Tazewell County, Biographies: William A Boling's Granddaughter Goldie May Contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Christine Hayes ==================================================================== Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ==================================================================== William A Boling's Granddaughter Goldie May If I could meet my ggrandfather, Tazewell County's William A Boling, I'd thank him for being a womanizing dandy and ladies' man, because one of the women he had children with bore my grandfather Horatio Seymour Boling. Of course, if I could meet my grandfather, I'd shake his hand and thank him for being a chip off his Daddy's block because married Seymour Boling and married Trinnie Ward, but not to each other, created one of the most unique individuals I've ever known, my mother Goldie May Boling. I'm not condemning these folks; just making a point that sometimes a beautiful flower grows in a cow pile, and one never knows what heights of honour and integrity can be reached from such sordid beginnings; such was the remarkable life of my mother. Billy Boling had a wife on the side of every hill. That is all I knew about my grandfather's father when I first started researching online six years ago. All I knew about my grandpa was that he had red hair, his name was Horatio Seymour Boling, and he had a sister Gertrude. Well, turns out the sister was really his daughter. Trinnie's sisters told my Mama about her Daddy, how he came to see her when she was a baby and brought things for her. That is all she knew about him and she always thought her father and mother were married until she requested her birth record from Kentucky when she was ready to retire and found out she was illegitimate; but she had loved him all her life and instilled that love into me through her wonderful Kentucky hills stories. Now? I'm not sure how I feel about him now, but I think about him in the same philosophical way I think about everything. At first, I regretted that my mother died before I found all this information about him; now I wonder if that might not be a blessing. Tazewell Co Marriage Register 1853-1920 Pg 18 24 Jul 1865 - William A Boling 26 Widowed b. Tazewell Co, VA, His Parents: Henry & Ellen Boling, Husband's Occupation: Farmer, Marriage Performed by: Edward Vertegans Polly Ann Lockhart 21 Widowed b. Washington Co, VA, Her Parents: William & Betty Witt Widowed? Now wait a minute, Grandpa, when you left first wife Celia and the kids in Morgan Co, KY to join the Civil War, she was doing just fine. As a matter of fact, Mrs Celia Bowling went on to marry again to a man named Meridith Manning 30 Mar 1868 in Morgan Co. I doubt though it was because of Polly Lockhart; I bet it was because you married my ggrandmother Nancy Jane Mullins, the kind, dark haired daughter of Benjamin and Debra Hall Mullins, probably in 1866 Floyd Co when you were going through that area with your regiment. I'm wondering if there was another wife, in between wife number one Celia Cock in 1856 and Widow Lockhart in 1865, who may have left you a widower? I've never found a marriage record for you and Nancy Mullins, but your first child, William Riley Bowling was born in Wayne Co, WV 4 Mar 1867, so if there was a marriage before consummation of wedding vows, it would have been in 1866. Many years and many children later, you abandoned Nancy to a pauper's roll in the house of a stranger in Lawrence Co, KY while you married 18 year old Julianna Stepp in 1882. Since you were born in Tazewell Co, VA about 1838, you would have been 44. You are my best mystery solved among the many mysterious strangers populating my ancestry. You were born to Henry H Boling and Elender Blankenship; Elender, not to be confused with Eleanor, was a popular name in those days. You were named after Henry's brother William A Boling who was just a few years older than you, and with whom you are continually confused. Many combinations of family dynamics are listed by various researchers interchanging your wife and/or children with your uncle's wife and/or children. When I entered the scene six years ago, it was "established fact" that Seymour was the son of Elizabeth Morgan, and that Nancy Mullins had merely raised him. It took several years to disentangle my William A Boling from the life, wife, and children of his uncle William A Bowling. The following is in the notes for my ggrandfather William A Boling per my tree on Ancestry.com: <<<<<<<< 1850 Morgan Co, KY census Dwelling 363 Family 363 Image 56 of 180 on Ancestry: Henry Boling 33 Laborer, Ellen 30, William 13, James 11, Preston 9, Sarilda 6, Eveline 4. 