bolling married Richard Eppes – a Burgess for Chesterfield County, Virginia[10] – and had issue[11]:
Francis Eppes VI of Eppington (married Elizabeth Wayles)
Richard Henry Eppes
Sarah Eppes
Martha Eppes
Tabitha Eppes
Henry Eppes
Ann Eppes.
Francis Eppes VI married Elizabeth Wayles[12] – she was Martha Wayles (Thomas Jefferson’s wife) and slave Sally Hemings’ half-sister – making Francis Eppes IV the 3rd President’s brother-in-law; Francis and Elizabeth Eppes’ son John “Jack” Wayles Eppes married Mary Jefferson (a daughter of Thomas Jefferson). Thus, John Wayles Eppes was Jefferson’s son-in-law. Political like his father-in-law, he was a US Congressman[13] and a US Senator[14] representing Virginia. In the Senatorial race, he beat John Mercer by 10 votes in 1816. He raped his slave Betsy Hemings’ (slave Sally Hemings’s niece)[15] and they had several children.[16] Therefore, all of John Wayles Eppes children from both Betsy Hemings and Mary Jefferson (one child named Francis Wayles Eppes[17], Mary Jefferson Eppes died soon after giving birth) are descendants of Colonel Robert Bolling and Ann Stith.
Betsey Hemings was a daughter of Mary Hemings Bell and granddaughter of Elizabeth Hemings. Sally Hemings, who was raped by her owner Thomas Jefferson, was Mary Hemings Bell’s sister (they shared the same mother Elizabeth Hemings). Thus, Betsey Hemings is Sally Hemings niece.[18] Former Monticello slave Israel Gillette Jefferson explains the relationship between Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson:
“I also know that his servant, Sally Hemmings, (mother to my old friend and former companion at Monticello, Madison Hemmings,) was employed as his chamber-maid, and that Mr. Jefferson was on the most intimate terms with her; that, in fact, she was his concubine.”[19]
The Monticello website, regarding slave Betsey Hemings, exposes her journey as a slave in America:
“As an infant Hemmings was taken to live with Thomas Bell, a respected white merchant in Charlottesville, to whom her mother had been hired while Jefferson was in France. Thomas Bell and Mary Hemings later had two children together and lived together in what their neighbors came to consider a common-law marriage. When Mary Hemings asked to be sold to Bell in 1792, Jefferson consented, agreeing to sell with her only "such of her younger children as she chose." Nine-year-old sister Betsy and her twelve-year-old brother Joe Fossett returned to live in bondage at Monticello, while their mother and younger half-siblings became free and inherited Bell's estate.
In 1797, at age fourteen, Hemmings was once again forced to leave Monticello and her family after Jefferson gave her to his daughter Maria and her husband John Wayles Eppes as part of their marriage settlement. When Maria died in 1804, Hemmings was relocated a further time when Eppes moved with his young son Francis Wayles Eppes to Millbrook, in Buckingham County, Virginia, where he and his second wife, Martha Burke Jones, lived and had four children.”[20]
(D3) Lucy Bolling[21] married Peter Randolph of Chatsworth and had issue[22]:
Beverley Randolph
Robert Randolph (married Elizabeth __________)
William Randolph
Ann Randolph (married William Fitzhugh): *Ann Randolph and William Fitzhugh grandparents of Mary Ann Randolph Custis (wife of General Robert E. Lee)
William Fitzhugh (member of Continental Congress in 1779)[23] and Ann Randolph’s daughter Mary Lee Fitzhugh[24] married George Washington Parke Custis (Martha Dandridge’s grandson/President George Washington’s step-grandson). Mary Lee Fitzhugh and George Washington Parke Custis were the parents of Mary Ann Randolph Custis[25] who would marry General Robert E. Lee; thus, descendants of Robert E. Lee are also descendants of Colonel Robert Bolling and Ann Stith.
