52 Ancestors 52 Weeks An interesting name

 I just found a new ancestor with a rather interesting name. Buller. Do you say Bueller? I think so, not Bull-er

Buller Herbert was born sometime in 1695, at Puddledock Plantation, Prince George, Virginia. This meant there were probably slaves working on tobacco fields. His father John Herbert was an active trader with connections in London UK.

Buller married 18 August 1720 to Mary Stith. Mary had been born around 1709 and died 17 Aug 1801.

Buller and Mary had children:

John Herbert, b. 4 April 1724, d. 1760

Ann Herbert Temple, b. 21 Mar 1726

Mary Buller Herbert Claiborne, b. 1728, d. 6 May 1801, who became my 6th great grandmother

Ancestry has listed some other children, but they don't have dates connected to their names.

Buller died in Nov. 1730. His wife Mary remarried to Charles Fisher in 1735 and had a child:

Elizabeth Fisher (1737-1801)

Buller and Mary Stith Herbert were my 7th great grandparents, with their daughter Mary Buller Herbert Claiborne my 6th great grandmother.

And yet there's even more to the story of my ancestry. 

Mary Stith Herbert's father was Lt. Col. Drury Stith, Sr. (1670-1741). His sister (aunt to Mary) was Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling (1660-1709) who became my ancestor as well. Her husband (his second marriage) was Col. Robert Thomas Bolling (1646-1709). They are my eight greats grandparents. 

Incidentally Col. Robert Thomas Bolling was married first to Jane Rolfe Bolling (1650-1676) who was the granddaughter of Capt. John Rolfe (1585-1682) and Pocahontas Matoaka aka Rebecca Rolfe (1595-1617).

I am so sad to see how many trees on Ancestry are completely wrong, without any references besides more wrong information. 

I am not a descendant from Pocahontas/Rebecca Rolfe...her son Thomas did have a son (Thomas) and a daughter Jane Rolfe Bolling (1650-1676) who married Col. Robert Thomas Bolling as his first wife. My ancestry comes from his second wife, Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling.

So I have double ancestry in Virginia of the Herberts, and through the Stiths to the Bollings.

 

OK, I also want to know how these lines came together to be grandparents of mine...or something .

Col Robert Bolling and second wife, Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling had a daughter Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon who married Richard Kennon, Jr. 

Their daughter Mary Kennon Clack married Col. John Clack, judge. Their son Lt. Spencer Clack of Sevierville TN is the basis of the Spencer Clack chapter of the DAR there. Besides fighting in the Revolutionary war, he was my 5th great grandfather. He married Mary DeBeauvillers/Beavers Clack and their daughter Catherine Clack Rogers married Rev. Elijah Rogers.

Their son Micajah Clack Rogers married Cyntha O. Cannon, and their son George Washington Rogers married Lucinda Benson Gibbs Rogers. Their son William Sanford Rogers married Elizabeth (Betty) Bass Rogers. And she was a descendant of the Stith family! Incidentally they were my great great grandparents! (see the following quick descriptions of the other side of this line.)

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Now let''s follow the Stith line, from Lt. Col. Drury Stith, to my 7th great grandmother Mary Stith Herbert Fisher, who was first married to Buller Herbert.  Their daughter Mary Buller Herbert Claiborne  married Col. Augustine Claiborne. 

Their daughter Suzanna (Sukey) Claiborne Jones married Frederick Jones. Their daughter Sarah Skelton Jones Traylor married Champion Travis Traylor, Sr.  Their daughter Nancy Jones Traylor Powell married James Moore Powell.

The Powell's daughter, Mary Ann Elizabeth (Mae) Powell Bass married Col. Richard (Dick) Bass.

Their daughter Elizabeth (Betty) Bass Rogers married William Sandford Rogers, my great great grandparents! 

This isn't all that amazing, as many families had first, second or third cousins marrying. It does make for interesting trees, however!

Diving into ancestry history

Remember how I did not want to spend a lot of time on Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling's siblings? At one point there looked to be 10 of them, and yet some might have been adopted from her mother's previous marriage.  And yet someone or another was the ancestor of a William and Mary College president.

