BOLLING FAMILY ASSOCIATION

From recent newsletters

THE CALVERLEY OLD HALL, A BOLLING CONNECTION

By Anthea Bickley, Bradford , England

Many members of BFA and the descendants of Robert Bolling may not know that there is another ancient house connected with the family about five miles from Boiling Hall. This is Calverley Old Hall, in the village of Calverley , and it is over 500 years old. Today, part of the building is a nice holiday cottage sleeping up to 5 people, which is available for rental..

The Calverley family was minor gentry in Yorkshire , just like the Bollings. One of them, Walter Calverley, appears to have paid for the stained glass window in the parish church of St Wilfrid as he is shown at the bottom, kneeling, with his three sons looking over his shoulder. Since several generations of males were named Walter, it is difficult to be sure which one was the father of Beatrice, but we do know that Beatrice married Tristram Boiling of Boiling Hall. Their marriage contract still survives, carefully kept in the British Library in London , reference Add Charier 16940, described as an "Indenture between Robert Bollyng and Wauter Carlvrley, agreeing to the terms of the marriage of Tristram Bollyng and Beatrice Calvyrrley, their children, Dat 20 Jan, 24 Hen VI [1446]". It tells us that Beatrice was less than twelve years old, and Tristram about ten, when they were betrothed in 1446. The marriage ceremony was to take place by Pentecost of 1447, but according to the custom of the time they would not live together as man and wife until they were older. Beatrice was to marry James, the second son, if Tristram died before the wedding. The document is also very particular about the financial matters agreed by the two fathers so gives an insight into the standing of the families at that time.

The young couple lived at Boiling Hall, and the oldest part of the present building,
the three-storey tower, may have been re-built or refurbished for them. The style
certainly indicates a date of around 1450.                                   *

Tristram and Beatrice had just one child. Rosamund was born in about 1477, and in 1497 married into the Tempest family, taking the Boiling Hall and lands with her. Tristram, probably by then a widower, moved away to one of his lesser manors at Chellow, now on the outskirts of Bradford , and raised another family from whom most, or possibly all, the American Bollings are descended.  Chellowe is now a part of a local golf course.

Beatrice supported her husband through the troubled times of the Wars of the Roses when the red rose of Lancaster fought the white rose of York, notably at the terrible battle of Towton on Palm Sunday in 1461. Tristram's father paid for being on the wrong side - not that he had any choice as his overlord, Lord Clifford, told him what to do,  Being on the losing side meant that he forfeited all his estates and income. And it took him fourteen years to get them back. We don't know where and how Robert lived during that time, but there is a very strong possibility that Beatrice and her husband went to Calverley to live with her family.

You can rent this historic cottage for a holiday and have the wonderful feeling that you are living where your ancestors did. It is owned by The Landmark Trust, a building conservation charity which aims to preserve interesting smaller buildings. Their sites are furnished appropriately to their period and style with real antiques; so don't expect central heating, in-suite bathrooms or dishwashers. Calverley Old Hall has one double bed bedroom, one twin bed bedroom, and one room with a single bed, plus one bathroom, a cloakroom, and the kitchen. The main room has comfortable seating and a huge fireplace in which to light a fire if the evenings are chilly. The village pub and the church are both just round the corner.

For further information, contact the following::

The Landmark Trust

Shottesbrooke                                                          *

Maidenhead

Berkshire

SL63SW

United Kingdom

Website www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Email bookings@landmarktrust.org.uk

Telephone 01628 825925 (add +44 on the front if phoning from outside the UK )  

BFA BOOK REPORT

Powhatan and the Pocahontas Dilemma, by Camilla Townsend, Associate Professor of History, Colgate University

Historians have previously told many stories about the Indian chief Powhatan and his daughter Pocahontas. The author of this work, whose bibliographical notes cover thirty-five pages, left no stone unturned in her search for accuracy and her desire  for understanding of both sides during the first few decades of the Jamestown era in Virginia  following its creation in 1607.