Robert Randolph (son of Peter Randolph of Chatsworth and Lucy Bolling) and Elizabeth had issue[26]: Beverley Charles, Robert Randolph, daughter married McKenna, Charles Randolph, (mentions unmarried daughters)
(D7) Robert Bolling (3) married second Mary Marshall Tabb[27], daughter of Colonel Thomas Tabb of Amelia County and Rebecca Booker, and had issue:[28]
Robert Bolling (4) (married Mary Burton, Catherine/Katherine Stith, Sally Washington, Anne Dade Stith)
Frances Bolling (married John LeMessurier)[29]
Marianna Bolling (didn’t marry)
Thomas Tabb Bolling (married Seigniora Peyton)[30]
Ann Bolling (married John Shore)[31]
*In Mary Marshall Tabb Bolling’s Will she mentions:[32]
“my granddaughter Rebecca Bolling LeMessurier”
“I give and bequeath to Robert Boyd, infant son of my late granddaughter Polly Boyd”
“I give and bequeath to my Grand-daughter Rebecca M. Shore”
“I give and bequeath to my Grandson William Shore”
“I give and bequeath to Mary Burton Banister daughter of my Grand daughter Mary Burton Augusta Banister”
Colonel Robert Bolling (3) of Bolling Brook represented Dinwiddie in the Virginia House of Burgesses for several years; he served in the House of Burgesses with highly regarded revolutionaries such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758; Robert Bolling (3) represented Dinwiddie the years 1758, 1762-1775[33]; unfortunately, he died before a session in 1775.[34] Robert Bolling (3) was also in attendance during the March 30, 1758 session for the Burgesses along with Augustine Washington – George Washington’s father – who represented Westmoreland County. George Washington was elected Burgess for Fairfax County in 1765; Robert Bolling (3) had already been a member of the House for a couple years so he would have witnessed Washington’s stardom and momentum growing into Independence.[35]
In the media, the Virginia Gazette reported Robert Bolling (3) contributing to the relief of the “patriotic Bostonians” in 1774:
“We are informed that the city of Philadelphia have already generously contributed 1500 barrels of flour for the relief of the patriotic Bostonians. Colonel Bolling, our late representative for the county of Dinwiddie, has, we hear, offered two of his mills gratis (deemed the best in this colony) to grind such commodities as my be sent to them for the use of the people of Boston.”[36]
Colonel Thomas Tabb, father of Mary Marshall Bolling, also served in the Virginia House of Burgesses representing Amelia County; he also served in the House with George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and his son-in-law Robert Bolling. At his death, the Virginia Gazette celebrated his legacy in 1796:
“On Monday the 27th ult. Departed this life Col. Thomas Tabb, long a member for Amelia county. He had several years struggled with uncommon fortitude with the dropsy, which at last put a period to his days, to the great of his neighbours, and numerous acquaintances to whom he was ever dear; being their counsselor, friend, and benefactor. Few (if any) Virginians traded so extensively as he did; none with better credit or character; and by his death, the colony hath lost one of its most useful member.”[37]
Mary Marshall Tabb is one of the few women accepted for Sons of the American Revolution to her service against the British. As she inherited slaves after her husband’s death, she did not free them; in her Will she distributed some to her children as was common practice. Slaves mentioned in Mary Marshall Tabb’s Will: Billy, Winney, Caroline, Franky, Rose. The Encyclopedia of Virginia explains her background:
“Her father was one of Virginia's wealthiest merchants, and her standing was further secured on 11 April 1758 when she married Robert Bolling, of Dinwiddie County, scion of another wealthy merchant family. They had two sons and four daughters.
Bolling inherited £10,000 from her father in 1769. Following her husband's death on 24 February 1775, she assumed the management of an enormous estate. The property, much of it in Amelia County, included plantations and scores of slaves. Bolling also managed tobacco warehouses, a gristmill, and much of the land on which the rapidly growing town of Petersburg was built. By 1790 she owned thirty-three of the town's most valuable lots, four of its eight tobacco warehouses, and at least thirty-eight slaves who lived in the town. Bolling paid taxes on more than 10 percent of Petersburg's total taxable wealth.
During the American Revolution Bolling earned a reputation for exceptional mettle. Many residents fled when the British army occupied Petersburg briefly in the spring of 1781. Bolling stood her ground, hoping to save her property from destruction. British officers placed her under house arrest and established their headquarters at Bollingbrook, her residence and the largest house in town. Before they left, the British confiscated her horses and burned her tobacco. Bolling persuaded them to return her slaves, however, and the British spared her warehouses and mill. After a visit to Bollingbrook the following year the marquis de Chastellux pronounced its mistress ‘lively, active, and intelligent; [she] knows perfectly well how to manage her immense fortune, and what is yet more rare, knows how to make good use of it.’ This combination of character and wealth would likely have won a man high public office, military honors, or distinction in one of the learned professions perhaps all three. But however great their talents, women were excluded from all such positions of public authority.