So I just thought trailing down the tree would be easy to find someone who wasn't controversial.  And I found Anne Stith Bolling's (1660-1709) brother Lt. Col. Drury Stith Sr. (1670-1741) was ancestor to another line in the Rogers family.  Oh my, many cousins removed they were both my eight times great grandparents!  But there they were.

Following Drury's descendants:
His wife was Susanna Bathurst Stith (though there's some controversy about her maiden name) 1674-1745
AND THEN...
their daughter Mary Stith (unbelievable dates given at Ancestry 1701-1801) Oh pishaw...she's considered the daughter of President of William and Mary College. WHICH IS NOT TRUE!

I've got to find out which Stith it really was...now Drury is in consideration, as well as John and William...all probably brothers of Anne!

Rev William Stith 1707-1755

Rev. William Stith was the 3rd president of William and Mary from 1752-1755, who was a historian! So he should know the ancestry of his own family, and hopefully it is also published! YES!
He was "the author of one of the earliest histories of Virginia, The History of the First Discovery and Settlement of Virginia: being an Essay towards a General History of this Colony, published in Williamsburg by William Parks in 1747.^[2][3]" 

He was born in 1707.  Died in office in 1755.  There's no way he would have been a brother of Anne, or Drury Sr. or even father of the centragenarian, Mary, who was supposedly born in 1701.  But maybe I can change that unbelievable birth day with some better resources.

William Stith was "the son of Captain John Stith and Mary Randolph, daughter of William Randolph I.^[1][5] Around 1744, he married his first cousin, Judith Randolph, the daughter of Thomas Randolph of Tuckahoe.^[1][5] They had three daughters: Judith, Elizabeth, and Mary.^[1] Stith was educated at The College of William & Mary and The Queen's College, Oxford."
 Source: Wikepedia with footnotes.

And his daughter Mary,  was born in 1744 died in 1816, so she did not live 100 years, so that is corrected on my ancestry trees now.

There's even a copy of  a William and Mary Quarterly published with 9 pages of the Stith family. Of course it could have been changed, but I think it agrees with most of what the other trees say.  After all, these are the genealogists of this time!

So I've redone my ancestry tree for the Stith family...now to go back over it, and copy the details here!

Did you notice I never told you how the Rogers tree came from the Stiths to my line? I'll keep working on it.

This is how genealogy will suck you into many links, which are fortunately available at my finger tips now, and I don't have to go to research libraries like I used to.

I've learned more about Mary Stith...but will post it tomorrow where maybe I'll be a bit more clear-headed.  Was anyone a centragenarian? Or what do you call someone who lives a hundred years, anyway?

Major John Drury Stith

Stith, John, (Major) came to Virginia before 1656 and settled in Charles City county. In 1656 he was a lieutenant of militia, in 1676 a captain, and in 1680 a major. He was also a merchant, a lawyer and a justice of the peace. He was a prominent supporter of Sir William Berkeley during Bacon's rebellion in 1676. In 1686 he was a burgess for Charles City county. He left issue— John Stith, Drury Stith, Anne, (who) married Colonel Robert Bolling.

That's the beginning of a list of his descendants.   I'm not sure who compiled it, but it's available over at Ancestry Dot Com.  And it seems to have mostly accurate information.

Bacon's Rebellion of 1676 is mentioned in his biography.  Do you remember about that in those early American History classes?  Here're some sources of information. 

 

Bacon arriving in Jamestown, VA, painting by Pyle

 

Bacon's rebellion, burning the Virginia colony's capital of Jamestown 1676

The Wikepedia article seems pretty biased (a bit unusual).  The Encyclopedia article has some factual information and a good timeline of all the events, and many participants. 

Bacon before the Virginia Council

Nathaniel Bacon 1646-1676

I was impressed how the telling of the history of this event changed, as mentioned that before 1950 it reflected one opinion, and afterward another.  I think I learned the 1950 version actually...so am glad I've reviewed the different possible conclusions.  The way history is written is often so intriguing. One person says this event led to laws which eventually created the slave economy of the south.  Another says this rebellion was a precursor of the American Revolution a hundred years later.  Then the author says that neither of these things can be attributed to Bacon's Rebellion.

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Back to the Stith family...

