Events
2025 Reunion - Richmond, Virginia
July 31-August 2
Register Now
(see below)
2026 Pilgrimage to England
Multi-day/multi-city trip visiting ancestral sites, homes, museums and more. Details coming soon.
Register Now for the 2025 Reunion
Join us to meet and greet your cousins, learn about Bolling/Bowling/etc. genealogy, and visit several special sites in Richmond, Virginia this summer.
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Click the Events box to learn more or register.​​
Reunions bring together members from many states and sometimes beyond for in person research help and sharing of documents, connecting with new friends and old, as well as historical tours of Bolling related sites. All are welcome!
DNA Project
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If you would like to participate in the DNA study, you'll need to be a male or have a male Bolling relative to take the test as this study uses Y chromosomal DNA.
Click on the link below and request a test kit. Please give us your Bolling lineage to your earliest known Bolling ancestor. A kit will be mailed to you shortly and results are only six weeks away. We use Family Tree DNA as our testing company. They are one of the oldest and most respected firms and have over a 1,000,000 participants in their database. Click here to request test kit.
2022 Reunion Banquet
Centre Hill, Petersburg, Virginia
an ancestral home and now museum
Robert Buckner Bolling raised 10 children in this home.
Our History
The Bolling Family Association was founded in 1991 following the publication by Maj. Gen Alexander R. Bolling, Jr. of his book, The Bolling Family, Eight Centuries of Growth. The book traces both the ancestors and descendants of Robert Bolling, b 1646, immigrated to Virginia Colony in 1660 and died 1709. Learn more about Robert Bolling
Following the publication of his book, Gen. Bolling or Bud as he was known, convened a meeting of "Bollings" consisting of people that had bought his book or were interested in learning more about their Bolling ancestors. The meeting in June 1991 at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond, VA was a success and the group of 96 decided to form an organization of Bollings to facilitate genealogical research, assist its members in understanding their family lines and to learn more about the family. Thus was the birth of the Bolling Family Association.
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The first newsletter was published in February 1992 with details of the formation of the Genealogy Gang (family researchers for each known group) and the plans for the first BFA Family trip to England later that year. Newsletters have been published on regular basis ever since the first issue.
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Early on, it became apparent that the many Bollings of various name spellings were not all descended from Robert Bolling I. Therefore, the focus of the group shifted from only one ancestor, to helping Bollings of any name variation and ancestor to research their roots and share information. The diversity of our membership became even more clear when in 2001 the DNA Project was started by our Family Genealogist Larry Bowling, who wanted to know if he was descended from Pocahontas. We quickly learned that our Association was made up of over 20 biological families, not related by their paternal ancestors. Our largest group was from Benjamin Bolling (1734-1832) of Flat Gap, VA who fathered 12 children and served in the Revolutionary War. To join BFA or the DNA project, please read the next column. For more on the various families in BFA click on the DNA project tab above.
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