John Bolling

Major John Bolling (January 27, 1676 – April 20, 1729) was an American planter, politician and military officer in the colony of Virginia. He was the great-grandchild of Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe.

John Bolling
Born(1676-01-27)January 27, 1676
Hopewell, Virginia
DiedApril 20, 1729(1729-04-20) (aged 53)
Henrico County, Virginia
Resting placeChesterfield County, Virginia
Spouse
Mary Kennon
​
​
(m. 1697; died 1727)​
ChildrenJohn, Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, and Anne
Parents
RelativesThomas Rolfe (maternal grandfather)
Pocahontas (maternal great-grandmother)

Early life and marriage

John Bolling was the son of Colonel Robert Bolling and Jane (née Rolfe) Bolling.[1] He was a great-grand-child of Pocahontas and her husband, John Rolfe.[2]

John Bolling was born at Kippax Plantation, in Charles City County, in the east central part of Virginia, a site which is now within the corporate limits of the City of Hopewell. He made his home at the Bolling family plantation "Cobbs" just west of Point of Rocks on the north shore of the Appomattox River downstream from present-day Petersburg, Virginia. (Cobbs was located in Henrico County until the area south of the James River was subdivided to form Chesterfield County in 1749.)

John Bolling married Mary Kennon (–1727), daughter of Richard Kennon and Elizabeth Worsham, on December 29, 1697. They had six children, whose names appear in John Bolling's will:[3]

  • John Bolling Jr. (1700–1757) married Elizabeth Lewis in 1720. Later he married Elizabeth Blair (daughter of Archibald Blair and the niece of James Blair, the first president of the College of William & Mary, whose second husband was Richard Bland) on August 1, 1728 and had at least nine children, including John Bolling III, who married Mary Jefferson (the sister of United States President Thomas Jefferson.[4] ). His Great-great-granddaughter is Edith Bolling, the future First Lady for her husband, Woodrow Wilson.
  • Jane Bolling (1703–1766) married Colonel Richard Randolph in 1724 and had seven children.[4][5][6]
  • Elizabeth Bolling (b. 1709), married William Gay of Scotland and had three children.[4]
  • Mary Bolling (1711–1744), married John Fleming and had eight children.[4]
  • Martha Bolling (1713–1737), married Thomas Eldridge in 1729 and had four children.[4]
  • Anne Bolling (1718–1800), married James Murray and had six children.[4]

Later life and death

In 1722, he opened a tobacco warehouse in what is now the 'Pocahontas' neighborhood of Petersburg. William Byrd II of Westover Plantation is said to have remarked that Major Bolling enjoyed "all the profits of an immense trade with his countrymen, and of one still greater with the Indian."

Major Bolling served in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1710 until his death in 1729.

References
  1. "Thomas Rolfe - Historic Jamestowne Part of Colonial National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  2. "LAYING CLAIM TO POCAHONTAS" – via www.washingtonpost.com.
  3. Henrico Wills & Deeds 1725-1737, p.242
  4. Pecquet du Bellet, Louise (1907). "Bolling Family". Some Prominent Virginia Families. Vol. IV. Lynchburg, Virginia: J.P. Bell Company. pp. 304–314.
  5. Page, Richard Channing Moore (1893). "Randolph Family". Genealogy of the Page Family in Virginia (2 ed.). New York: Press of the Publishers Printing Co. pp. 249–272.
  6. Glenn, Thomas Allen, ed. (1898). "The Randolphs: Randolph Genealogy". Some Colonial Mansions: And Those Who Lived In Them : With Genealogies Of The Various Families Mentioned. Vol. 1. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Henry T. Coates & Company. pp. 430–459.
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