Thodorick Bland was born in 1742. When he was young, Theodorick attended schools in England while his parents stayed in Virginia. He also learned how to speak French when he visited the West Indies. Later on, he studied at Edinburgh University and obtained a degree in the medical field. During his studies, Theodorick attempted to ask the House of Burgesses of Virginia to put through a bill that would prevent a person from being a doctor in the colony that did not possess a medical degree.
When he resided in Virginia in 1759, Theodorick Bland started a medical practice in the Petersburg and Prince George County area. Theodorick was seventeen when he started this practice. He thoroughly enjoyed riding horses, and he invented the Virginia Dragoons. This group of people would be absorbed into the Cavalry of the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Like several of his family members, Theodorick had issues with the government of the Virginia Colony. He penned letters to Lord Dunmore expressing his disdain about how the colonial government and Britain were not recognizing the average person living in the colony and their rights. His pen name in the letters was "Cassius."
During the American Revolution, Theodorick Bland and his Virginia Dragoons merged with the Cavalry of the Continental Army. After a short while, Theodorick became Colonel. He led a battle at Brandywine, but he was sadly unsuccessful. Soon afterwards, Theodorick oversaw a prison in Charlottesville for captured British soldiers, and he also supervised a move of a group of British soldiers from Connecticut to Charlottesville. While working at the jail, Theodorick penned a letter to his cousin Thomas Jefferson and asked him if he could stay at Monticello, but Thomas Jefferson denied him residence.
Once the American Revolution concluded, Theodorick was given 13,500 acres in Nelson County, Kentucky. He visited George Washington at his home in Mount Vernon, and he saw Washington become the President of the United States in New York. Theodorick also ran for governor of Virginia, but he lost to his cousin Edmund Randolph. Instead, Theodorick obtained a position in the House of Representatives. He agreed with Patrick Henry that the novice Constitution needed a Bill of Rights, but Theodorick had disdain over James Madison's thoughts about the Constitution. This hatred led to a schism between Theodorick and Madison.
Portrait of Theodorick Bland (From: findagrave.com)
Theodorick Bland wed Martha Dangerfield. In 1790, he passed away in New York. When he passed away, Theodorick's properties were given to Martha Dangerfield, John Randolph of Roanoke, Theodorick Bland Randolph, Benjamin Harrison, Peter Epes, Saint George Tucker, and his nephew Robert Bannister. Furthermore, two acres of Blandford Hill were set aside to establish a college. However, if no college was created within fifteen years, the two acres would go to Bannister. Moreover, when Martha remarried, she renamed Kippax to Farmingdale.