Jane Rolfe

Jane Rolfe (October 10, 1650 - c. 1676) is famous for being the grandchild of the legendary Native American princess Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhatan, who married the English colonist John Rolfe, who is credited for introducing a strain of tobacco for export by the struggling Virginia Colony. Pocahontas (who adopted the Christian name of Rebecca) and John Rolfe were married on April 5, 1614, and had one child, Thomas Rolfe, who was born in Virginia on January 30, 1615.

Jane Rolfe was born in what is now Henrico County, Virginia on October 10, 1650 to Thomas Rolfe and his English wife Jane Poythress. In about 1675, she married Robert Bolling of Prince George County, Virginia, and they had their only child, John Bolling, on January 26, 1676. Jane is saidFact|date=August 2008 to have died shortly afterward, possibly from the effects of childbirth.

Her only son Major John Bolling (who died on April 20, 1729) had six surviving children by his wife Mary Kennon, and many Americans can claim descent from Pocahontas.

Genealogical trivia

Contrary to some inaccurate genealogies published on the internet and elsewhere, Jane Rolfe was not the mother of Robert Bolling, Jr. (a tenth generation ancestor of President George W. Bush); he was born in 1682, six years after Jane Rolfe's death, and was the son of Robert Bolling's second wife, Anne Stith.

External links

* [http://www.nps.gov/colo/Jthanout/ThomasRolfe.htm Rolfe family history by U. S. National Park Service]
* [http://members.aol.com/lredtail/poca.html On-Line Genealogical Information]