James W. D. Bland
James W. D. Bland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Virginia Senate from the Charlotte and Prince Edward Counties district | |
| In office October 5, 1869 – April 27, 1870 | |
| Preceded by | F. N. Watkins |
| Succeeded by | John T. Hamlett |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1838 Carpenter, Cooper |
James W. D. Bland (c. 1838 – April 27, 1870) was a nineteenth-century African-American politician and carpenter from
Early life
Bland was born free in Farmville, Virginia, in Prince Edward County, Virginia. His father Hercules Bland had bought his mother Mary and freed her so that their children would be born free.[2]
James Bland learned to read and write in the home of the former owner of his mother, Alexander Bruce. Bland was probably apprenticed to Bruce as a carpenter before working in his father’s cooper shop making hogsheads for tobacco.[2]
Career
Bland was probably apprenticed to Bruce as a carpenter before working in his father’s cooper shop making hogsheads for tobacco.[2]
Following the American Civil War, Bland married in 1867 at the age of twenty nine.[2]
In 1867, Bland was elected to the
Following the Convention, Bland was elected to the Virginia Senate, for the session of 1869/70.[5]
Though Bland bought no property during his lifetime, at his untimely death in 1870, his wife immediately bought three lots in Farmville for one thousand dollars.[2]
Death
James W. D. Bland was among the approximately 60 people who died on April 27, 1870, in a disastrous collapse at the state capitol, which started when a balcony overloaded with spectators awaiting the
At the subsequent special election in 1870, John T. Hamlett of Charlotte County, Virginia, was elected to fill the remainder of Bland's term, and later resigned, perhaps to concentrate on the Wistar Copper Mining Company, which he formed by 1875.[7][8] However, the federal census of 1870 also caused redistricting, and Bland's former district was one of those redrawn by the 1870/1871 legislature. In 1873, Bland's co-delegate at the Constitutional Convention, Edgar Allan was elected to the Virginia Senate, representing Prince Edward, Amelia, and Cumberland Counties.[9] Bland was buried at the Odd Fellows Cemetery (Farmville, Virginia).[10]
References
- ^ Cynthia Miller Leonard, Virginia General Assembly 1619-1978 (Richmond: Virginia State Library, 1978) pp. 506, 511
- ^ a b c d e f Jackson 1945, p. 3-4
- ^ Pulliam 1901, p. 141-142
- ^ Tartar 2013, p. 238
- ^ Swem 1918, p. 348
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-02-25. Retrieved 2018-05-28.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Virginia (January 30, 1918). "Annual Reports of Officers, Boards and Institutions of the Commonwealth of Virginia" – via Google Books.
- ^ "Journal of the Senate of Virginia". Commonwealth of Virginia. January 30, 1871 – via Google Books.
- ^ Swem, p. 94
- ISBN 9781467036955.
Bibliography
- Jackson, Luther Porter (1945). Negro Office-Holders in Virginia, 1865-1895. Guide Quality Press, Norfolk, Virginia. ISBN 9780598580269.
- Pulliam, David Loyd (1901). The Constitutional Conventions of Virginia from the foundation of the Commonwealth to the present time. John T. West, Richmond. ISBN 978-1-2879-2059-5.
- Swem, Earl Greg (1918). A Register of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1776-1918, and of the Constitutional Conventions. David Bottom, Superintendent of Public Printing. ISBN 978-1-3714-6242-0.
- Tartar, Brent (2013). The grandees of government: the origins and persistence of undemocratic politics in Virginia. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-3431-0.