THE YANCEY-BOLLING FAMILY CONNECTION

NOTES

Various Yancey family researchers have reported the wife of one Richard Yancey of Mecklenburg County Virginia as being one Mary Bolling. What follows is a list of things one should keep in mind in determining the validity of this relationship between these two families. - Dennis J Yancey

· The exact birth date for Richard Yancey is uncertain. He was born in the early 1700's. He probably married about 1735, probably in Hanover County, Virginia (or the surrounding area). He wrote his will in 1768 and it was probated in Mecklenburg County Virginia in 1781. Various legal records indicate that his wife's name was Mary.

· Two major books concerning descendants of Richard Yancey 1) Yancey, Medearis and Related Lines By Wiliam H Norwood, 1958 and 2) Some Yancey Merdearis and Hicks Descendants, 1973, make no mention as to the maiden name of Richard's wife Mary (although it is obvious that the people who put together these books did research various sources of primary documents - court records etc.)

· Mrs. Katherine B Elliott, a descendant of Richard Yancey through his son Zachariah Yancey, wrote many books concerning genealogical records of Mecklenburg County. She has spent years scouring through Mecklenburg County Records. I corrsponded with her from about 1988-1993. She was unable to provide me with any information that would document the Yancey-Bolling connection. It has been quite some time since I have heard from her and I am afraid she may have passed away.

· Two of the first books written concerning Yancey family records: a) Laurus Crawfurdiana (The Crawford Book) 1881 By Frank A. Vanderbilt and b) Genealogical And Historical Notes concerning Culpeper County Virginia, 1900 By Phillip Slaughter, make no mention of the name of BOLLING.

· The first published book, that I am aware of which reports the wife of Richard as Mary BOLLING was "Compendium of American Genealogy" 1925. Although a milestone in American Genealogy - Genealogists have cited various errors in this book. No source documents are recorded and apparently no validation of material submitted was performed. Another book which records BOLLING is "Jameson and Ocallighan Ancestors" By Jean Jamieson, 1978. Again, no source was cited.

· The Richard Yancey-Mary Bolling connection is listed in the LDS IGI. But no source for this information is cited. Although an enormous source of genealogical material and a great source for clues in genealogical research - the IGI is NOT documented information (nor does it even cite sources - other than the submitter). Although this resource does have a lot of good information - the error rate on the IGI and Ancestral File is relatively quite high. Every effort should be made to find supporting/documenting sources that confirm what is recorded on the IGI.

· Various D.A.R publications DO record the wife of Richard Yancey as Mary Bolling. Various Yancey family researchers have used this sole fact to accept the Bolling Yancey connection. Although in more recent times the D.A.R. has been much more strict in verifying and confirming information submitted for D.A.R. memebrship, this was not always the case. In reviewing D.A.R. files showing submission information for people who were accepted into the D.A.R. in early years - my findings indicate that very little verification was performed - and what verification was performed - was usually only to verify the father to child relationships from the D.A.R. patriot down to the D.A.R. member. (Very little, if any, verification was made of information about spouses). I have done some limited research of records in D.A.R. headquarters and have found nothing which proves the Bolling connection. It would seem that the person who submitted the information to the book "Compendium of American Genealogy" - the first book to cite the Bolling-Yancey connection - had a connection to the D.A.R. and may have been the source of this same info showing up on D.A.R. records.

· I have never seen ANY original documents (letters, legal records, histories, Bible Records etc) which refer to any connection whatsoever with the BOLLING family.

· Various persons have been somewhat "over-zealous" in trying to establish a connection with the Bollings - because as many researchers know - many of the Bolling family of Virginia descend from John Rolfe and Pocahontas.

· I have contacted various persons who have done extensive research concerning the Bolling family - and none of them were even aware of any possible Yancey-Bolling connection. Various reports which do record Mary as a Bolling - show her as a daughter of John & Mary Kennon Bolling - but many published genealogical reports of the Bolling family record this daughter of John Bolling - as marrying one John Fleming of Goochland Co., VA and having various children.

· The last will and testament of Mary Yancey does not mention any Bolling relatives.