The first third of the story is about Powhatan. and his native culture.  Powahatan, aware that the Indian hierarchy was oriented on female descendants of tribal chiefs, had spent years consolidating the many independent tribes in the neighboring areas,  by concentrating on daughters born to incumbent chiefs. Needless to say, there was violence throughout this period, as Powhatan worked the desired chiefs into leadership positions. By the early seventeenth century, he had structured an Indian confederacy that, he thought, could overcome any difficulty.

Then the English ships landed at what was soon to be Jamestown . With little knowledge of farming techniques and convinced that their presence would enable their small group to subjugate the Indians and cause them all to accept Christianity, they set out to conquer the new world. They knew nothing about the current inhabitants and their culture.

Possessing the characteristics of sophistication, intelligence, diplomacy, and  leadership, Powahatan expected ultimately to drive the English from the lands controlled by his thriving confederacy, but the student of today's political scene finds it difficult to understand how he thought he could match the overwhelming power confronting him.

Just as the first English ships were arriving, Powhatan's young and lively ten-year-old daughter was happily playing with her friends a few miles up the river from Jamestown . She was brilliant and beautiful, the idol of her powerful father. Here, Townsend's book smoothly weaves the continuing story of father and daughter. John Smith is brought into the plot and quickly shown to have lied when he reported that Pocahontas had saved his life.

In the meantime, the English colonists were going from bad to worse. With no knowledge of how to produce food, they were also unable to trade enough with the Indians to have food to survive. The story was a sad one. It tells of the starvation within the first group of colonists to land and of the decision of the few people still alive in 1610 to sail for home, only to meet and be turned back by a convoy of ships from England filled with fresh supplies.

The kidnapping of Pocahontas under conditions completely unlike anything that could occur today, started a new circumstance.. She was taken to a new town, Henrico, where the local minister taught her English and ultimately converted her to Christianity. It was in Father Whitaker's home that John Rolfe fell in love with her and eventually received permission from the governor to marry her.  Shortly after Pocahontas' son, Thomas Rolfe, was born, the Indian Princess was invited to visit the English Court .  Arrangements were made for the family to visit England . Pocahontas was accompanied by an Indian entourage, and the author suggests that she may have been asked to estimate just how powerful Powhatan's enemies really were. Her visit was filled by many of London 's splendid activities, to include presentation to both the king and queen, attendance at musical events, sitting for a portrait painting, and acquisition of considerable English clothing and items to be used as gifts upon her return.

The world knows that she became ill as the return ship was leaving England , and the ship turned in to Gravesend , where she died and was buried. John Rolfe immediately made plans for the baby Thomas to be kept in England to be reared by a relative. He never saw his son again. Upon his return, Rolfe visited Pocahontas' Indian relatives to explain how his wife died. He was well received. He then began his work on the development of Tobacco, and in a few years, he was a wealthy man.

The climate, however, between the English and the Indians deteriorated rapidly because of the English determination to force the Indians to become Christians and swear allegiance to the king of England . Rolfe became terminally ill by 1622, and passed away at about the same time that the Indians struck out in a massacre of all of the colonists they could find.  The massacre of 1622 marked the beginning of the end for the Powhatan confederacy. With proceeds from the newly created tobacco trade now adding strength to the colonial cause, Indian activity grew weaker and weaker. Chief Powhatan retired to a distant tribe to spend his old age. His younger brother remained an enemy of the English and was, eventually captured and killed by the English. Thomas Rolfe grew up, managed to get to Virginia in the mid-1630's, after losing his family while en route. After his arrival, he married and produced a daughter named Jane.

At this point, the author refers the reader to her bibliographical notes, in which she describes at great length how the Bolling family began its claim of a relationship between the Bollings and Pocahontas. She bemoans the fact that there is no authentication of such a relationship, even though the Bollings were among the elite of the colony and adhered to the need for such papers as marriage licenses, birth certificates, and other similar documents. She indicates that John Bolling's wife died early after the birth of a son, but that the son's progeny were many, and the story grew stronger. The author saves the day for BFA's "Red" Bollings by writing, "We know the story of being descended of Pocahontas existed in some branches of the Bolling family before any of the post-Revolutionary literary outpouring began, indicating that it was probably true."

