Theodorick Bland of Cawsons

Bland was born into the First Families of Virginia, the son of Richard Bland and Elizabeth Randolph, the daughter of William Randolph I.{{cite book |last1=Bland |first1=Theodorick |editor1-first=Charles |editor1-last=Campbell |title=The Bland papers: Being a Selection from the Manuscripts of Colonel Theodorick Bland Jr. of Prince George County Virginia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kZ2AAAAMAAJ |volume=I |year=1840 |publisher=Edmund & Julian C. Ruffin |location=Petersburg, Virginia |pages=145–149 |chapter=Appendix |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_kZ2AAAAMAAJ&pg=PA145 }}

Around 1738, Bland married for the first time, to Frances Bolling, the daughter of Drury Bolling, and who inherited Kippax plantation on the Appomattox River. They had six children:{{cite web |url=http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vabrcdar/family.html |title=The Family of Frances Bland Randolph Tucker |author=Frances Bland Randolph Chapter, NSDAR |date=August 8, 2010 |publisher=Frances Bland Randolph Chapter, NSDAR |location=Petersburg, Virginia |access-date=December 9, 2010 }}{{#tag:ref|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).|name="example"|group="nb"}}

• Elizabeth "Patsy" Bland (born January 4, 1739) married John Banister and had three sons.{{cite web |url=http://www.coljohnbanister.org/banister.htm |title=Colonel John Banister |publisher=Colonel John Banister Chapter, NSDAR |access-date=December 7, 2010}}
• Theodorick Bland (March 21, 1741/42)
• Mary Bland (born August 22, 1745)
• Ann Bland (born September 5, 1747)
• Jane Bland (born September 30, 1749)
• Frances Bland (born September 24, 1752) first married John Randolph, the son of Burgess Richard Randolph, and had four children (including John Randolph of Roanoke); then later married St. George Tucker and had five children (including Henry St. George Tucker, Sr. and Nathaniel Beverley Tucker).

Bland later married Elizabeth Randolph the daughter of Edward Randolph, the granddaughter of William Randolph I, and the widow of William Yates.

File:Coat of Arms of Edward Bland.svg

Described as "a plain practical man, with but slender advantages of education, of an ample fortune and respectable character", he was "a respected member of Virginia's glittering planter aristocracy". He initially operated and lived at Kippax Plantation along the Appomattox River (which became Hopewell) and later built a renowned mansion at his plantation, Cawsons plantation, located on a promontory where the Appomattox River turned north to meet the James River.

On November 15, 1758, Francis Fauquier, the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Colony, appointed Bland colonel of the militia for Prince George County. Before the American Revolution, the Bland and Randolph families of Virginia frequently cooperated with each other to manage their plantations. 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.{{cite book |last1=Garland |first1=Hugh A. |title=The Life of John Randolph of Roanoke |year=1851 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dcYEAAAAYAAJ |volume=1 |publisher=D. Appleton & Company |location=New York |page=5 |isbn=9780598865274 }} Around January 1781, St. George Tucker assisted Bland, his father-in-law, in escaping the advancing British Army commanded by Benedict Arnold. A few months later, the British Major-General William Phillips ordered that his troops in Prince George County not harm Bland's property.{{cite book |editor1-first=William G. |editor1-last=Stanard |title=The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=twc1AAAAIAAJ |volume=IX |date= June 1902 |publisher=The Virginia Historical Society |location=Richmond, Virginia |page=163 }}

In 1775, Bland owned a sorrel mare that had been imported from England by William Byrd III.{{cite book |last1=Edgar |first1=Patrick Nisbett |title=The American Race-Turf Register, Sportsman's Herald, and General Stud Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02UCAAAAYAAJ |volume=I |year=1833 |publisher=Press of Henry Mason |location=New York |page=415 |chapter=Quaker-Lass |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02UCAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA415 }} Quaker-Lass was described in one stud book as "the finest looking mare in Virginia, of her day".

Following the American Revolutionary War, Bland moved westward into Amelia County, Virginia, where he developed another plantation using enslaved labor.

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|1= 1. Theodorick Bland

|2= 2. Richard Bland

|3= 3. Elizabeth Randolph

|4= 4. Theodorick Bland of Westover

|5= 5. Anne Bennett

|6= 6. William Randolph

|7= 7. Mary Isham

|8= 8. John Bland

|9= 9. Susan DeClere

|10= 10. Richard Bennett

|11= 11. Mary Anne Utie

|12= 12. Richard Randolph

|13= 13. Elizabeth Ryland

|14= 14. Henry Isham

|15= 15. Katherine Banks

|16= 16. Adam Bland

|17= 17. Joan Atkyns

|18=

|19= 19. Marie de Dubleer

|20= 20. Thomas Bennett

|21= 21. Anstie Tomson

|22= 22. John Utie

|23=

|24= 24. William Randolph

|25= 25. Dorothy Lane

|26= 26. John Ryland

|27=

|28= 28. William Isham

|29= 29. Mary Brett

|30= 30. Christopher Banks

|31=

}}

Bland was descended from Theodorick Bland of Westover, who emigrated from England and served as speaker of the House of Burgesses in 1660 and also represented Charles City County then newly formed Henrico County from 1661 to 1676. His paternal uncle was the surveyor Theodorick Bland.{{cite book |last1=Hunter |first1=Joseph |author-link1=Joseph Hunter (antiquarian) |editor1-first=John W. |editor1-last=Clay |title=Familiae Minorum Gentium |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sm1KAAAAYAAJ |volume=II |year=1895 |publisher=The Harleian Society |location=London |pages=421–427 |chapter=Bland |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sm1KAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA421 }}

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Category:1708 births

Category:1784 deaths

Theodorick

Category:Virginia state senators

Category:People from Prince George County, Virginia

Category:County clerks in Virginia

Category:18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly