Edith Bolling Galt Wilson - Early Life

Early Life

Edith White Bolling was born October 1872 in Wytheville, Virginia, to William Holcombe Bolling, a circuit court judge, and Sarah "Sallie" Spears (White) Bolling. Edith was a descendant of English people who came to Virginia early in the British colonization of the Americas. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of Pocahontas, the daughter of the chief of the Powhatan tribe of Native American. The husband of Pocahontas was John Rolfe, one of the earliest English settlers of Virginia and the first man to cultivate tobacco as an export crop. Rolfe's granddaughter, Jane, married Robert Bolling, a wealthy planter and merchant.

Edith was the seventh of 11 children. Two of her siblings died in infancy. The Bollings claimed to have been quite wealthy prior to the American Civil War, but were forced to give up their plantation home after being unable to pay taxes on the land. William Bolling settled on his father's property in Wytheville, where most of his children were born. But the Bollings may also have fled their plantation simply to escape the war.

The Bollings were staunch supporters of the Confederate States of America, and Edith was very proud of her southern heritage. Her views about African Americans could be characterized as casually racist: She referred to African Americans as "darkies", and believed that her family's former slaves did not want their freedom. She held a distinct dislike of Northerners for her entire life. It was only after the war that William Bolling turned to the practice of law.

The Bolling household was a large one. In addition to the nine children, Edith's two grandmothers, several aunts, and some cousins also lived with the Bollings. Most of these female relatives had lost their husbands during the war.

Edith had little formal education. Her sisters were enrolled in local schools, but she was not. Her paternal grandmother, Anne Wiggington Bolling, played a large role in educating the girl. Grandmother Bolling was crippled by a spinal cord injury and confined to bed. Bedridden, Grandmother Bolling demanded that Edith wash her clothing, turn her in bed at night, and look after her 27 pet canaries. But Bolling taught Edith to read, write, speak a mish-mash of French and English, make dresses, to crochet, knit, and embroider. Edith also was taught an appreciation for poetry and music. Grandmother Bolling also instilled in her grand-daughter a tendency to make quick judgments and to hold strong opinions, personality traits Edith would exhibit her entire life. Edith's father, William Bolling, read classic English literature aloud to his family at night, and occasionally hired a tutor to teach his daughter. She also traveled with her father at times. Although Edith was close to her father, her relationship with her mother was distant and Edith later wrote very little about her.

During her childhood, Edith was particularly impressed by the songs and folktales she heard. Every day, the Bolling family would gather in Grandmother Bolling's bedroom and listen to the older woman sing songs and tell romantic stories of people who find true love. These songs and stories also left a deep impression on Edith. The Bollings were frequent church-goers, and Episcopalians. Edith would be a devout Episcopalian her entire life.

When Edith was 15 years old, she received her first formal schooling. Her father enrolled her at Martha Washington College (a precursor of Emory and Henry College), a finishing school for girls in Abingdon, Virginia. Her father chose it because it had a good music program. She was miserable there, largely due to poor food and cold rooms. The school was also rigorous and life there strictly regimented, which she disliked. She returned home after a single semester. When she was 17, her father enrolled her in Powell's School for girls in Richmond, Virginia. She later said it was the happiest time of her life. Powell's School closed at the end of the year after the headmaster suffered an accident that cost him his leg. Concerned about the cost of Edith's education, William Bolling refused to pay for any additional schooling for his daughter—choosing to send Edith's three brothers to school instead. By this time, Edith had read only a few books in her entire life and her handwriting was so poor as to be almost illegible.

While visiting her married sister in Washington, D.C., Edith met Norman Galt, a prosperous jeweler; in 1896 they were married. For 12 years she lived as a contented young matron in the capital, with vacations abroad. However, her personal life was not without tragedy: she gave birth to a son in 1903 who lived only for a few days (the difficult birth also left her unable to bear additional children). In 1908 her husband died unexpectedly. Edith Bolling Galt then chose a manager who operated the family's jewelry firm with financial success.