Thomas David Bouldin (c. 1835–1877): Farmer, Soldier, and the Henry County Branch of the Family

Hello, family and fellow enthusiasts! As we continue tracing the Bouldin branches through Virginia and beyond, today’s post brings us to Thomas David Bouldin of Henry County. His story joins familiar family roots to the hardships of the Civil War, while also reminding us how much of a family’s history can rest in records that still need closer examination.

I’m sharing what our current research report tells us, along with the places where we should remain cautious. Thomas’s life is already coming into view; some details, especially the full list of his children and the evidence for his death, remain open leads.

A Henry County farmer, and a service record that gives us a glimpse

Thomas was born in Henry County, Virginia, probably between 1835 and 1837. We do not yet have a settled birth year. His military service record gives his age as 25 on 17 March 1862, which points to about 1837. Older compilations suggest about 1835. Until we can compare the original records and supporting census evidence, it is fairest to preserve both possibilities rather than choose one.[1]

He was the son of Frederick H. Bouldin, born about 1810–1812 and reported to have died on 24 November 1880, and Mildred Payne Rea. Frederick and Mildred married in Henry County on 20 January 1834, with consent from David Rea. Thomas worked as a farmer in Henry County: a plain description, but one that places him in the everyday life of the community and the family’s Virginia branch.[2]

On 17 March 1862, Thomas enlisted at Henry Court House as a private in Company H, known as the “Henry Guards,” of the 24th Virginia Infantry. The regiment saw heavy action, including at Williamsburg. That is regimental context only: the information before us does not establish that Thomas personally fought at Williamsburg. His own service record instead gives us a sobering outline of illness and absence from duty. He was hospitalized at Camp Winder on 12 October 1862 and returned on 24 December. A second hospitalization in Richmond began on 19 December 1862; the record gives the diagnosis as phthisis, or tuberculosis. He was discharged for disability on 18 August 1863.[3]

The service record preserves one detail that feels especially close to us: Thomas was 6 feet, 1½ inches tall, with a fair complexion, dark hair, and grey eyes. It is not a portrait, of course, but it is the nearest thing we have to seeing him. I find those brief physical descriptions moving. Small marks on a military form that help a person from the past feel less distant.

Thomas survived the war. The current report gives his death as 28 June 1877, at about 40 to 42 years of age, and identifies his burial place as Horsepasture Christian Church Cemetery in Horse Pasture, Henry County. A Find a Grave memorial is recorded as number 67700082. The death record or an obituary remains an important open lead, so this date and burial information should be read in light of the research still underway.[4]

Sarah and the family life that continued

Thomas married Sarah Elizabeth Bocock in Henry County on 23 October 1854. The marriage record names Frederick H. and Mildred Bouldin as Thomas’s parents. Sarah was born on 26 February 1833, the daughter of Drury W. Bocock and Sarah Bocock.[5]

Sarah’s life deserves a place in this account in its own right. She outlived Thomas by more than three decades, dying in Pulaski County on 28 March 1910. Census evidence summarized in our report shows her as a head of household in later years, before she moved to Pulaski County to live with a son. The path from wife and mother in Henry County to widow, household head, and later member of a son’s home is an important chapter, not simply a postscript to Thomas’s story.[6]

Three sons are currently identified in the research: Thomas Matthew Bouldin, born 7 June 1859 in Martinsville or Henry County, who married Elizabeth Underwood; Henry Green Bouldin, born 12 April 1861, who married Lydia Ann Hughett in Giles County and died in 1938; and Drury F. Bouldin, who appears with his widowed mother Sarah in the 1900 Pulaski County census.[7]

These names are not a complete list of Thomas and Sarah’s children. Our report notes that one compilation suggests there may have been as many as ten siblings, but the full enumeration is still open. We need to examine the 1860, 1870, and 1880 census images before treating any list as complete. As those records are reviewed, we may add names, or revise what we currently believe.

The longer family line behind the Henry County branch

Thomas’s place in the broader Bouldin family tree is well documented in the current report. His father, Frederick H., was the son of Thomas Bouldin Jr. (about 1761–1840/45), associated with Charlotte and Henry Counties and War of 1812 service. Thomas Jr. married Armine Estes Cox in Stokes County, North Carolina, in 1800.

