Bland, Theodorick, 1741-1790

Theodorick Bland (March 21, 1741 – June 1, 1790), also known as Theodorick Bland, Jr., was an American slave owner, planter, physician, soldier, and politician 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 (until his death in office), as well as serving multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Prince George County, which he also represented in the Virginia Ratification Convention.

Born in Prince George County in the Colony of Virginia, he was sent to England to be educated, studying in Yorkshire before going to Scotland to study medicine at the University of Edinburgh, graduating as a doctor in 1763. Bland then returned to Virginia and began a medical practice, as well as followed family traditions of political involvement and farming using enslaved labor. As the Revolution neared, Bland's Whig views aligned him with the rebels. In June 1776, Bland accepted a commission as captain in Virginia's cavalry. He rose quickly to Colonel and commanded the 1st Continental Light Dragoons, often cited as "Bland's Virginia Horse" in Revolutionary dispatches and correspondence. He would retire in 1779 from active cavalry service due to poor health, which he had suffered from his youth.

Bland's political career had begun 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. Following the war, Bland continued as the county's Clerk, which caused him to communicate with the Virginia General Assembly. In 1780, the General Assembly named Bland as one of Virginia's delegates to the Continental Congress, where he served until 1783 and thus helped form the new United States government. In 1786, Bland was elected to the Virginia House, where he served until 1788. In 1788, Prince George voters elected Bland as one of their delegates to the Virginia Convention called to ratify the United States Constitution. Bland voted against ratification, as he believed it yielded too much power to a central government.

After the constitution was adopted, Virginia legislators elected to Bland the First United States Congress. He served in the House of Representatives from March 4, 1789 until his death in New York City, the first member of House of Representatives to die in office. Bland was originally buried in New York's Trinity Churchyard in Lower Manhattan. In 1828, his remains were moved and reinterred in the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.