28 Jan 1856 William A Bowling to Cely Cock I hereby certify that on the 29th day of January 1856 Wm A Bowling of Morgan Co KY 19 years old born at Tazewell Co, VA was married to ? Cela Cock of Morgan Co KY age 23 years born at Carroll Co VA & ? single ?. Jas W Daniel M. Christian Church. Date Jany 31, 1856. Present H. Boling & Jackson Cock. Dec 20th 1856 Armilda Bolen, Grassy Creek, Father Wm A Bolen, Mother Celia Cox, John S Dennis, DR. (Next line on this record is Dec 2nd 1856 Frances A Bolen, Blackwater, Morgan Co KY, Father William Bolen, Mother Elizabeth Morgan, Mary Lawson M W.) Dec 20th 1856 Armilda Boling Grassy Creek, Father Alex Boling, Mother Cela Cock, John S Dennis, DR. On Armilda's birth, William records the birth two times; the first time he lists his name as William Bolen and the second time he lists his name as Alex Boling. If anyone has documents that list his middle name as Arthur as is cited by every researcher except me, or any other middle name, I would love to have a copy of the document. Thanks very much. gabby362@juno.com 1860 Morgan Co KY census Dwelling 661 Family 661: William Boling 23 Sarah 26 (Census taker error for Celie or Celia's middle name?) Armilda 3 James H 9/12 (Census was taken 29 Jul 1860) I have never found William in the 1870 census in any state, and neither have I found his uncle William A Boling and Elizabeth. The uncle and Elizabeth had a son in Ohio during that time according to the 1880 census. I know that my William A Boling had a son Edward Bowling with my GGrandmother Nancy Jane Mullins Boling in WV in Mar 1870, but they could have moved from there before the census was taken, for they are not in WV in 1870. I have browsed every record in every county in 1870 WV just in case the person who created the index on Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest may have gotten the names transcribed wrong, which happens a lot. They lived in Wayne Co, WV in 1867 and 1868 when my grandfather Horatio Seymour Boling and his brother William Riley Bowling were born. However, they were in KY in 1860 and 1880. If anyone has ever found them in 1870, I would so appreciate the information. Thank you. 1880 Peach Orchard, Lawrence Co, KY census Dwelling 92 Family 92: Wm A Bolling 45 Nancy J 33 Wm R 13 Heratie S 11 Edward 10 Mary 7 Cora 1 (Cora had a twin brother B F Boling who died young) Many researchers confuse this William A Boling with the other Morgan Co, KY William A Bowling who married Elizabeth Morgan. There are a lot of similarities: They both married in Jan 1856 in Morgan Co; my GGrandfather William A Boling, son of Henry & Ellen Boling, married Celia Cock on 29 Jan 1856, and the other William A Bowling, son of Benjamin & Nancy Bowling, brother to Henry Boling, married Elizabeth Morgan on 24 Jan 1856, both by the same minister in the same church; they both had a daughter in December of 1856: To my GGrandfather William A & Celia Cock Boling was born Armilda Boling on 20 Dec 1856 in Grassy Creek, Morgan Co, KY, and to the other William A & Elizabeth Morgan Bowling was born Frances H. Bowlen on 3 Dec 1856 in Blackwater, Morgan Co, KY. William A Bowling who married Elizabeth Morgan was the brother of Henry Boling and uncle to Henry's son William A Boling who married Celia Cock, Polly Lockhart, Nancy Jane Mullins, and Julina Stepp. My GGrandfather is said to have "had a wife on every hillside" so he could have had other wives but these are the only four of which I have documentation. >>>>>>>>> Here are my notes for the Uncle William A Bowling who was married to Elizabeth Morgan: <<<<<<<< 1850 Morgan Co, KY census Dwelling 378 Family 378: Benjamin Boling 56 Born VA Nancy 58 VA William 17 KY Morgan Co KY Marriage Record: 24 Jan 1856 William Bowling to Elizabeth Morgan - I certify that on the 24 Jan 1856 I united in marriage the ? named Wm Bowling and Elizabeth Morgan at the house of Johnson Morgan and that Caleb Ka?? & Joseph D Nec??ce were present and witness the ceremony. Jas W Daniel Minister of the Church of Christ. Morgan Co KY Birth Record: Dec 3 1856 Frances A Bolen, Red River Morgan Co KY, Father William Bolen, Mother Elizabeth Morgan, Mary Lawson, M W. This birth was recorded twice, the second time the spelling of the last name was changed: Morgan Co KY Birth Record: Dec 3 1857 Frances A Bowlen, Morgan Co KY, Father William A Bowlen, Mother Elizabeth Morgan, Mary Lawson, M W. (This nephew/uncle duo seemed to do whatever the other did since they both married the same year, had a daughter that same year, recorded their first child's birth record twice, each changing the spelling of the last name. The uncle William A Boling was, however, consistently loyal to his family over time according to documents, while the nephew William A Boling was not.) Morgan Co, KY Birth Record: 20 Apr 1861 Silas Bowling, Black Water, Morgan Co, KY, Father Wm A Bowling, Mother Elizabeth Morgan, Father Born Perry Co, KY, Mother Born Magl, KY. (Benjamin Boling was indeed on the 1830 Perry Co census.) 1860 West Liberty, Morgan Co, KY census Dwelling 656 Family 656: William Boling 28 Elizabeth 18 Francis 3 Jefferson 1 I have not found this William A & Elizabeth Bowling in the 1870 census in any state, but their son Samuel W Bowling is 10 years old on the 1880 census and born in Ohio. The subsequent children were born in VA. They were in KY in 1860 & 1880. (I believe wherever this William A Bowling was in 1870, his nephew, my ggrandfather William A Boling was also there.) 