Theodorick Bland (congressman)

Theodorick Bland (March 21, 1741 – June 1, 1790), also known as Theodorick Bland, Jr., was a physician, soldier, and statesman from Prince George County, Virginia. He became a major figure in the formation of the new United States government, representing Virginia in both the Continental Congress and the United States House of Representatives.

Bland was born in Prince George County in 1741 to a prominent family in colonial Virginia. His parents were Theodorick Bland of Cawsons 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, had married Elizabeth Randolph, daughter of William Randolph of Turkey Island. His uncle, Richard Bland, his father's first cousin Peyton Randolph, and his second cousin Thomas Jefferson would precede him in the Congresses. At the age of 12, Theodorick Bland, Jr. was sent to Great Britain for education. He studied first in Yorkshire, then went to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating as a doctor in 1763.

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 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.

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