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My great-great-grandfather was Esom Bolen, and he had a son named James R.
I don't know when or where he was born, but I'm guessing somewhere around 1842. The first trace I find of him is in the 1870 census in Pulaski Co., Kentucky. He is living in the household of Henry and Elizabeth Gibson and is listed as a handyman. I believe his age is listed incorrectly at 17. He was probably about 27.
Also in the household is Elizabeth Gibson's widowed daughter Polly and Polly's young daughter Mary. Polly was the youngest of Elizabeth's children from a previous marriage. Sometime shortly thereafter, Esom and Polly left the household and ran off together. Perhaps they were married and perhaps not--I've never been able to find any record of marriage. However, they did put themselves forth as married when they turned up in the 1880 census in Webster Co., Missouri. By then, they had two sons of their own, William (my great-grandfather) and Thomas. Also in the household were Esom's son James and Polly's daughter Mary. There is some speculation as to who was James' mother; some of his descendants believe that her name was Martha Bolin, who may have been a cousin. (Martha's father was also named Esom.) Either Esom and Martha were never married, or they were divorced, because she was alive and well when Esom and Polly hooked up.
Sometime after the census was taken, James ran away to the west, and his siblings never knew what happened to him. My great-grandfather, who idolized his half-brother, was very upset about James' running away and grieved about it until the day he died in the 1950s.
Sometime in the fall of 1881, Polly gave birth to a daughter named Jenny. By now, the family was living in Benton Co., Arkansas. Something went terribly wrong, and on Christmas Eve, Polly shot Esom to death while he sat at the dinner table. She was arrested and committed suicide in the jail two days later. While I don't know why all of this happened, I do know that Esom had a very bad reputation, and Polly may have been suffering from post-partum depression. Anyway, the children eventually were collected by Bolen relatives and returned to Kentucky.
There are some documents in Benton County that give the details on the murder-suicide.
This is about all I know. By the time I knew the bare outlines of the story, my great-grandfather and grandfather were deceased, and the relatives who knew anything didn't know much.
If anyone else knows anything, I would appreciate the help.
Ava Smith
Austin, TX
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