Blann Family Page
Welcome to The Blann Family Page, which furnishes historical detail beyond the site index, exploring nine generations of Blanns in the line of Thomas Bland of Caroline Co., Maryland. We also examine the evidence for a tentative identification of three further generations of Blands before Thomas.
1. Claire Anura Lillah Blann --Born Sept. 12, 1983, in Nashville, TN. The only child of Gregory Blann and Sylvia Watts (Blann), Claire graduated with honors from Overton High School in 2001, and received two bachelor degrees from the University of Tennessee in 2006. She graduated from the Nashville School of Law in 2020. In 2008 she married James Cobb; second marriage to Travis Wells on March 16, 2023. Travis' daughter is Eirian Wells.
2. Gregory Boone Blann --Born Oct. 14, 1952, in Staten Island, NY. Second surviving child of Troy R. Blann Sr. and Sue Boone (Blann). Gregory has one brother, Dr. Troy Robinson Blann, Jr. ("Rob," born 1948), who for years was a English professor at Trevecca Nazarene University (he married Barbara Sue Brooks -b.1949), with two children: Jennifer (b.1981) and Tristan (1984-1992). Gregory was raised in France (1956-59) and America,and earned a bachelopr of arts in music and art at Peabody College-Vanderbilt University in 1974. He has written five books on spirituality. He married Sylvia Watts on Aug.12, 1973, in Percy Warner Park in Nashville and they have one daughter, Claire.
3. Troy Robinson Blann (Sr.) --Born Nov. 15, 1919, in Mineral, Virginia. The Blann family lived in upstate New York, where Troy's father, Rev. Melvin Blann, was a Pilgrim Holiness pastor. Troy went to Business College in Gloversville. NY, worked briefly for General Electric, then joined the U.S. Army in 1942. A Master-Sergeant E-8 in the Army (he retired with 20 years service in 1962), Troy was stationed at Ft. Campbell, KY. for a time during WWII and spent several weekend furloughs with the Boones, a Nazarene family, in Nashville. There, he met and subsequently married Sue Boone in Nashville on May 5, 1944, with Sue's brother-in-law, Claude Galloway and Rev. Wise officiating. Troy’s siblings were: Melvin R. Blann II; 1917-1983, an upstate New York piano tuner, church organist and Freemason. Mel married Ellen Merchant and had 5 children: Melvin III, Judy, Diane, Chris & Debbie. Troy's two sisters were: Magdalene "Maggie" (Mills), 1921-1997, a registered nurse and missionary to Swaziland and Rhodesia in the 1950's. She married Maryland widower Carl Mills in 1963 who had three children from a previous marriage: Richard, Gloria and Glenda. Troy's youngest sister was Linda Lee (1925-2006) a nurse, who married Millard Insley of Maryland in 1964 and had no children. During Troy's tour of military service, he and his family were stationed in Washington DC, London, England; Naples, Italy; Bayonne, New Jersey; Yuma, Arizona; Malsherbes (near Fountainbleau & Paris), France; McCordsville, Indiana, & Columbus, Georgia (2nd Infantry Division). In 1962, Troy retired and settled with his family in Nashville, TN. where he died on Feb.19, 1999, at age 79. He is buried at Spring Hill Cemetery in Nashville. Troy's parents were Rev. Melvin Blann and Anna Matthews.
4. (Rev.) Melvin Raymond Blann I --Born April 26, 1891, in Talbot Co., MD; died July 7, 1953, in Trappe, MD. Buried at Springhill Cemetery in Easton. He married Anna Matthews on June 29, 1916, in Trappe, MD. His siblings were: George Thomas (b.1871), Roland Solomon (1873-1949), Sarah Wilhelmina (Willie) b.1875, Percy Robinson (b.1878), Effie Ellen (1880-1964), Arthur Elwood (1883-1969; also a preacher), Hattie Melvina (1885-1979), Clifford Nelson (1887-1975). According to his daughter, Linda Insley, Melvin had only a sixth-grade education (his sister Effie being the only one of his siblings who graduated from High School). As a young man he attended half a year at "God’s Bible College" (which his older brother, Rev. Elwood Blann, had also attended), but his training was interrupted when his father had a stroke and Melvin returned to help out at home. (The 1950 Talbot Co. MD census however reports that Melvin attended 4 years of college.) Melvin subsequently became a pastor in the Pilgrim Holiness Church (a now-defunct Protestant sect that continues as the Wesleyan Church) in various churches in Maryland (Broom's Island, 1917, where Melvin II was born), and Virginia (Mineral, 1919-21, where Troy & Maggie were born). At the urging of his brother, Elwood, Melvin moved with his family to upstate NY and pastored several churches there (Wells, Port Jervis, Monticello & Onianta), some of which, as a carpenter, he built himself (according to daughter, Linda). For reasons now lost to us, Melvin was often called "Dick" by his siblings and church associates. In 1952, he retired with his wife to Maryland, bought a retirement cottage in Trappe, and six months later on July 7, 1953, he passed away. Melvin's parents were Arthur Bland and Annie Robinson.
