Prince George County Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Bland, Theodoric 1742 - 1790
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/va/vafiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Alice Warner http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00015.html#0003503 August 12, 2008, 5:56 pm

Author: John Howard Brown

BLAND, Theodoric, soldier, was born in Prince George county, Va., in 1742. He
was fourth in line of descent from  Pocahontas, his mother being Jane Rolfe. At
the age of eleven he was sent to England to be educated, pursuing his
preliminary studies at Wakefield, and obtaining his A.M. and M.D. degrees at
Edinburgh university. He returned to the United States in 1764 and engaged in
the practice of his profession. He led the band of volunteers who reclaimed by
force the arms and ammunition which Governor Dunmore had removed from the public
arsenal to his palace, and, under the pseudonym " Cassius," he published several
letters denouncing the action of the governor. He took an active part in the
enrollment of troops and when, in 1877, he joined the main Continental army he
was appointed lieutenant-colonel. He  later rose to the rank of colonel, and
gained the friendship and respect of the commander-in-chief by his wise and
gallant action. He fought in the battle of the Brandywine and Saratoga, and was
given command of the prisoners in their long march to Charlottesville, Va. He
sat for one term in the Virginia senate during the war period, and in the
Continental Congress from 1780 to 1788. He opposed the adoption of the Federal
constitution, but represented Virginia in the 1st Congress. His death was the
first to be publicly announced in the house of representatives. The " Bland 
Papers," collected and edited by Charles Campbell (1840-'43), contain many
valuable memorials of the revolution, and are accompanied by a memoir of
Theodoric Bland. He died in New York city. June 1. 1790. 

Additional Comments:
Lamb's Biographical Dictionary of the United States.

Note: It absolutely says in the original that he joined the Continental army in
1877. I am not sure what the correct year should be, but it is evident that as
he died nearly a century previous, that it is not correct.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/princegeorge/bios/bland142gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vafiles/

File size: 2.5 Kb