Because she never remarried, Bolling could take advantage of a legal system that authorized single women and widows to exercise control over property. In the thirty-nine years of her widowhood she engaged in almost every kind of transaction. Bolling served as an executrix and a guardian. She bought and sold land, rented out houses and shops, and took debtors to court. Like other cautious mothers Bolling settled a separate estate on one daughter to prevent any risk of the property's being seized by the creditors of her son-in-law. Other transactions reflected the institutional development of Virginia towns in the early republic. Bolling invested heavily in two new banks, petitioned the assembly to empower Petersburg to pave its streets, and in 1787 gave land to the town for its municipal offices. She contributed to a fire company, a theater company, the Episcopal Church, and the Female Orphan Asylum.
A tough-minded proprietor, Bolling, unlike some of her female contemporaries in Petersburg, evidently freed none of her slaves. When she wrote her will not long before her death she distributed her wealth, including the slaves, according to her notions of the varying deserts of her heirs, rewarding some and slighting others. This personalized style of bequest became commonplace among Petersburg women later in the century, but Bolling was unusual in stipulating that heirs who contested her will would be cut off. On or shortly before 28 October 1814 Mary Marshall Tabb Bolling died, probably at Bollingbrook. She was buried in the family graveyard.”[38]
Link to Robert Bolling (4) Patriot file on Fold3: https://www.fold3.com/image/13719274?terms=war,us,revolutionary,bolling,robert&xid=1945&_gl=1*oigc67*_ga*NDMxMTU2MDg0LjE2MjQ5MTcwNjE.*_ga_4QT8FMEX30*MTY1NDM3NzQzNC45Ni4xLjE2NTQzNzg1OTUuMA..
Colonel Robert Bolling (4) of Centre Hill fought in the Revolutionary War as a Captain in a volunteer cavalry in Petersburg, VA . According to the U.S., The Pension Roll of 1835, he received “225 00” annual allowance and placed on the pension roll on Oct. 17, 1832. Like many prominent Virginia families in colonial America, he was a slave-owner. Based on his Will[39], he distributed his slaves to his heirs in the following manner:
- Wife Ann Dade Bolling: (slaves) George Parker, Bill Woodard, Havenbrooke, Black Peter, Boswell, Sarah, Sukey, Beck, Adeline, Polly, Leander (these slaves went to his other children when Ann Dade died)
- Mary B. A. Bannister: (slaves) Rhoda, Polly a daughter of Jenny Reese
- George Washington Bolling: (slaves) Tom Walker, Black Peter, Sukey, William Slaughter
- Rebecca Strachan: (slaves) Sarah, Jenny Reese and her three children Eliza, Sally, Milly
- Robert Buckner Bolling: (slaves) James Parker, Jenny Parker, Dick Vaughan, Nancy Pat, Dinah, Richard Slaughter, Charles Smith, (Havenbrooke, Boswell, George Parker—inherited at mother’s death), Leander, Billy Claiborne
- Son-in-law Martin Slaughter: (slaves) Luair, Sarah, Patrick, Eliz., Beverly, Peggy, Subia, Andrew, Mary, Anna, Salud, Alonzo, Isham, Tom, Joan
- Martha Freeman: (slaves) (Billy Woodard, Beck, Adeline,---inherited at mother’s death) Agnes
According to his Will, At the decease of Ann Dade Bolling, his son Robert Buckner Bolling would inherit Centre Hill in the Town of Petersburg. At the age of seventy-three, Colonel Robert Bolling applied for his revolutionary pension in a letter[40] explaining his service to his country:
“I Robert Bolling of the Town of Petersburg, and State of Virginia, aged Seventy three years; do hereby certify, and declare that in the capacity of Captain of a volunteer Troop of Cavalry, raised in the State of Virginia, during the Revolutionary War, I served my Country, during a period of three months, in the year 1780: And I also further certify and declare, that I served in the same capacity, as Captain, during a period of five months, in the year 1781. Given from under my hand this 15 day of October 1832.
(signed) Robert Bolling”
“The following is a correct list of the troops of cavalry formed by Capt. Robert Bolling, and which served in the Revolutionary war in the years 1779, 1780 and 1781:
Robert Bolling, Captain. Wm. Broadnax, 2nd Lieut. John Butts, Peter Woodliff, Richard Bland, Bret Randolph, Thomas Walker, Robert Walker, Esau Goodwin, Frederick George, John North, Jeremiah Bonner, Robert Hodges [Robert Hedges, W11327], Edward Avery, Tuttle Hudson, William Burton, Irby Hudson, David Walker, John Morrison, John Scott, 1st Lieut. John H. Briggs, Ensign. Nicholas Parham, John Smith, John Starke, John Atkinson, Roger Atkinson, John Stewart, Francis Stewart, Henry Randolph, Benjamin Kirkland, John Watkins, Thomas Lanier, John Kate, John Howell, William Shore, William Scott, John Nicholas, Thos. T. Bolling.”[41]
His wife seems to have inquired about a pension as a widow of her husband’s service for the United States in 1845; a letter written by Mr. Freeman about such pension was returned to the Pension Office regarding “the case of Ms. Bolling, widow of the late Captain Robert Bolling, of Virginia”:
“Sir,
I herein return the letter of Mr. Freeman in the case of Ms. Bolling, widow of the late Captain Robert Bolling, of Virginia.
