Edith Bolling Wilson’s father, William Holcombe Bolling, was born in 1836 in Bedford County, Virginia. The Bollings of Bedford County were among the aristocracy of Virginia, counting among their relatives and friends many prominent families of the Virginia Commonwealth.  

William Bolling attended the University of Virginia where he studied law. In the late 1850s, he came to Wytheville, Virginia, from Bedford County to be mentored by his uncle, William Terry, who had a law practice in Wytheville.

After the Civil War and emancipation, the Bolling family lost their Bedford County plantation home. They moved into the second story of a large commercial building in Wytheville, owned by Dr. Archibald Bolling Jr., Edith Bolling Wilson’s grandfather. The Bolling Home was located on Main Street diagonally across the street from the Wythe County Court House. William Bolling later became Judge of Pulaski and Wythe counties.

Edith would be the seventh of 11 children born to judge William Holcombe and Sally Spiers White Bolling. Mrs. Wilson writes in her autobiography:

“I was born in Wytheville, Virginia, on Monday morning, October 15, 1872, at nine o’clock — the hour set for the convening of the Circuit Court of which my father was judge. Father used to laugh and tell how the opening of the Court was delayed so he could be on hand to greet me. Consequently, a he always said, I began my career by ‘keeping gentlemen waiting.’”

Edith’s parents, 10 siblings, grandmothers, extended family, an occasional boarder, several dogs, and 26 canaries lived in the home.

​The Bolling Home is quite large and unique in that the back of the house provided a beautiful view of the mountains from the second story porch. The first-floor main street storefronts housed businesses providing substantial income for the Bolling family. This was home to the Bolling family from 1866 until the death of Judge Bolling in 1899. Mrs. Wilson’s parents and other members of the Bolling family are buried in Wytheville at East End Cemetery. The Bolling family plot can be seen inside the cemetery gates on the left near the Main Street entrance.

The Bollings are direct descendants of Pocahontas, Native American of the Powhatan People, and her husband, John Rolfe. Edith Bolling Wilson’s great-great-grandmother was Mary Jefferson Bolling, the sister of President Thomas Jefferson. The family also has ties to Martha Washington and Robert E. Lee.

Mrs. Wilson’s last visit to Wytheville was in 1960 at the age of 88 to dedicate stained glass windows at St. John’s Episcopal Church in memory of her parents.