A few conclusions can be reached after reading Camilla Townsend's fine book. First and foremost, it is too bad that the Indians of the Powhatan Confederacy did not know it, but they were doomed from the beginning by the population and technological superiority of the English. No other result would have been possible.  Her research confirms that of many other historians that John Smith is shown to have lied about being saved by a young Indian girl, just as he apparently had in his reports about previous excursions to foreign soil. When Pocahontas and Smith met again in London , Smith was censured for lying the way "all British lie." There is no authentic information regarding the later activities of Thomas Rolfe.

BFA 2005 FAMILY REUNION TOUR OF BOLLING HOME SITES

By Barbara Boling Pendergrast

On Friday morning of the 2005 Bolling Family Reunion, 55 attendees boarded a tour bus to visit former Bolling home sites in Goochland and Buckingham counties. Everyone was given a handout prepared by Page Nichols, who has done extensive research on these sites and many others owned by the Eppes Family.  Everyone looked forward to meeting the gracious owners and renters who now live on these properties and had invited the BFA group to tour their homes and sites.

The first stop was the site of the original Orapax in Goochland County , the home built by John Blair Bolling who was the son of John Bolling II. John Blair Bolling was the great grandson of Robert and Jane Rolfe Bolling.  The original house at Orapax was built on land that had come into the Bolling family through Jane Rolfe Bolling, granddaughter of Pocahontas. The present Orapax, built in 1988, is in the Federal style of architecture in red brick with sliding sash windows and beige trim. The owners, Andrew and Nancy Dykers, have furnished the home in 18^th century furniture. The original house was torn down in 1940. Mr. Joe Scales rescued some of the original period paneling and the lovely paneling has been incorporated in the office of the present home. This carved Chippendale paneling features such details as Greek key molding, fluted columns, and keystone arches around the bookcases.  Andrew Dykers gave a short talk about Orapax on the screened back porch before we toured the inside of the house. Nancy Dykers said there was nothing left on the site of the original house except the concrete steps. The site was vacant from 1940 to 1988.

            The second stop on our tour was Bolling Hall where we were greeted by John Chennault, a Richmond architect, who lives in the home.. Orapax and Bolling Hall are near each other and some have said that in winter, the lights from Orapax can be seen from Bolling Hall. Bolling Hall Farm is located on the James River , about 35 miles west of Richmond ,. The land was passed down from John Bolling I to John Bolling II, then to his son Thomas Bolling and finally from Thomas to his son William Bolling. William Bolling was born in 1777 and likely built the earliest part of the present Bolling Hall in the latter part of the 18^th century circa 1790). In about 1815, William built two wing additions to the east and west ends, completing the house. The house, designed to be one room deep, created cross ventilation for cooling in every room. Bolling Hall is a two-story, white frame colonial house with dark shutters and roof. The front entrance has a one-story portico with columns.

Col. William Bolling of Bolling Hall married his first cousin, Mary Randolph. Three of their children were born deaf. Col. Bolling engaged an expert teacher for deaf children from Edinburgh to come to Bolling Hall and teach all his children.  Thus, Bolling Hall became the first place in Virginia where children with congenital deafness were taught. Later, Col. Bolling opened a larger school for the deaf at Cobbs that was large enough to accommodate deaf children from other families.

The Bolling family owned Bolling Hall Farm from 1714 to 1872, a total of 158 years.  BFA members Chester and Martha Bolling lived at Bolling Hall for a number of years. Floyd Gottwald, Jr., and Bruce Gottwald are the present owners of the manor house and farm. .

The Family then visited The Bolling Cemetery, enclosed with a brick wall, which is located about 100 yards from the manor house.  The Cemetery was restored by BFA and remains in good condition.

Our third stop was  Bolling Island Farm which is not far from Orapax and Bolling Hall and is the new home of  Mark and Lucy Wysong, who are in the midst of a major restoration of the house, which suffered a fire just prior to their purchase.  Mark and Lucy met the group and led the tour of the house and grounds.

