Bolling’s portrait comes home
BY BRUCE BRANUM
The Greenville Standard
The Butler County Historical and Genealogical Society (BCHGS) held their first meeting since BCHGS President Barbara Middleton died in December of 2024 at the Butler County Courthouse on Sunday, Jan. 26. 2025.
BCHGS member Walter Parmer was the speaker and recounted a brief a brief history of Samuel Jackson Bolling’s contributions to Butler County and the family lineages resulting.
In 1819, Samuel was about three years old when his father and mother, John Bolling and Sarah Ann Raburn, moved to the area known as Greenville, Ala, from South Carolina.
In 1837, Samuel was commissioned to be Clerk of the County Court which he held for 10 or 11 years and then in 1848, he was commissioned to be Judge of the County Court.
In 1850, the County Court was abolished and replaced by the Probate Court. Bolling was then elected to be the Probate Judge, which he retained the position until 1868 when he was displaced at the end of the Civil War.
In October of 1885, Judge Bolling was appointed by the governor of Alabama as tax collector for Butler County to fill out the term of Mr. Lee who had to resign.
Judge Bolling and his wife, Mary Ann Ewing, had four surviving children, John Bolling, Lucinda Elizabeth Bolling, Samuel Jackson Bolling, Jr., and Mary Sarah Bolling.
John Bolling never married. Lucinda married Judge Johnathan Louis Powell of Butler County. Samuel, Jr. married Frances Dickerson of Lowndes County, and Sarah married Marcellus Hutchenson Powell of Montgomery.
Samuel, Jr., was elected as tax collector of Butler County in 1888 and served in that capacity until 1892.
In 1893, the governor appointed him tax collector to fulfill the term of Mr. Armstrong, who had been murdered in December by the outlaws Hipp and Kelley.
Samuel, Jr., and his wife had five children, one of which was Kathleen Bolling. Kathleen married William Samuel Blackwell and they had one child, Claud Bolling Blackwell.
Claud married Elizabeth Hathcock of Greenville and they had two daughters, Kathleen and Claudia who originally donated this portrait of Judge Samuel Jackson Bolling, Sr., to Butler County.
There are many descendants of Judge Bolling scattered throughout Alabama. Descendants of Judge Bolling who are living in Butler County currently are Leah Carter and Priscilla Solomon Davis. Judge Bolling is their great great great grandfather through his daughter Lucinda.
After the unveiling, BCHGS members adjourned to the courtroom upstairs for a business meeting and the election of new officers.
Elected for the upcoming year were: Pamala Nolan, President; Melanie Stonestreet, First Vice President for Programs; Claudia Blackwell Lewis, Second Vice President for Membership; Larry Stinson, Treasurer; Jean Till Styles, Recording Secretary; and Judy Atkins Taylor, Librarian and Quarterly Editor.
President Nolan said, “We are grateful for all that Barbara did for our organization and will always miss her and honor her memory. Today, we elected a slate of officers recommended by the Nominating Committee to carry her mantle forward. We look forward to another amazing year and invite everyone to join us.”