Capt. Bolling received a pension on account of his service in the militia during the revolution, of 225 per annum. But Ms. Bolling is not entitled to a pension, as no widow of a revolutionary officer who was married after 1793 is embraced by the pension laws of the U. States.
There is nothing whatever do now the government to the widow or heir of Capt Bolling.”
Ann Dade Stith married Colonel Robert Bolling (4) of Petersburg at age 16 and she moved to Petersburg, VA until her death. She died March 19th, 1846, in Petersburg at age 66.[42] He married four times: Mary Burton[43], Katherine Stith[44], Sally Washington[45], Anne Dade Stith[46]:
Issue from first marriage (Mary Burton):
Mary Burton Augusta Bolling (married John Munro Bannister)
Issue from fourth marriage (Anne Dade Stith):
George Washington Bolling (married Martha Smith Nicholls)
Robert Buckner Bolling (married second Sarah Melvelle Minge)
Martha S. Bolling (first Martin Slaughter, second Edward A. Freeman)
Rebecca Bolling (married Alexander Strachan)
Lucy Ann Bolling (married Hugh Nelson)
Colonel Robert Bolling (4) married first Mary Burton, daughter of William Burton[47], on June 3rd, 1763. Their daughter Mary Burton Augusta Bolling (born about 1788, died April 11, 1853, in Petersburg, VA at Bolingbrook)[48] married John Munro Bannister[49] and had a son named William C. Bannister[50]. Second, he married Katherine Stith, daughter of Buckner Stith and Susanna Mumford[51], on October 4th, 1790, in Brunswick, VA. His wife Katherine/Catharine[52] died in 1795. Third, he married Sarah “Sally” Washington – daughter of Lawrence Washington, Esq.[53] –- on August 1796 in King George County, VA. Lawrence Washington’s grandfather, Captain John Washington, Jr., was George Washington’s great-uncle. This makes President George Washington and Lawrence Washington cousins.
Lastly, he married Anne Dade Stith[54], daughter of Buckner and Ann Stith, in King George County, VA on November 21st, 1797. Colonel Robert Bolling (4) and Anne Dade Stith’s daughter Martha S. Bolling married first Martin Slaughter[55] and second Edward A. Freeman; Martha and Edward Freeman had a daughter, Martha M. Freeman[56], who married Benjamin H. Nash[57], son of John W. and Elizabeth Nash, on January 27th, 1869, in Petersburg, VA. They, Robert and Anne Dade Bolling, also had two sons named George Washington Bolling[58] and Robert Buckner Bolling[59]. George had several children with Marth Smith Nicholls[60]; Robert Buckner had several children as well with Sarah Melville Minge[61], daughter of John and Sarah S. Minge. Robert Buckner and George Washington Bolling’s sister Lucy Ann[62] married Hugh Nelson[63]. Their other sister Rebecca[64] married Alexander Strachan.
Colonel George Washington Bolling married Martha Smith Nicholls, and had issue:[65]
Robert Bolling (married Anne Randolph Webster “Nannie”)
Sarah Melville Bolling (unknown)
Anna D. Bolling (married Frisby Lynn Tilghman)
Margaret Bolling (unknown)
William Nicholls Bolling (married Susan Meade)
George Washington Bolling, Jr. (married Carrie ______)[66]
Mary Tabb Bolling (married Congressman/General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee)
*WHFL, son of General Robert E. Lee
George Washington Bolling was born on October 26th, 1806.[67] He was appointed President of the Whig State Convention during a convention that met in a Baptist Church where approximately two hundred delegates from around Virginia met[68]. He inherited slaves Tom Walker, Black Peter, William Slaughter and Sukey in his father’s Will.[69] According to the 1840 Federal Census, he lived in Petersburg South Ward, Dinwiddie, VA and owned ten slaves.[70] By 1860, he owned thirteen slaves with one male fugitive slave aged 50 years old;[71] according to the 1860 Slave Schedule, he owned four male slaves and nine female slaves.[72] The age and gender of the slaves are as follows:
- two 12-year-old females
- (twins) both 11-year-old females
- one 18-year-old males
- three 40-year-old (1 male, 2 females)
- one 30-year-old females
- two 32-year-old females
- one 50-year-old females
- the runaway.
