James Robert Bolling was born on this day in 1889, in Rockingham County, to C. W. and Mary Bolling.
He was a pioneer in the bicycle and motorcycle retail business in Winston-Salem, opening his business in the early 1910s. Around 1915 he began to represent the Harley-Davidson Company. By 1918 he had sold more than 50 of these motorcycles in and around Winston-Salem. His business was located on West Third Street at one time, then he moved to Marshall Street.
In 1930, he left town headed to Los Angeles for a seven day transcontinental motorcycle trip. He crashed in Arkansas and died of a fractured skull.
His survivors included his wife, Artie Elam, and five children. His wife, and later a son, operated the business until the 1950s.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