I am not going further into the sons/daughters of Major John Drury Stith and Jane Mosby Gregory Parson Stith today.  That's because of confusing ancestry trees...one saying their firstborn was WIlliam who married Jane Randolph, and the other saying firstborn was John who married Jane Randolph.

I can live a lot longer if I don't waste my grey cells on who these people married, and thus had a legacy of presidents of the College of William and Mary, which I attended (summer school session anyway!)

My ancestor (eight times great grandmother) was the daughter of John and Jane Stith, Anne Meriwether Stith who married Col. Robert Bolling. I've blogged about them HERE, and here!

Today's quote:

Jealousy is a common human feeling and usually stems from a place of lack in our own lives. Madisyn Taylor

 

Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling

1660–1709

Birth 25 JANUARY 1660 • Charles City, Charles, Virginia, USA

Death 17 JULY 1709 • Kippax, Charles City, VA

Happy birthday Mrs. Bolling!

Finally I'm getting to post someone's statistics on her birthday.

She's part of my father's family tree, George Rogers Tree.  I've had other posts about the Bollings of Virginia, Here for Col. Robert Bolling,
and HERE for Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon, her mother. [daughter]

The Bermuda Hundred is described HERE 

Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling was the second wife of one of the wealthy influential colonials, Co. Robert Bolling. 

Though Anne had been born in America, her parents were from England, and there's some confusion who her mother Jane Stith actually was, a Mosby, Parsons or Gregory.  Her father was Major John Drury Stith, II.

She was one of 10 [numerous] children.  She and Col. Robert Bolling had 8-9 children.  Actually his oldest child, John Fairfax Bolling was the grandson of Pocahontas. (See Here for more information on him.) 

Our relationship is through their daughter, Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon. The Bollings were the great grandparents of Lt. Spencer Clack of Sevierville, TN.

I'm having trouble just getting Ancestry to update with the hints that are given...somehow it's too much for it. OK, time to quit.

[editorial corrections done in March 2018]
I hope you have a good day today.

 

Col Robert Bolling 1646-1709

Col Robert Bolling
Birth 26 DECEMBER 1646 • All Hallows, Barking Parish, London, England

Death 17 JULY 1709 • Died At Kippax/Kippax, Charles, Virginia

Robert Bolling

He was husband of Anne Meriwether Stith Bolling 1660–1709 (Who will have a blog posted on her birth date of 25 JANUARY 1660 • Charles City, Charles, Virginia, Death 17 JULY 1709 • Kippax, Charles City, VA)

The Billings were parents of Mary Agnes Bolling Kennon 1700–1762 who was featured on this blog HERE. 

Col. Robert Bolling, my 8th great grandfather, had been born 26 Dec. 1646 in London, England.  Son of John. Bolling and Mary Carie Bolling.  They both died at the same time on Nov.11, 1648,  just before his 2nd birthday. The next date we hear of him is when he came America in 1660 at age 13-14, and settled in Prince George Co. VA.

He married first (1675) Jane Rolfe, the grandaughter of John Rolfe and Matoaka Pocahontas (Rebecca) Powhatan, a Christian-converted Native American. (See blog about John Rolfe HERE.)

Chart about Pocahontas connection to the Bolling family, but there's some question about the Native Americans.

His first wife was the granddaughter of Pocahontas, Jane Rolfe Bolling. Her mother had been Jane Poythres Rolfe, her father had been Thomas Rolfe.  She only lived from Oct 10, 1650/55 to Jan 26, 1676.  They had one daughter, Rebecca Jane Bolling 1675-1714 (OOPS, that's what my tree said, but now I find they only had one son, John Fairfax Bolling!)

1650–1676

When Col. Robert was 36, in 1681, he married a second time to 21 year old Anne Meriwether Stith.  They had 8 children.

He did have prestige in his community.  He represented it in the VA House of Burgess in 1702, and was Sheriff, surveyor, Col. and Co. Lt. in the VA militia.

He died 17 July 1709. Again the same date of death as his wife.  I'm finding this too convenient to believe twice in two generations.  Were there fires? Plagues?  Or did the people putting records together at some point just choose a date?