He wrote his last will and testament on August 11, 1873 with a codicil dated January 21st, 1875[73]; In his will, he appointed his son William Nicholls Bolling and General William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, a son of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and Mary Custis, as his executors[74]. On July 28, 1875, the Virginia-Pilot newspaper reported his death and celebrated his legacy:
“Colonel Bolling was born October 26th, 1806, and was, consequently, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He was born in the building on West Hill, in the rear of the Courthouse. which is still standing and belongs to his estate. He graduated with distinguished honor at Princeton College in 1827, and returning to Petersburg, commenced the practice of law, for which, by a thorough course of study, he had qualified himself…Colonel Bolling was an Old Line Whig, and as such took an active part in State and Federal politics. He was a power stump, and his ringing speeches are remembered by many who hear him in the old days of Whigs and Democrats.
In 1844 he was an elector on the Clay Presidential ticket. He ran for Congress twice, but his party, being in the minority in the district, he was defeated Once he opposed the eloquent George C. Dromgocle, who was elected by only nineteen votes…A second time he ran against the late Hon. R. K. Meade, by whom he was defeated. For many years anterior to the war Colonel Bolling served as a member of the Common Council of the city, where his honest heart and his right judgment proved of great value in our municipal affairs.
In the Presidential campaign of 1860 though he had been an earnest Whig…he became a warm supporter of Stephen A. Douglass. After that campaign he retired from active political life and never re-entered it, save to serve one term in the Senate of Virginia, to a seat in which body he was elected by the people of this district in 1807…. Colonel Bolling united himself with the Presbyterian Church while a student at Princeton College, and was a devoted Presbyterian and sincere Christian up to his death. He was for many years Superintendent of the Tabb Street Presbyterian Sunday School.”[75]
His son Robert Bolling married Ann Randolph Webster, daughter of Samuel Pleasants Webster and Mary Elizabeth Sothoron[76]; like his father George Washington Bolling, Robert also graduated from Princeton. In addition, Robert was the internal revenue collector for the district of Norfolk. Until the time of his death, Robert was the Chief Accounting Officer in the Baltimore and Ohio engineer’s department; his mother-in-law’s brother, Colonel John Henry Sothoron, was at one point President of the Maryland Senate.[77]
His son William Nicholls Bolling obituary was reported by The Baltimore Sun in 1898:
“Mr. Bolling was born in Petersburg, Va., sixty-nine years ago. After graduating at Princeton University, he went to Europe, where his education was completed. Returning to the United States he accepted the chair of modern languages in the University of Virginia. During the civil war Mr. Bolling entered the ranks of the Confederate army, in the Twelfth Virginia Regiment. Later he was appointed lieutenant of engineers by President Davis, and severed with distinction before Petersburg and other strongholds of the Confederacy. At the close of the war he came to Baltimore to accept a position of civil engineer of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Later he was placed in charge of the real estate of the company, which position he held until a year ago. He survived by three children, George Melville Bolling, professor at the Catholic University, Wasington, and Misses Rebecca L. and Roberta B. Bolling.”[78]
His daughter Mary Tabb Bolling[79] was born in Petersburg, VA on August 20, 1847[80] and died at age 87 on May 6th 1924[81]; she married William Henry Fitzhugh Lee in 1867[82] in Petersburg, VA. At the wedding ceremony, she received a necklace from her new father-in-law as a wedding gift and General Lee lunched with the Bollings[83]. Her husband, also known as “Roonie”, was also involved politics like his father-in-law George Washington Bolling:
“William Henry Fitzhugh lee, second son of General Robert E. Lee, was born at Arlington, Va., May 31, 1837; was appointed a lieutenant in the United States army in 1857 and served in the Utah campaign. In 1861 he joined the Confederate forces, became a brigadier general in October, 1862, was captured and afterward exchanged, and in April, 1864, was promoted to major general of cavalry and led his division from Rapidan to Appomattox. In 1886 he was elected to congress on the Democratic ticket and in 1888 was re-elected.”[84]
Like his second wife Mary Tabb Bolling – his first marriage was to Charlotte Wickham – he also descended from Colonel Robert Boling and Ann Stith. Lee’s mother Mary Ann Randolph Custis – daughter of Mary Lee Fitzhugh and George Washington Parke Custis[85] – was the only child to survive to adulthood. Her mother’s parents were Colonel William Fitzhugh and Ann Randolph[86]; Ann Randolph’s parents were Peter Randolph of Chatsworth and Lucy Bolling[87], daughter of Robert Bolling and Anne Cocke.
