Edward S. Bolin, Sr.

Up until recently, finding an ancestor for Edward has been elusive to Bolen researchers. I think I may be closer to an answer. Earlier researchers concluded that Edward was from Ireland and born in 1740. While this is somewhat misleading, it's understandable why the genealogists rest there. It was really only known that Edward's trip from the UK to the US occurred via Ireland in the mid-to-late 1700s. We know he was indentured until he paid off his passage upon arrival. No documentation of his birthplace or date has ever been unearthed aside from the passenger list everyone has of Edward on the Pearl. And, given the lack of literacy and the thin paper trail, spellings for Edward range from Bollen, Bowling, Bowlin, Bowlen, Bolin, Bolen, and on and on. So, I tried a soundex search of just the last name for International births in the 1730s through the 1750s, coming up with a single family of Bollens from a village called Piddletrenthide in Dorset, England. Edward Bollen and his wife Elizabeth appear to have had several male and female children between 1740 - 1760. One of whom, an Edward Jr., was born in the 1750s. I believe this is our Edward's family. One of his brothers, Joseph, was born in 1755 and his record is attached to his file.

According to a book written by Jacquelyn Cooper in 1988, Edward Bolin was one of the founders of Springfield, SC

He was a Sergeant in Col John Fisher's Regiment, Captain John Salley's Company, in the Revolutionary War. A Southern Loyalist. He was most likely illiterate by the fact that he made his "mark" on legal documents. This mark was a large bold "B". The above taken from Pages 46-47, The Bolling, Bowling, Bolen Family, Todd Bolen & Lois Bolen Stange, 1997 Edition

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=80855495