The far right wing of the house at Bolling Island Farm was built in 1771 as the overseer’s house for Bolling Hall Farm. This was the original part of the house. The central, brick portion of the house was built by Thomas Bolling II between 1820-1835. He was the son of Col. William Bolling.  At the time the manor house at Bolling Island Farm was being built, Thomas Jefferson was popularizing Palladian architecture and Thomas Bolling II completed his home in the Palladian style. When William Bolling died and left Bolling Hall to his son Thomas Bolling II, Thomas moved back to Bolling Hall, leaving his wife and children at Bolling Island Farm manor house.  The original kitchen is still standing as a separate small white structure located at the back and side of the main house. There is also another small white structure directly behind the main house once used as an office.  The home is situated on a large property near the James River and Lucy is attempting to gain control of and restore an overgrown garden enclosed by shrubs in front of the house.

After leaving Bolling Island Farm, we went directly to the nearby Clover Forrest Plantation for lunch.  Clover Forrest Plantation is a beautifully restored plantation house that now serves as a Bed and Breakfast and the site of weddings, receptions, and other gatherings. It is very likely that Bollings visited the early owners of Clover Forest .  We enjoyed a blissfully cool seated luncheon, which included chicken salad, pasta salad, fruit, peach pie, a la mode and plenty of iced tea. With lunch over, we were on our way to see Chellowe, the largest of the Bolling homes.

Chellowe was part of a land grant by King George II, patented by Col. John Bolling in 1748.  The land passed to John Bolling’s son Col. Robert Bolling.  Chellowe takes its’ name from the Bolling estate by the same name near Bradford , England . Fire destroyed the first structure on this site and the present manor house is thought to have been built by Phillip A. Bolling in 1832.  This large colonial home is a white two-story frame structure with ten large rooms, each with a fireplace. The balustrade on the second story front porch is of Chinese Chippendale design. The house has several wood shutters, doors, ceiling medallions and other decorative features from the original house. Phillip Bolling kept the house for only 9 years. Chellowe was sold, at auction, on the steps of the Buckingham County Courthouse in 1842. It was purchased by Robert Bolling, brother of Phillip, for $29,000. At one time, the once beautiful gardens at Chellowe were referred to as the “ Aunt Mary Eppes Bolling Gardens .” There was once a circular drive leading up to the front porch. At the back of the house, the restored kitchen originally had a covered walkway leading to the main house. The estate now has 400 of the original 6,740 acres.

Chellowe is now owned by Gene Dixon, who was born and raised in nearby Dillwyn and his wife Barbara.  Gene greeted the Family as we arrived and provided a detailed narration of the ongoing extensive restoration of the site.. Mr. Dixon’s daughter has already renovated the old mill house at Chellowe for stables for her horses.  Mr. Dixon owns the nearby Willis Mountain and new additions to the house feature steps and other structures crafted from the Kyanite stone which he mines at Willis Mountain . The Kyanite has many industrial uses due to its resistance to heat and its insulating properties.

Before leaving Chellowe, we visited the Hubard Cemetery that is nearby and reached by driving across a pasture. The enclosed cemetery features a dry stacked fieldstone wall with a wrought iron gate and the original hand made iron weight. There are 38 graves, eight of which are Bollings.  The majority of the graves are those of the Hubard family. 

Our last stop for the day was to have been Rosny, also located in Buckingham County not far from Chellowe. The home is owned by Guy Dixon, the son of Gene Dixon, and his wife Julie, who are engaged in a major renovation of the house.  This effort includes the movement of a side structure and the building of a new section of the house matching the old.  However, the route to Rosny involved making a few sharp turns along tree lined roads with low overhanging branches.  As talented as our driver was, and with roadside directing by Woody, our long tour bus could not make the necessary turns. It was time to “call it a good tour day” and start back to the Jefferson Hotel for dinner with friends and good conversation about all that we had seen and heard.

(Author’s note:  I am indebted to Lee Stifter and Page Nichols  for  the History Of Bolling Homes in Goochland and Buckingham Counties from which so much of this information is taken)