1880 Paint, Morgan Co, KY census William A Bowling 47 Elizabeth S 43 Emily C 11 Samuel W 10 Wm Henry 7 Jordan W 4 Margaret J 2 >>>>>>>>> That Tazewell Co Boling stock of William A Boling and son Horatio Seymour Boling was rich in accomplishment, for the offspring of these spreaders of wild seed were evident in military service to the nation as well as contributions to modern invention; they were landowners, entrepreneurs and all around good citizens. The only blemish on such stalwart character that I have found was their penchant for the ladies, which, in and of itself is of no consequence, except to the fatherless children left in its wake. Two wrongs never make a right, but sometimes in the twists and turns of life, something good comes from what seems so wrong. I don't judge the mistakes people made back then because I don't know the circumstances of their lives. I know Goldie May always talked of finding her natural father, and invested many hours to creating a devotion in my heart for the red headed stranger that I have come to know so well through documents and testimonies from his other grandchildren, albeit too late for my mother to know since she died in 1980. He had a secret; a secret which now the world can know. Horatio Seymour Boling had two marriages and three families; at least those that I have found. When he was 42, he had a long term relationship with my grandmother Trinnie, age 18, that spanned at least from 1909 when my mother was born to 1911 when her sister was born. Then in 1912, Seymour married a 16 year old in Pike Co! From all accounts, Seymour was devoted to the ten children he had with this woman, and was a wonderful grandfather to their children, filled with the gift of story telling which he had passed on to his daughter Goldie May whose life was not blessed with his presence. Be that as it may, Mommy's daily faith was exemplified in this Bible verse: "This is the day the Lord hath made; rejoice and be glad in it". I am therefore convinced that all things happen for a purpose and for our good, so the circumstances of her life was what made my precious little mother so unusual and special. Goldie May Boling married Bob Stanley in Sep 1925 War, WV. She turned sixteen that November, just a kid trying to escape the hardships at home. Daddy's baby brother, eight year old Ellis Stanley, stayed with them and when Daddy went to work on the swing shift in the mines, Goldie May and Ellis would turn out all the lights in the house and, using sling shots, shoot out the company lights in the camp. A company man would come out within a few days and replace the bulbs, to these two kids' delight, and as soon as Daddy would go to the mines that night, out would come the sling shots again. If I had ever even thought of breaking someone else's property, I would have met my most dreaded form of punishment, a thump on the head from my Mama's zooming rock hard fingernail which she flicked off her thumb as her hand swooped down like an eagle from on high. Her other method of discipline was a little willow switch with which she tingled the backs of our legs. Most of the time, she talked to us and punishment was seldom an issue. We all loved her so much, her disappointment in our errant actions was enough to make us avoid them. My mother's brother Elzie "Poodger" Jennings also stayed with them a lot early in their marriage. Born in 1918, he would also have been about seven or eight years old. One day a bigger boy, a coal camp bully, kept throwing rocks at Poodger and he wasn't allowed to throw rocks back. Finally, my mother gave him permission to defend himself and it just happened that the first rock he threw hit the bully square between the eyes. Mommy said she thought he was too little to actually be able to throw a rock far enough to reach the boy, much less hit him. The boy ran home crying and of course, made it sound like Poodger had started the whole thing. Knowing the dangerous reputation of this boy's father in the coal camp, Mommy got my father's pistol, even though she didn't know how to shoot it, and put it in her pocket. The boy and his father came bulling up to the porch where my Mama was standing, just a young kid of sixteen years with flaming Boling red hair, her hand in her apron pocket and the small pistol in her hand. He shouted at her that if she didn't "whoop" Poodger that he would. She just said, "Go ahead, but if you lay one hand on that boy, I'll kill you" and looked at him with a cold, calm stare. Her hand in her apron pocket was not lost upon this man, and after weighing the odds of whether she would or would not shoot him, he turned and went home. I never saw Mommy angry, ever, but her word was good and if she said something, you could count on it, and if she believed something was right, she would stand up for it with her life. Goldie May was full of Old Ed'ard sayings, as she called them. She loved "Lum and Abner", and Edward was a character on that radio