Robert Buckner Bolling married second Sarah Melvelle Minge and had issue:[88]
Robert Bolling
John Minge Bolling (married Margaret P. Walker on Nov 1, 1881)[89]
Townshend Stith Bolling
William Holt Bolling
Stewart Bolling
Monroe Bolling[90]
Samuel M Bolling
Bartlett Bolling (married Meta S. Bolling)[91]
Anna D Bolling
Bannister Bolling.
Colonel Robert Buckner Bolling, George Washington Bolling’s brother, was also highly involved in the political arena; he was President of the Virginia Colonization Society[92], however, he eventually stepped down from his position “on account of feeble health and numerous engagements”[93]; John B. Floyd, then Governor of the Commonwealth, was “then nominated for the of President, and unanimously elected”.[94] He was also President of the Loudon and Fauquier Bell and Everett Union Club[95] as well as President of the Agricultural Society[96]. He ran for election as Director for the Petersburg branch of the stockholders of the Mother Bank and Branches but lost to Richard Furt in 1841.[97] His continued effort paid off when he won the election for the East Ward for Common Councilmen of Petersburg in 1846.[98] He had several children by his second wife Sarah Melville Minge who died before him in 1854.[99] He later married Margaret Doughtery.[100] He also inherited slaves from his father’s Will: James Parker, Jenny Parker, Dick Vaughan, Nancy Pat, Dinah, Richard Slaughter, Havenbrooke, Boswell, George Parker, Leander, Billy Claiborne and Charles Smith.
Due to his work ethic, his name shows up in the Virginia-Pilot newspaper in 1870 nominated for Congress.[101] According to the Virginia-Pilot newspaper in 1870, “The circuit court room was crowded last evening to hear Colonel Robert B. Bolling, the Conservative candidate for the Forty-Second Congress form this district, address the people”. The column went on to report that his remarks “were chiefly addressed to the blacks, a number of whom were interspersed through the audience” and explaining his past as being a previous owner “of some three hundred slaves, he has had opportunities for exhibiting the kindliest feelings, and the fact that his former slaves are now his devoted adherents is an evidence that where he is best known he is best appreciated”.[102]
The Richmond Whig held him in high regard during his nomination for Congress:
“The nomination of Col. Robert B. Bolling for Congress in the second district is everywhere well received. The newspapers published in the district are enthusiastic in their praises, both of him and of the convention that nominated him. He is a gentleman of high character, fine talents and commanding influence. Nor is he without legislative experience, having at a former period represented the city of Petersburg for several years in the House of Delegates. He was an old-line Whig, and opposed to secession, but warmly supported the war…With complete organization, and a steady determination to win, we are assured of success, and proclaim, without reserve, our profound conviction that Colonel Robert B. Bolling will be our next Representative in the Congress of the United States.”[103]
After the Civil War, both Robert Buckner Bolling and George Washington Bolling filled out Confederate Pardon applications and wrote to President Andrew Johnson about such. George Washington Bolling – 58 at the time of the letter he wrote on July 21st, 1865 – explained in his writing that “never held office under the so called Confederacy or any State in rebellion, nor been in the military service of either”. He consented to the freedom of his slaves and his oaths to the United States were filed. His brother Robert Buckner, who outlived him, filed for Confederate Pardon on July 21st, 1865. Like his brother George, Robert explained that he “had no connection with the late war, never held or worked for any office political or civil since 1846 and have committed no act..”. Robert Buckner Bolling’s last Will and Testament was dated March 12, 1881, Petersburg, VA. He died at the Residence of his son Stewart Bolling, Esq. at the age of 77;[104] his estate valued at $450,000.[105]
[1] Will of Stith Bolling [Surry County, Deeds, Wills, etc. 7, 1715-1730, Reel 4, p. 751-752, Will of Stith Bolling, proved 16 August 1727; p. 950-953, Inventory of the estate of Stith Bolling, recorded 18 June 1729] (Library of Virginia).
[2] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 23 January 1747, Prince George County, VA, (Library of Virginia).
[3] Ibid.
[4] Inventory of Drury Bolling [Prince George County, Deeds, Etc. 1713-1728, Part 3, Reel 2, p. 952-955, Inventory and appraisal of Captain Drury Bolling, recorded 10 January 1726] (Library of Virginia).
[5] Will of Agnes Kennon, Dated 1 June 1762, Chesterfield County, VA.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 23 January 1747, Prince George County, VA, (Library of Virginia).
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] William G. and Mary Newton Standard, Colonial Virginia Register, Page 128.
