ABSTRACT
Edith Bolling was born in Wytheville, Virginia, on October 15, 1872. She was the seventh of eleven children born to William Holcombe Bolling and Sallie White Bolling. The family came from the Virginia planter class, and Edith proudly traced her ancestry back to the Native American woman Pocahontas of early Virginia. During the Civil War, however, her grandfather lost his plantation and slaves. Her father studied law at the University of Virginia, went into practice, and served as a judge when Edith was a child.
