THIS IS A REPOST FROM THE VA-ROOTS MAILING LIST From: Fred Hof <frenda@erols.com> Subject: Are There Two Powhatan Bollings? > > On November 15, 1998 I posted a summary of an article my wife had > > written for the newsletter of the Bolling Family Association concerning > > a locket bearing the miniature portrait of Powhatan Bolling (1767-1803), > > son of Robert and Susan Watson Bolling and brother of Lenaeus Bolling, > > my wife's ggg grandfather. The purpose of this posting is to try to > > place our "search" for Powhatan Bolling in the broader context of a > > dispute over the children of his grandparents, John and Elizabeth Blair > > Bolling. > > > > Readers of the first posting will recall that my wife's dad, Bolling > > Cobb (1922-1991) owned the locket and knew only that it portrayed > > someone named "Powhatan Bolling," who was "an ancestor." That was all > > my wife had to go on when she decided to try to learn something about > > the man in the locket. > > > > Our first clue was entirely accidental: a local NPR broadcast about the > > Bolling family of Virginia and the connection of some Bollings (the > > "Red" variety) to Pocahontas. The name "Powhatan" seemed to suggest > > such a connection. Our first stop in search of Powhatan was the DAR > > Library in Washington. > > > > Inside of five minutes we had what we thought was the definitive answer > > to decades of puzzlement within the Cobb family. We found a copy of a > > list prepared by Zelma Wells Price in 1960 or so, one which cited > > Powhatan Bolling as the 20th of 21 children born to John and Elizabeth > > Blair Bolling. According to Price, Powhatan Bolling was born on April > > 16, 1754 in Chesterfield County. There it was, or so we thought. > > > > With time on our hands after this instant genealogical coup, we began to > > peruse the balance of the library's holdings about the > > Bolling-Pocahontas connection. The more we read the more uneasy we > > became, as some sources claimed that Powhatan was not the son of John > > Bolling, but his grandson, the son of Robert! > > > > It was at this point that we did something novel: we examined carefully > > the physical evidence (the locket). Armed with a dictionary of Latin > > phrases, we determined that the words "a. suae 24 1791" engraved on the > > back of the locket meant that the subject was 24-years-old in 1791 (the > > year the locket was made), i.e., born in 1767, not 1754. John Bolling > > was dead by 1757. Moreover, the year 1767 was consistent with those > > references citing Powhatan Bolling as the son (not the brother) of > > Robert, himself a son of John Bolling. > > > > "Our" Powhatan Bolling was, therefore, the nephew of the Powhatan > > Bolling contained in the list of Zelma Price. Or was he? > > > > As we read through the literature on the Bolling family, we discovered > > that a controversy has been raging for years over the subject of descent > > from Pocahontas. Both sides of this particular argument seem to agree > > on one major point only: that the vast majority of Bolling descendants > > of Pocahontas are descendants of John and Elizabeth Blair Bolling, as > > John's siblings were all female and his father (also named John) was the > > only child produced by Robert Bolling and Jane Rolfe. To be able, > > therefore, to trace one's lineage back to a child of John and Elizabeth > > Blair Bolling is to "prove," insofar as matters such as these may be > > proved, descent from Pocahontas. > > > > What we discovered is that the Zelma Price list of offspring of John and > > Elizabeth Blair Bolling contains some 12 names (among the more > > controversial of which are Meotaka, William, Jared and Benjamin) not > > accepted by the orthodoxy of Bolling family historians as children of > > John and Elizabeth; an orthdoxy which relies on (among other things) a > > Memoir of the Bolling family written by Robert Bolling in 1764 and not > > published until 1868. Among the names on the "Price list" found on no > > other list we've yet encountered is that of Powhatan Bolling, born in > > 1754; the person we originally thought to be "our" Powhatan. > > > > Based largely on what we've seen on the internet, it seems that the > > descendants of Benjamin Bolling are particularly susceptible to anger > > about their ancestor's non-canonical status in the eyes of the > > orthodox. They regard the Zelma Price listing -- which itself comes > > from a 19th century compilation done by John Tarpley Bolling, a > > descendant of the equally non-canonical William and Amelia Randolph > > Bolling -- as being the literal truth. > > > > Although the dispute is a lively one and no doubt gives enjoyment to > > partisans of both sides, much of the back-and-forth about Benjamin > > Bolling seems to be in the category of "yes he is - no he isn't," > > repeated ad nauseum. I wonder if anyone has ever given Benjamin a rest > > and concentrated on Powhatan? We know that "our" Powhatan (1767-1803), > > son of Robert and candidate for Congress in 1799, was a real person. > > Was the Powhatan of the Price list, born in 1754, real? > > > > If the existence of the 1754 Powhatan can be established, it seems to me > > that the orthodoxy could take another, more positive look at the Price > > list. Benjamin Bolling was a real person. His parentage is at issue. > > In all of our research into Powhatan Bolling -- any Powhatan Bolling -- > > we've found no reference to the 1754 version other than the Price list > > and in genealogies ultimately based on that list. Indeed, if no > > evidence whatsoever of this Powhatan's existence can be found, > > researchers may suspect that John Tarpley Bolling was not very careful > > in his compilation; that perhaps he had heard of a Powhatan Bolling and > > "assigned" him to the family of John and Elizabeth Blair Bolling, just > > as he "assigned" -- according to his detractors -- William, Benjamin, > > Jared, et. al. > > > > Were there two 19th century Powhatan Bollings? Does anyone have > > information to share about the life of Powhatan Bolling, born 1754 in > > Chesterfield County, son of John and Elizabeth Blair Bolling? If he > > died in infancy, are there any references to the same? Has anyone ever > > pursued this line of research into the family of John and Elizabeth > > Blair Bolling?