Theodorick Bland of Cawsons

Theodorick Bland (December 2, 1708 – 1784),^[1][2] 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.^[3][4]

Biography

Bland was the son of Richard Bland and Elizabeth Randolph, the daughter of William Randolph I.^[5] He has been described as "a plain practical man, with but slender advantages of education, of an ample fortune and respectable character",^[4] and "a respected member of Virginia's glittering planter aristocracy".^[1] Reported to be "magnificent", "spacious", and "a hospitable seat of taste and elegance", Bland's plantation, Cawsons, was located on a promontory where the Appomattox River turned north to meet the James River.^[1]

Around 1738, Bland married Frances Bolling, the daughter of Drury Bolling. They had six children:^{[6][nb 1]}

• Elizabeth "Patsy" Bland (born January 4, 1739)^[6] married John Banister and had three sons.^[7]
• Theodorick Bland (March 21, 1741/42)^[6]
• Mary Bland (born August 22, 1745)^[6]
• Ann Bland (born September 5, 1747)^[6]
• Jane Bland (born September 30, 1749)^[6]
• Frances Bland (born September 24, 1752)^[6] first married John Randolph, the son of Richard Randolph, and had four children (including John Randolph of Roanoke); then later married St. George Tucker and had five children.^[6]

Bland later married Elizabeth Randolph the daughter of Edward Randolph, the grand-daughter of William Randolph I, and the widow of William Yates.^{[2][nb 1]}

On November 15, 1758, Francis Fauquier, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Colony, appointed Bland colonel of the militia for Prince George County.^[4] Before the American Revolution, the Bland and Randolph families of Virginia frequently cooperated with each other to manage their plantations.^[1] After the Gunpowder Incident at the beginning of the war, Bland, along with his son, Theodorick Bland Jr, and his son-in-law, John Randolph, offered 40 slaves for sale to raise funds to replace the gunpowder seized by Lord Dunmore from the magazine in Williamsburg, Virginia.^[1][8] Around January 1781, St. George Tucker assisted Bland, his father-in-law, in escaping the advancing British Army commanded by Benedict Arnold.^[1] A few months later, the British Major-General William Phillips ordered that his troops in Prince George County not harm Bland's property.^[9]

In 1775, Bland owned a sorrel mare that had been imported from England by William Byrd III.^[10] Quaker-Lass was described in one stud book as "the finest looking mare in Virginia, of her day".^[10]

Ancestry

Bland's paternal uncle was the surveyor Theodorick Bland.^[11]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} One source mistakenly indicates that Bland had five children with Frances Bolling (Elizabeth, Mary, Anna, Jenny, and Theodorick Jr) and two more after marrying Elizabeth Randolph, the widow of William Yates (Patsy and Frances).^[3]

References