Theodorick Bland (congressman)

Theodorick Bland (March 21, 1742– June 1, 1790) was a physician, soldier, and statesman from Prince George County, Virginia. He represented Virginia in both the Continental Congress and the United States House of Representatives. [cite web
url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000546
title=BLAND, Theodorick, (1742 - 1790)
publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
accessdate=2007-11-27]

Bland was born in Prince George County in 1742 to a prominent family in colonial Virginia. His parents were Theodorick and Elizabeth (Bolling) Bland. His grandfather, Richard Bland had married Elizabeth Randolph. His uncle, Richard Bland, and his cousin, Peyton Randolph would precede him in the Congress. Theodorick was sent to Great Britain for education and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1763. He returned to Virginia and began a practice. [cite web
url=http://state.vipnet.org/dhr/registers/Cities/Hopewell/116-5021_Kippax_Plantation_NRdraft_2007.pdf
title=National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Kippax Plantation Archaeological Site
publisher=United States Department of the Interior
author=Donald W. Linebaugh
date=March 12, 2007]

As the Revolution neared, Bland's Whig views aligned him with the rebels. [cite web
url=http://www.history.org/media/podcasts_transcripts/NewLookatGovernorsPalace.cfm
title=A new look at the Governor’s Palace
author=Lloyd Dobyns
coauthors=Erik Goldstein
date=April 3, 2006
publisher=The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation] In June 1776, he became a captain in the Virginia's cavalry.He eventually rose to become Colonel of the 1st Continental Light Dragoons, but his military career was not very noteworthy. [cite book
url=http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~wcarr1/Lossing1/Chap38.html
title=Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution
author=Benson J. Lossing
volume=III
date=1850] A part of his problems was due to General Washington's generally poor use of cavalry.Fact|date=September 2007The other part was due to his own limitations in military leadership.Fact|date=September 2007His unit was relegated to scouting duty and he was later described by a distant cousin, Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, as "...noble, sensible, honorable, and amiable; but never intended for the department of military intelligence." [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=hHksAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=%22noble+sensible+honorable+and+amiable%22&source=web&ots=1tFAAeFJtu&sig=16kHg2FBeS9-bQTGkPlp1X6yxuo
title=John Randolph of Roanoke, 1773-1833: A Biography Based Largely on New Material
author=William Cabell Bruce
date=1922
publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons
pages=25] cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=NOwk_bbGqqcC&dq=%22the+bland+papers%22&printsec=frontcover&source=web&ots=V5p_cCujq1&sig=36GG90i3E7pLFrmuUNQ3nWEksD0
title=The Bland Papers: Being a Selection from the Manuscripts of Colonel Theodorick Bland, Jr.
author=Theodorick Bland
coauthors=Charles Campbell
publisher=E. & J.C. Ruffin
date=1840
pages=xxviii] In 1779, Bland returned to Virginia, for a few months in charge of the post at Charlottesville before leaving the military and going to New York.

Political career

For a number of years, Bland had served as the Clerk of Prince George County, and had a great deal of contact with the House of Burgesses and its revolution successor, the Virginia House of Delegates. In 1780, that house named him as a delegate to the Continental Congress, and he served there until 1783. [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=5NslKixw0-QC&pg=PA448&lpg=PA448&dq=%22theodoric+bland%22&source=web&ots=ZxeKdp_idS&sig=w2EO3UE3BbXfmDqE3wqboGRkyXE
title=The Writings of Thomas Jefferson
author=Thomas Jefferson
date=1893
publisher=G.P. Putnam's Sons] [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=8wsOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA477&lpg=PA477&dq=%22theodoric+bland%22&source=web&ots=mUgsiD3aIe&sig=BH15H_ve_2cQ0l6d3CCWZ86m1vE
author=Richard Henry Lee
coauthors=compiled by James Curtis Ballagh
title=The Letters of Richard Henry Lee
date=1914
publisher=The Macmillan Company] [cite web
url=http://secure.profilesinhistory.com/catalog/itemdetail2.asp?ItemId=481&Title=REVOLUTIONARY+WAR.++BLAND%2C+THEODORIC.
title=a letter to General George Weedon
author=Theodoric Bland
date=April 11, 1783
publisher=Profiles in History] In 1786, his neighbors sent him to the state's House, where he served until 1788.

In 1788, he was a delegate to the Virginia Convention called to ratify the United States Constitution. Bland was opposed to ratification as yielding too much power to a central government. Yet when the constitution was adopted, he was elected to the First United States Congress, and he served in the House of Representatives from March 4, 1789 until his death in 1790. He died while attending the Congress in New York City.

Bland was the first member of Congress to die in office. [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=f1UOAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA70&lpg=PA70&dq=%22theodoric+bland%22&source=web&ots=4o73wDXtgI&sig=4qjaZro_qdkkrrpy670aNr5Tzd4
title=The Memorial History of the City of New York: From Its First Settlement to the Year 1892
author=James Grant Wilson]
William Branch Giles completed his term. Bland was originally buried in New York's Trinity Churchyard. In 1828, his remains were moved to the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C..

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