[11] Will of Richard Eppes, Dated 20 May 1762, Chesterfield County, VA. [Chesterfield County, Virginia, Will Book No. 1 with Inventories and Accounts 1749-1765, Part 2, pp. 274-553; pp. 355-358]
[12] Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, Florida), Sun, Mar 31, 1963, Page 22; The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Sun, Jan 30, 1938, Page 49.
[13] Baltimore Patriot & Evening Advertiser, Saturday, Dec 14, 1816, Baltimore, MD, Vol: VIII, Issue: 141, Page 2.
[14] Connecticut Herald, Tuesday, Nov 25, 1817, New Haven, CT, Vol: XV, Issue: 7, Page: Copy of 3.
[15] https://www.monticello.org/sallyhemings/
[16] Catherine Kerrison, Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America, page 166.
[17] Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, Florida), Sun, Mar 31, 1963, Page 22; The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), Sun, Jan 30, 1938, Page 49.
[18] https://www.monticello.org/getting-word/people/elizabeth-hemings
[19] Ibid.
[20] Ibid.
[21] Will of Peter Randolph of Chatsworth, Dated 3 August 1767, Henrico County, VA [Henrico County Will Book 1, pp. 12-13]; The Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, Virginia), Mon, Jul 21, 1738, Page 4.
[22] Ibid.
[23] Encyclopedia of Virginia
[24] Will of William Fitzhugh, Dated 6 December 1809, Stafford County, VA [Alexandria City, VA, Will Book C, 1807-1810, pp. 308-313]
[25] Will of George Washington Parke Custis, Dated 26 March 1855, Alexandria County, VA (Encyclopedia of Virginia)
[26] Will of Robert Randolph, Dated 17 Mar 1815, Fauquier County, VA. [Ancestry – Fauquier County, VA, Will Book No. 9, with Inventories and Accounts, 1824-1826, p0. 320-322]
[27] Will of Mary Marshall Tabb, Dated September 28, 1814, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court; Will of Thomas Tabb, Dated 30 April 1769, Amelia County, VA, Amelia County Circuit Court; Marriage Bond, 8 April 1750, Amelia County Circuit Court.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Virginia, U.S., Marriage Records, 1700-1850.
[31] Will of Mary Marshall Tabb, Dated September 28, 1814, Petersburg, VA.
[32] Ibid.
[33] William G. and Mary Newton Standard, Colonial Virginia Register, pages 144-196.
[34] Ibid, page 199.
[35] Ibid, pages 170-171.
[36] Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, VA), Thu, Jul 21, 1774, Issue: 428.
[37] Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, VA), Thu, Dec 07, 1769, Issue 187.
[38] Suzanne Lebsock,"Mary Marshall Tabb Bolling (ca. 1737–1814)," Dictionary of Virginia Biography, Library of Virginia (1998– ), published 2001 (http://www.lva.virginia.gov/public/dvb/bio.php?b=Bolling_Mary_Marshall_Tabb, accessed [4/08/2022]).
[39] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 page 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[40] National Archives. File No. 6689, Robert Bolling, Index:--Vol. A, page 38.
[41] Pension Application of Robert Bolling S6689 Transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris. Revised 8 Dec 2010.
[42] Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Virginia), 4 Apr 1846, Sat, Page 2.
[43] Northampton County, VA, A List of Marriage Bonds and Licenses 1706-1853.
[44] Virginia Marriages, 1785-1940, Brunswick County, VA, Marriage Records 1750-1850.
[45] King George County, VA, Marriages 1786-1850, and Index.
[46] Ibid.
[47] Virginia, Register of Deaths 1853-1896.
[48] Ibid.
[49] Will of Mary Marshall Tabb, Dated September 28, 1814, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court.
[50] Virginia, Register of Deaths 1853-1896.
[51] Will of Buckner Stith dated 18 May 1789, Brunswick Co., VA. Proved 25 July 1791, Brunswick County Court. [Brunswick County, VA, Will Book No. 5 with Inventories and Accounts 1778-1795 ,pp. 434-435]
[52] Virginia Argus, Thursday, Aug 20, 1795, Richmond, VA, Page 3.
[53] Virginia Herald, Tuesday, Sep 13, 1796, Fredericksburg, VA, Vol X.
[54] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 pages 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[55] Ibid.
[56] Marriage License, Petersburg Circuit Court.
[57] Ibid.
[58] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 page 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[59] Ibid.
[60] Will of George Washington Bolling, Dated 11 August 1873, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court.
[61] Virginia Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912.
[62] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 page 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[63] "Virginia Deaths and Burials, 1853-1912”.
