It soon became clear that there was a shared experience of descendants of other lines of Bollings, many with name spellings that were different, including Boling, Bowling, Bowlin, Bohlen, Bolen, Boland, Boulding, Bouldinge, and more.  Many descendants of the same family line found that their ancestors had spelled the family name in a variety of ways.  There was a great deal of confusion and many descendants thought they all had common ancestors.  Extensive research found that there were at least 77 immigrants to the Colonies prior to 1800 with Bolling sounding names.  BFA has developed an active DNA testing program which has tested over 250 males and identified at least 16 family groups with clear DNA connections.  The BFA Database contains the names of approximately 80,000 and over 26,000 marriages.  BFA now has identified eight major family groups with a significant number of members who share a common ancestor; however, the actual immigrant ancestor has been tentatively or positively identified for only five of these groups.

Today, BFA membership is open to anyone interested in ancestors who potentially had a Bolling sounding name.  BFA has over 500 members in the United States , Canada , Great Britain , Australia , and Sweden (yes there are Swedish Bollings).  The Family is highly organized with an elected Board of officers and directors who meet annually.  The Family conducts extensive genealogical research using a team of volunteers nicknamed “The Gang”.  BFA has a number of family related publications on Bolling ancestors, historic sites and cemeteries, and other information, and publishes a quarterly newsletter that is also distributed to libraries and museums.  The Family has a Reunion in Williamsburg or Richmond every two years, and has organized trips to family sites in England in 1992, 1998, 2004 and 2008. Membership options include annual, life, and legacy.  

Famous Bollings include Edith Bolling Wilson, wife of President Woodrow Wilson; Col Raynal Cawthorne Bolling, US Army Air Corps, killed in France in WWI and for whom Bolling AFB, Washington, DC is named; Samuel Bolling, the first known freed slave of Bolling descent who became a wealthy landowner in Prince Edwards County and a pre-Civil War state legislator; Benjamin Bowling, the family patriarch living in Wise County, VA in the mid-1700s with hundreds of descendants in the area today; Wyndam Robertson, Governor of Virginia ( 1836-37) and author of Pocahontas Descendants in 1881; and former Congressman Richard Bolling of Missouri, who spent 38 years in the US House of Representatives.  There are many other famous Bolling descendants who are descended from many other famous Virginia Families including Carters, Randolphs, Lees, Byrds, and Chamberlaynes.  Famous modern individuals with a Bolling connection include both Presidents Bush, and Senator John McCain.

Williamsburg/Jamestown Reunion a big success!

By Jill McKinley

Anyone who missed the BFA reunion this year - missed a lot of fun. Again this year, our venue was the Williamsburg Hospitality House from October 4 to 7 (Thursday to Saturday).  It officially started with the Board meeting at noon.  A summary of the meeting is set forth in Member Notes.  Lunch was served and the members participated in a lively discussion for almost five hours.  Shortly thereafter, everyone attended the informal Family Reception where there was a layout of fancy foods along with a bar set up in a corner.  There were handshakes, hugs and hellos to all those we remembered from previous years and greetings and welcome to newcomers who we did not know.  Everyone soon became one big happy family.  The reception was held in an upstairs party room and everyone enjoyed themselves.  .

On Friday morning, almost all attendees rose early to attend THE FAMILY TOUR.  Every reunion, the Board manages to put together a tour that all can enjoy, even though it is always a long day.  We boarded buses at 9AM to journey back in time to early Virginia, 400 years ago, when three small boats arrived at Jamestowne.   In the twentieth century, these have been faithfully copied and sit in a harbor in Jamestown Settlement along with a large museum with a great number of displays relating to the Algonquin tribes, the Colonists, and the Africans who came later.  Our tour started at Historic Jamestowne, with a guided tour by guides from the Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities who jointly own Jamestowne with the National Park Service.  There we toured the site of the historic church, the Jamestowne memorial, statues of John Smith and Pocahontas, and the new museum called the Aquarium. Touring "the dig" which has been under excavation for nearly three years, we were told that they have unearthed some bones which are probably those of one of the leaders of the colony who died there.
Then we re-boarded the buses for Jamestown Settlement.  There, after lunch, we went on another guided tour of the Settlement displays.  After viewing the Indian village and the ships in the harbor, we toured the large Museum.  It was a wonderful experience.  Touring the museum really gives one a feel of how all the different early participants must have experienced and felt.  Yet, as they explained to us, they still have a lot of work to do and much more to discover about life at that time.

That night we were all on our own to attend a restaurant of our own choosing. Many cousins took advantage of the opportunity to talk to Larry Bowling, our web master and data base manager, who gladly assisted members in looking over the vast storehouse of knowledge.   

On Saturday, the Family meeting allowed the business of the Association to be conducted.  Reports were given by the committee chairs and elections were held which are described elsewhere.  Our wonderful speakers included Ann Berry of the APVA, Dr. Martin Gallivan who heads up the Wereowicomoco dig (Powhatan’s main village), and James Tormey, author of John Rolfe, the Novel.  That afternoon, the Muscarelle Museum arranged a special “Bolling Family Portrait Display” of their holdings of Bolling and Randolph portraits.  Many of our members took advantage of the opportunity which we all greatly appreciated.

The day ended with a wonderful banquet which was prepared by the hotel, and everyone enjoyed both the terrific food and the company of all of our cousins.

If you missed this one, we hope to see at the next reunion in 2009 in Richmond.  Plans are already being made.

The Bolling DNA Surname Study

When the Bolling Family Association was formed in 1991, most members thought that they descended from a common male Bolling/Bowling/Bolin ancestor. Most of our early genealogical efforts were focused on trying to trace the the written record of our individual ancestors back to that common ancestor. In the Spring of 2001, the BFA undertook a y-chromosome DNA study to try and define the various Bolling/Bowling/Bolin/Bouldin families and the immigrants that came to the United States. Today, this is one of the larger surname projects in the U.S. with over 250 men having been tested. Results have proven that the individuals tested do not descend from one male Bolling ancestor, but rather than from over 16 different biological families. Thus far only two of these groups have definitively identified their immigrant ancestor, but Colonial period ancestors have been identified as certain or probable.  Extensive research is continuing in an effort to learn more. The results of this study should be of interest to anyone trying to trace their Bolling family roots. By determining the DNA biological family, a member can better focus his/her research efforts by eliminating those that aren't related. More information on the results to date is available by clicking on the DNA study tab to the left.  Additional information is also available from the Family Coordinators for each group who can also advise on the more recent research.