Theodorick Bland also known as Theodorick Bland, Jr., was a physician, soldier, and statesman from Prince George County, Virginia

Prince George County, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 33,047 people, 10,159 households, and 8,096 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 10,726 housing units at an average density of 40 per square mile...

. He became a major figure in the formation of the new United States government, representing Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

 in both the Continental Congress

Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates called together from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....

 and the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

.

Early life and education

Bland was born in Prince George County in 1741 to a prominent family in colonial Virginia. His parents were Theodorick Bland of Cawsons

Theodorick Bland of Cawsons

Theodorick Bland , also known as Theodorick Bland, Sr. or Theodorick Bland of Cawsons, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, a clerk of the court of Prince George County, Virginia, and the father of Congressman Theodorick Bland.-Biography:Bland was the son of Richard Bland and Elizabeth...

 and Frances Elizabeth (Bolling) Bland. His mother was the only child and heir of Capt Drury Bolling and Elizabeth Meriweather of "Kippax," which plantation the younger Theodorick subsequently inherited.

His grandfather, Richard Bland

Richard Bland (burgess)

Richard Bland , sometimes known as Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, the father of Richard Bland, the son of Theodorick Bland of Westover, and the grandson of Richard Bennett, an English Governor of the Colony of Virginia...

, had married Elizabeth Randolph, daughter of William Randolph of Turkey Island. His uncle, Richard Bland

Richard Bland

Richard Bland , sometimes referred to as Richard Bland II or Richard Bland of Jordan's Point, was an American planter and statesman from Virginia...

, his father's first cousin Peyton Randolph

Peyton Randolph

Peyton Randolph was a planter and public official from the Colony of Virginia. He served as speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses, chairman of the Virginia Conventions, and the first President of the Continental Congress.-Early life:Randolph was born in Tazewell Hall, Williamsburg, Virginia...

, and his second cousin Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

 would precede him in the Congresses.
At the age of 12, Theodorick Bland, Jr. was sent to Great Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 for education. He studied first in Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, then went to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

, graduating as a doctor in 1763.

Early career and marriage

That year Bland returned to Virginia and began a medical practice. He married Martha Daingerfield in 1768 and they likely settled at Kippax about that time. (His parents had moved to Cawsons.) With the inheritance of Kippax plantation, Bland became a planter

Plantations in the American South

Plantations were an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum .-Planter :The owner of a plantation was called a planter...

 and major slaveholder. Bland retired from medical practice in the late 1760s, "in favor of farming and politics". He became active in politics before the war, serving as the Clerk of Prince George County.

Revolutionary War

As the Revolution

American Revolution

The American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...

 neared, Bland's Whig

Patriot (American Revolution)

Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...

 views aligned him with the rebels. In June 1776, he became a captain in the Virginia's cavalry. He rose quickly to Colonel and commanded the 1st Virginia Cavalry

1st Virginia Cavalry

The 1st Virginia Volunteer Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment raised in Virginia for service in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War...

, often cited "Bland's Virginia Horse" in Revolutionary dispatches and correspondence.(see The Bland Papers and correspondence between him and George Washington). In the latter capacity he reported directly to Gen. Washington. He retired in 1779 from active cavalry service due to poor health, which he had suffered from his youth.

At the request of Gen. Washington, Bland then served as Warden at Charlottesville over British officers taken prisoner. He also worked to keep Washington's officers and cavalry supplied with quality horses both from his own stables and from others. As a participant in the early American horse-racing community, Bland owned a large stable and had access to others among his relatives and friends.

Bland's observations at Brandywine

Brandywine

-Geographic locations:In British Columbia*Brandywine Falls Provincial Park*Brandywine MountainIn Delaware*Brandywine Creek, a tributary of the Christina River.*Brandywine Hundred, an unincorporated subdivision of New Castle County...

 supplied General Washington with the correct location of Lord Cornwallis' and Howe

Howe

Howe from the meaning hill, knoll, or mound may refer to:*a tumulus , in particular a Bowl barrow.Places in the United Kingdom:*Howe, North Yorkshire*Howe, Norfolk*Maeshowe, Orkney*Duggleby Howe, East Yorkshire...

's main armies; Bland wrote two separate dispatches and Col James Ross of the 8th Pennsylvania wrote another dispatch reporting on the British. Both men's dispatches supported that of Col Hazen. Their dispatches were not interpreted accurately in sorting the British troop movements until it was almost too late. Without the accurate contributions of Bland, Ross and Hazen, a worse result might have befallen Washington's army at Brandywine.
Some later accounts have Bland's Virginia Horse subsequently assigned to scouting duty. In his 1922 biography of John Randolph, the historian William Cabell Bruce suggested that the Brandywine incident encouraged Washington to use his cavalries more for scouting rather than sitting in formation on the front lines, as they had at Brandywine. Perhaps that shift is what led some to later speculate that Bland's unit was "subsequently relegated to scouting duty". It was the lack of scouting that led to the Brandywine errors.
In 1779, Bland returned to Virginia, where for a few months he commanded the prisoner-of-war post at Charlottesville before being allowed to retire from military duty. He had requested this for some time from Washington due to his poor health. He had retired from his active medical practice for the same health issues in the late 1760s, nearly a decade before the war had begun.

Political career

Bland's political career began before the Revolution, when he served as the Clerk of Prince George County, and had a great deal of contact with the House of Burgesses

House of Burgesses

The House of Burgesses was the first assembly of elected representatives of English colonists in North America. The House was established by the Virginia Company, who created the body as part of an effort to encourage English craftsmen to settle in North America...

. As a planter, he cultivated tobacco, indigo and wheat.

Following the war, he continued as Clerk of the county, maintaining contact with the Virginia House of Delegates

Virginia House of Delegates

The Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbered years. The House is presided over by the Speaker of the House, who is elected from among the...

. In 1780, that house named him as a delegate to the Continental Congress, where Bland served until 1783. He helped form the new United States government. After his father moved to Amelia County, Bland took over Cawsons (apparently about 1783-1784 after his return to Virginia from the Continental Congress and his father's death.) He operated Kippax as an out-plantation.
In 1786, Bland was elected to the Virginia House, where he served until 1788. In 1788, he was appointed as a delegate to the Virginia Convention

Virginia Ratifying Convention

The Virginia Ratifying Convention was a convention of 168 delegates from Virginia who met in 1788 to ratify or reject the United States Constitution, which had been drafted at the Philadelphia Convention the previous year.The Convention met and deliberated from June 2 through June 27 in Richmond...

 called to ratify the United States Constitution

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...

. Bland was opposed to ratification, as he believed it yielded too much power to a central government.

After the constitution was adopted, Bland was elected to the First United States Congress. He served in the House of Representatives from March 4, 1789 until his death in 1790 at the age of 49. He died while attending the Congress in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Bland was the first member of Congress to die in office. William Branch Giles

William Branch Giles

William Branch Giles ; the name is pronounced jyles) was an American statesman, long-term Senator from Virginia, and the 24th Governor of Virginia...

 completed his term.

Bland was originally buried in New York's Trinity Churchyard in Lower Manhattan. (Trinity Church

Trinity Church, New York

Trinity Church at 79 Broadway, Lower Manhattan, is a historic, active parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York...

 is a National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

). In 1828, his remains were moved and reinterred in the Congressional Cemetery

Congressional Cemetery

The Congressional Cemetery is a historic cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the final resting place of thousands of individuals who helped form the nation and the city of Washington in the early 19th century. Many members of...

 in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

.

His wife Martha Bland survived him and married two more times. She was an independent woman, maintaining the Bland holdings by executing marriage contracts to control her own lands.

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