show. She had an idiom for every circumstance and pronounced them like some wise sage. If a man was being nice to the child of a single woman, she would say he was "salting the calf to get the cow". She believed "a man won't buy a cow if he can get the milk for free." "A stitch in time saves nine" and "you don't miss the water till the well runs dry" were frequent admonishments. If something needed sewing on Sunday it had to wait for Monday or the person would have to pick out the stitches with their nose on Judgement Day. If my giggle box had turned over, she would say I'd "be cryin' before the day was out". This warning was also applied to laughing before church on Sunday morning. If we heard a dog howl on Sunday morning, she'd say there was "gonna be a death", as well as a bird flying into the house, or dreaming of a naked person. She believed babies could be "marked" and was certain I would not eat the crust on bread because she had seen a monkey peel the crust from a slice of bread at a minstrel show in town when she was pregnant with me. We thought Mommy's mouth was a prayer book and took everything she said as Gospel. Goldie May was a kind and unassuming person, modest and quiet, but to hear her tell her stories, she could be a Hell Cat when she was young if the need arose. She was totally unafraid of anything and attributed this to being stupid rather than brave. She was, however, one of the most intelligent people I've known, teaching herself to read and write without any help from anyone. She was never able to go to school because she had to stay home and take care of Trinnie's kids, to whom she was more like a mother than a sister. Her hands were like tanned leather, gentle and reassuring, very capable in all she did. She sang "Danny Boy" and "Do You Love Me Molly Darlin'? while she rocked me on the front porch at night. Her favorite singer was Bob Wells and his Texas Playboys. She loved birds and always fed them in the winter. She hummed while she did her daily work and it was comforting to come into the house and hear her humming in another room. I asked her once why she didn't wear lipstick and she said she had been putting on makeup one day when she saw Jesus appear in the mirror, shaking his head and waving his finger back and forth in the negative. She never wore makeup again, but she never tried to foist her beliefs on us kids. Being fiercely independent in thought and action, she always afforded us kids the same right to our own opinions. She provided us with the basic generic tenets of the Christian religion and left the choices up to us. She herself simply believed in doing the best she could day by day, and in the Law of Biblical Harvest, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." My brother Junior did not live by any structured religious guide; he was charming and handsome and a ladies man; he was also generous and exceedingly good to his family. My sister Tiny was a spiritualist; a few days before she died on Christmas Day 2000, she went outside to sit and meditate under the stars, as she did every night, and she told me she heard every tree, bush, twig, and leaf in her garden singing. I should have known her time was near. I myself believe as Alfred North Whitehead did that science and religion are one discipline and one day will be proven so, although I live my daily life by my cultural religion. Goldie May was a fiercely protective and loving mother. I owe everything I am in strength of character to my Mama. In talking with a few people about these tales I've submitted to rootsweb, I now realize I owe even more of my gratitude to my mother, because it was she who stood between me and my sister, and the stranger in the bottle who invaded our house every weekend. A few folks have led me to realize that without a mother's protection, a child's life can be tragic indeed in a household dominated by alcohol, even if it is only on the weekends. It does no good to look back in bitterness at the negative aspects of the past; looking back turns the spiritual body into a pillar of salt, that age old natural poison used to make fallow ground. Rather, I choose to remember the team Daddy and Mommy were through the week; they were equals in love and sacrifice for the family. I can only speak for myself and my own relationship with my father; others may have a different opinion. Daddy was good to us kids and never hurt any of us, even when he was drunk, but I now understand the weekend cloak of protection was in some measure due to the strength and courage of Goldie May. In her life she suffered heart breaking grief, mind numbing tribulation, Soul crushing hardship, and yet she never complained and was always constant in our lives. The world is a better place having had her in it, and thus, regardless of the way she came to be, I'm grateful that she was my mother. *********************************************** You are welcome to use any of the accounts I have submitted to rootsweb in any honourable way you wish. christine hayes november 2006