John William Bolts

{{Short description|American politician (1861–1921)}}{{Infobox officeholder

| term_start = 1898

| term_end = 1901

| birth_date = {{birth date|1861|5|12}}

| birth_place = Georgetown, South Carolina, U.S.

| alma_mater = Benedict College

| spouse = Gertrude Ford Bolts

| children = 4

| predecessor = Robert B. Anderson

| state_house = South Carolina

| death_date = 1921

| party = Republican

| image = John William Bolts.jpg

}}

John William Bolts (May 12, 1861 – 1921) was a state legislator in South Carolina. He was elected in 1898 and 1900 from Georgetown, South Carolina{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b9VPA_HvURcC&q=jonathan+alexander+baxter+georgetown+county&pg=PA38|title=Georgetown County, South Carolina|first=Ramona La|last=Roche|date=April 21, 2000|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9780738503479|via=Google Books}} and served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Bolts was the last African American to serve in the South Carolina House of Representatives for seven decades that followed, and the last Republican until Charles Boineau was elected in a special election in 1961.

John William Bolts was born on May 12, 1861, in Georgetown, South Carolina.{{Cite web |title=John William Bolts (1861-1921) |url=http://www.gcdigital.org/digital/collection/p15077coll7/id/18/ |access-date=2025-05-06 |website=www.gcdigital.org}} He attended Benedict College in Columbia, South Carolina.

Bolts succeeded Robert B. Anderson as the African American representative for the Georgetown County fusion ticket.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BknDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22robert+b.+anderson%22+georgetown&pg=PA126|title=All for Civil Rights: African American Lawyers in South Carolina, 1868-1968|first=William Lewis|last=Burke|date=November 1, 2017|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=9780820350981|via=Google Books}}

He was married to Gertrude Ford Bolts and had four children.