Boland Cauley was the fifth child of John and Elizabeth (Dannelley) Cauley. He was named after Bowling William Starke. Starke was John Cauley's lieutenant and captain during his time in the CSA.

Boland married Millie Ann Morris on 27 June 1880. He homesteaded a 160-acre tract of land just a few miles from his boyhood home in Covington County. Boland and Millie cleared the land on their own; they felled trees, planted, harvested, split rails, fenced the land, and built their log cabin. The land was never mortgaged, and Boland was always proud of this.

As a child, Boland had eye troubles that led to him going blind in one eye, although his handicap never hindered him in the slightest. In addition to being a farmer, Boland was also a skilled joiner and built coffins for most of the people in the area. He lost the sight in his other eye in his early nineties but remained as sharp as ever. He had an excellent memory and could remember, for example, his father coming home from the Civil War riding a white horse. Boland wasn't any older than three at the end of the Civil War.

As a young man, Boland was handsome with a full head of red hair. He joined the Masonic order at age 21 and remained a faithful member until his death. Boland thought cars were "useless noisy things" but didn't mind riding in them when some of his Lodge members came to get him for meetings. Because Bethany Primitive Baptist Church, the church of his choice, admitted no members of secret orders to its congregation, Boland was never an official member of any church. However, he adhered to the Primitive Baptist faith throughout his life.

He is fondly remembered by all who knew him.

A note on his name: It appears as Boland, Bowling, Bolton, Bolan, and Bowlin in various records. I have chosen to use Boland to reflect the spelling on his headstone.