[64] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 page 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[65] Will of George Washington Bolling, Dated 11 August 1873, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court
[66] The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), Tue, May 05, 1903, Page 10.
[67] Viriginian-Pilot, Wednesday, July 28, 1875, Norfolk, VA, Page 1.
[68] Martinsburg Gazette, Tuesday, Oct 07, 1851, Martinsburg, WV, Vol:52, Issue:32, Page 3.
[69] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 7 July 1838, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court (Will Book 3 page 170-174 of Petersburg (City) Virginia Wills).
[70] Year: 1840, Census Place: Petersburg South Ward, Dinwiddie, Virginia; Roll 557; Page 48; Family History Library Film: 0029686.
[71] The National Archives in Washington, DC; Washington DC, USA; Eight Census of the United States 1860; Series Number: M653; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29.
[72] Ibid.
[73] Will of George Washington Bolling, Dated 11 August 1873, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court; Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, Virginia), 20 August 1875, Fri, Page 2.
[74] Will of George Washington Bolling, Dated 11 August 1873, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court.
[75] Ibid; Richmond Daily Whig, Tuesday, Dec 05, 1865, Richmond, VA, Page 2.
[76] The Daily Times (Richmond, Virginia), Wed, Jan 16, 1895, Page 2; Daily Globe (Washington, DC), Sat, Nov 17, 1832, Page 1.
[77] The Daily Times (Richmond, Virginia), Wed, Jan 16, 1895, Page 2;
[78] The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland), 09 Dec 1898, Fri, Page 7.
[79] Will of George Washington Bolling, Dated 11 August 1873, Petersburg, VA, Petersburg Circuit Court.
[80] Daily Press (Newsport News, Virginia), 7 May 1924, Wed, Page 1.
[81] Ibid.
[82] Nashville Banner (Nashville, Tennessee), 6 May 1924, Tue, Page 14.
[83] The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia), 15 April 1956, Sun, Page 110.
[84] The Buffalo Times (Buffalo, New York), 16 Oct 1891, Fri, Page 1.
[85] Will of George Washington Parke Custis, Dated 26 March 1855, Alexandria County, VA (Encyclopedia of Virginia); Will of William Fitzhugh, Dated 6 December 1809, Stafford County, VA.
[86] Will of Peter Randolph of Chatsworth, Dated 3 August 1767, Henrico County, VA.
[87] Will of Robert Bolling, Dated 23 January 1747, Prince George County, VA, (Library of Virginia); The Virginia Gazette (Williamsburg, Virginia), 21 Jul 1738, Mon, Page 4.
[88] Will of Robert Buckner Bolling, Dated 12 Mar 1881, Petersburg, VA.
[89] Alabama, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1805-1967, Film Number 001305702.
[90] Year: 1850; Census Place: Petersburg, Petersburg (Independent City), Virginia; Roll: 941; Page: 347a.
[91] Year: 1900; Census Place: Charlottesville, Albemarle, Virginia; Roll: 1697; Page: 23; Enumeration District: 0002; FHL microfilm: 1241697
[92] Enquirer, Friday, Mar 02, 1849, Richmond, VA, Page 2.
[93] Ibid.
[94] Ibid.
[95] Richmond Daily Whig, Friday, Sep 21, 1860, Richmond, VA, Vol: 64, Issue: 225, Page 3.
[96] Richmond Whig, Friday, Oct 27, 1871, Richmond, VA, Vol: 50, Issue: 84, Page 4.
[97] Richmond Whig, Tuesday, May 11, 1841, Richmond, VA, Vol: XVIII, Issue: 39, Page 1.
[98] Richmond Enquirer, Friday, May 08, 1846, Richmond, VA, Page 2.
[99] Alexandria Gazette, Thursday, Aug 03, 1854, Alexandria, VA, Vol: 55, Page 4.
[100] Year: 1860; Census Place: North East Revenue District and District 9, Fauquier, Virginia; Roll: M653_1344; Page: 12; Family History Library Film: 805344
[101] Virginia-Pilot, Tuesday, Oct 04, 1870, Norfolk, VA, Page 1.
[102] Virginia-Pilot, Saturday, Oct 22, 1870, Norfolk, VA, Page 1.
[103] Richmond Whig (Richmond, VA), Fri, Oct 07, 1870, Volume 49, Issue 80, Page 1.
[104] Staunton Spectator (Staunton, Virginia), 5 Jul 1881, Tue, Page 3.
[105] The Norfolk Landmark (Norfolk, Virginia), 23 Jul 1881, Sat, Page 3.
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