The line continues through Col. Thomas Bouldin (1738–1827), born in Cecil County, Maryland, who served in the Revolutionary period and operated iron works with Peter Perkins. Earlier still was Col. Thomas Bouldin (about 1706–1783), who moved from Cecil County to Golden Hills in Charlotte County, Virginia, married Ann “Nancy” Wood Clark, and was connected to cartographer Augustine Herman. This branch descends through William and Thomasin (Nash) Boulden of Cecil County. The same documented colonial line represented elsewhere in our project.[8]

For readers who would like to revisit the earlier generations, our overview of the first four generations offers another step along that shared path.

An open DNA question for this branch

There is one especially useful question we may be able to investigate together. The Bolling Family Association DNA project lists Group 2 under the candidate immigrant Thomas Bouldinge, born about 1580 and recorded as arriving on the Swan in 1610-an Ancient Planter candidate. The project report describes close Y-DNA matches within the group, including 12/12, 24/25 or higher, and 35/37 matches.[9]

That group placement is a lead, not proof that Thomas David’s Henry County branch has been tested or confirmed. Our current report finds no publicly available Y-DNA result from a male-line descendant of this exact branch. Testing a direct male-line descendant could help determine whether the Henry County Bouldins belong with that Group 2 pattern. It would fill a real gap in the family’s documented history.

Research invitation. Wording retained for review: If you are a male-line descendant of any son of Frederick H. Bouldin (including Thomas David, Joseph H., Washington Hillary/William H., John C., or another son) you may wish to consider taking a Y-DNA test as a family-history research contribution. The participant would arrange and fund their own kit; there is no purchase or donation request here. Before taking part, please know that results entered in the surname project become visible to project matches. Anyone considering testing should be comfortable with that level of sharing. This invitation is deliberately offered as editable research wording, should the family need to revise it after review.

What we know, and what we still need to see

Thomas’s story is already a meaningful thread in our family tapestry: a Henry County farmer, a private in the 24th Virginia, a husband and father, and a man whose military record leaves us a striking physical description. At the same time, our account rests on the project’s current source report and compiled findings. Original service records, full census-image review, a death record or obituary, and Henry County land or tax records remain pending research leads.[10]

As we continue, those documents may clarify Thomas’s dates, household, and children, and perhaps help us test the Henry County branch’s connection to the wider Bouldin line. Thank you for helping keep this family history alive. Each careful record we find gives us another chance to see our shared roots more clearly.

Numbered footnotes

1. Project research report, “Thomas David Bouldin (c.1835–1877) Henry County VA research report,” filed 13 October 2026. The report compares the service-record age of 25 on 17 March 1862 with older compiled birth estimates; original census images remain an open lead.
2. Ibid.; report summary of Frederick H. Bouldin, Mildred Payne Rea, their marriage on 20 January 1834, and Thomas’s occupation and county.
3. Compiled service record summary for Thomas David Bouldin, Company H (“Henry Guards”), 24th Virginia Infantry; report gives enlistment, hospitalization, diagnosis, return, and discharge dates. The regiment’s Williamsburg action is regimental context, not evidence of Thomas’s individual presence there.
4. Project research report; Find a Grave memorial 67700082, Horsepasture Christian Church Cemetery, Horse Pasture, Henry County. The report lists 28 June 1877 as Thomas’s death date and flags a death record or obituary as still to be located.
5. Virginia Marriages, 1785–1940, Henry County marriage record, 23 October 1854; project research report summary for Sarah Elizabeth Bocock’s birth and parents.
6. Federal census records, Henry and Pulaski Counties, 1850–1900, as summarized in the project research report; the report also gives Sarah’s death date as 28 March 1910 in Pulaski County.
7. Project research report; federal census records, including the 1900 Pulaski County household entry for Sarah and Drury F. Bouldin. Full child enumeration remains pending review of 1860, 1870, and 1880 census images.
8. Project research report, ancestral placement section, tracing Frederick H. Bouldin through Thomas Bouldin Jr. and the two Col. Thomas Bouldins to William and Thomasin (Nash) Boulden of Cecil County.
9. Bolling Family Association, “DNA Results: Groups and Immigrant Ancestor or Family Head,” bolling.net/dna-results. The Group 2 connection is a project lead; the Henry County branch itself has not yet been publicly Y-DNA tested, according to the project research report.
10. Project research report and open leads: original compiled service records, 1850–1880 census images, 1877 death record or obituary, and Henry County land or tax records remain to be examined.