Col. Robert Bolling
Find a Grave Site:

Birth:     Dec. 26, 1646, England
Death:     Jul. 17, 1709
Prince George County
Virginia, USA

Colonel Robert Bolling (December 26, 1646 - July 17, 1709) was a wealthy early American settler, merchant and planter. He is the ancestor of many prominent individuals including Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.

He was born on December 26, 1646 at Tower Street, All Hallows, Barking Parish, in London. He arrived in Virginia at the age of fourteen on October 2, 1660. In 1674, he married Jane Rolfe the granddaughter of Pocahontas. They had one child, John Bolling, born on January 26, 1676. His descendants, the only American descendants of Pocahontas, are termed the "Red Bollings". They include Edith Bolling, wife of U. S. President Woodrow Wilson and John Randolph of Roanoke. Jane died after one year of marriage.

In 1681, Col. Bolling married his second wife Anne Stith with whom he had many children, including Robert Bolling, Jr., who was born on January 25, 1682. Both Presidents Bush are descended from Robert Bolling, Jr.

In 1702 Bolling was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses representing Charles City Co., in 1702. He died on July 17, 1709 and was buried at his plantation Kippax, in Prince George Co., Virginia, where his tomb still stands.

Bolling's remains were moved postumously to Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, Virginia. 
 
Family links: 
 Spouses:
  Jane Rolfe Bolling (____ - 1676)
  Anne Stith Bolling (1660 - 1709)*
 
 Children:
  Thomas Bolling*
  John Fairfax Bolling (1676 - 1729)*
  Robert Bolling (1682 - 1747)*
  Stith Bolling (1686 - 1727)*
  Edward Bolling (1687 - ____)*
  Elizabeth Anne Bolling (1690 - ____)*
  Drury Bolling (1696 - 1726)*
  Agnes Bolling Kennon (1700 - ____)*
 
*Calculated relationship
 
Burial:
Blandford Cemetery
Petersburg
Petersburg City
Virginia, USA
 
Maintained by: A C Turner
Originally Created by: Eric Bruno Borgman
Record added: Dec 29, 2005
Find A Grave Memorial# 12815946

So my ancestor was Robert and Anne's daughter, Mary Agnes Bolling, who married Richard Kennon, JR., and their daughter Mary married Col. John Clack.  Interestingly enough Col. Robert Bolling's son John Fairfax Bolling, married the sister of Richard Kennon Jr, Mary Kennon.  We read about Richard Jr. HERE, as being also my ancestor.

I am hoping I don't have to rewrite too much of my tree, if my information isn't accurate!

About his home, Kippax:

Kippax Plantation was located on the south bank of the Appomattox River in what is today the City of Hopewell in southeast Virginia.

Kippax Plantation was the home of Colonel Robert Bolling (1646-1709). Bolling married Jane Rolfe, who was the granddaughter of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. Their only child, John Bolling was born at Kippax in 1676, and settled nearby at Cobbs Plantation, just west of Point of Rocks across the Appomattox River in what is now Chesterfield County. While Jane's father Thomas Rolfe (1615-1675) never lived at Kippax Plantation, it is believed that he was buried there.

Kippax Plantation is considered to be a well-preserved archaeological site that is also well documented. Archaeologist Donald W. Linebaugh, of the University of Kentucky, located the remains of Col. Bolling's house in Hopewell, Virginia in 2002.[2] Most of the current digging is performed at the site of the unearthed residence. Research by graduate students from the College of William and Mary, headed by Donald W. Linebaugh, have found the remains of at least four separate structures spanning the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries at the Kippax site. These structures have the potential to answer important research questions regarding the history of early trade between Europeans and Native Americans, the lives of the African American slaves who lived there, and the cultural interaction between these groups. The Archaeological Conservancy recently purchased the site of Kippax Plantation to protect it from development. Members of the Archaeological Conservancy are in the process of raising the $205,000 needed for the purchase.[3] [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Kippax Plantation Archeological Site U.S. National Register of Historic Places Location: Address Restricted, Hopewell, Virginia Area: 9.3 acres (3.8 ha) Governing body: Private NRHP Reference#: 07000799[1] Added to NRHP: August 09, 2007]

Today's quote:

Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.

Wendell Berry