5. Robert Arthur Bland --Born in March 5, 1840, in Denton, Caroline County, MD. (this is the birthdate given on his tombstone, however the 1900 census gives the following earlier date: May 1837. All the other censuses agree with the 1840 date.) Arthur’s parents were Thomas Bland and Elizabeth Stevens. Thomas died before 1850, when (Robert) Arthur was a youth, apparently leaving the family in debt. Young Arthur was separated from his sisters, Lizzie and Mary Jane, as well as his mother (Elizabeth, who remarried John R. Willis around 1853). Arthur was farmed out, probably as an indentured servant or "bound-out boy," to help pay off the debts and learn a trade. According to his son, Nelson, Arthur ran away from the family that kept him because he was forced to eat leftovers and to live and sleep in the barn with the animals. In the 1850 census, Arthur's mother, Elizabeth Bland, is living in the household of John R. Willis with 6 year old daughter Elizabeth A. Bland and 5 year old Thomas F. Willis. In the line above the Willis family in the census is an 11 year old named Arthur, living with the household of William Neighbor, who is about the right age to be Arthur Bland. At age 21, Arthur appears on the 1860 Caroline Co. MD census as a farmhand in the household of 39 year old John R. Willis. While the handwriting on the surname resembles "Mills" it is almost certainly Willis because the household includes 47 year old Elizabeth (Arthur's mother, born in ca. 1813), Elizabeth (age 15), Thomas (age 16) and Mary (Mollie-age 7). Also in the household is William Flemming (age 33), a farm hand. The 1860 census shows that Arthur's sister, Mary Jane, had by then married William McCracken.
After living with several families, before returning to live with his mother and sister, Lizzie, Arthur signed on with Captain Hardcastle at Lloyd Landing, running a steamboat on the Choptank River, hauling people, farm produce and plants back and forth from Baltimore to the Eastern Shore (per his grandson, Ellis Blann). He also developed an alcohol habit during this period. One tendentious anecdote I heard about him in my youth was that one of my Maryland relatives had encountered an old man who knew Arthur from his sailor days and he characterized Arthur as "the meanest man on the Chesapeake."
After about a decade at sea, Capt. Hardcastle put Arthur ashore on one of Hardcastle’s farms at Miller’s landing. According to my father's cousin, John Blann, the Robinson family had a farm down the river from Lloyd Landing and because of that proximity a relationship started that ended in marriage. On Jan.3, 1871, Arthur married Annie Robinson (1841-1939), a very religious woman, and together they had nine children. (There is a record of a Robert Bland who joined the Union Navy in Washington D.C. in 1861, and afterward transferred to the Army, but it is not certain whether this is Robert Arthur, 21 at the time, or his uncle, Capt. Robert J. Bland, who would have been 43.)
The 1870 Talbot Co. Census shows 30 year-old sailor, Arthur Bland, boarding in Trappe with a farmer named Nathaniel Clifton. By 1880, he is listed as a 40 year-old farmer and husband in another house in Trappe, married to Annie, age 29, with four children. Arthur stopped drinking alcohol and began to attend church in his old age. John Blann states that Arthur and Annie lived at the home of the farm manager at Lloyd Landing, and this was where all their children were born. By the 1910 census, Arthur and Annie Blann had moved to a house on Landing Neck Road, in Trappe. This road, on the western side of Route 50 across from the White Marsh cemetery, is now called Almshouse Road and their house still stands at the first crossroad, which goes into Trappe. (John states that the road that ran by their house into Trappe, also passing by what would later be my grandmother's house, was the old Route 50, prior to the construction of the nearby four lane highway which is now US 50.) Arthur died in Talbot County, MD, on April 12, 1916, according to his tombstone at the Springhill Cemetery in Easton, MD. He was known as "Otts" Bland, a shortened form of Arthur. At some point during his later years, Arthur (or another member of his family) changed the spelling of the surname to Blann. This would have been around the 1890s since the 1900 census is the first to spell his name "Blann." Arthur's parents were Thomas Bland and Elizabeth Stevens.
6. Thomas Bland --Born in 1810 in Denton, Caroline Co., MD and died between 1840 and 1850. He married Elizabeth Stevens (b.1810) and had three children, Elizabeth (Lizzie; 1846-1912) who married Dave Evans, Mary Jane (1836-1880) who married William McCracken, and Robert Arthur (b.1840). After Thomas' death, his widow remarried John R. Willis (April 4, 1853) and had another daughter, Mollie Willis (b.1856) who married Walter Griffith. John's other two older children were Thomas and Elizabeth A. Willis. Although Thomas Bland's parents are not fully proven by documentation, George Bland of Caroline Co., son of Joseph Bland and Sarah Andrew, is almost certainly his father. I have 17 DNA matches to George Bland and his wife, and Clair, 4 which are over 20 cM on 1 segment. Inferential evidence: The 1820 census shows George Bland Sr. as having two unidentified children age 10 or under, the right age to be Thomas and his younger brother, Robert, and there is no other Bland with young boys in the 1820 MD census. (Also, the name George appears frequently in the next few generations of Thomas’ family.) Thomas’ mother was probably Clara or Clair, widow of Peter Collins who remarried widower George Bland in Caroline Co. in 1809 (he was earlier married to Elizabeth "Betsy" Caulk from 1797 to 1808).
Note: Thomas’ granddaughter, Hattie Blann Swann, stated that her father, Arthur, had an aunt and uncle, Millie and Robert Bland, who lived in Easton, MD. While there is a black servant named Robert Bland in the 1850 & 1860 Caroline & Talbot Co. censuses, there is also a white Robert J. Bland (b.1817/18 and his wife, Millie (Amelia Noble) and several children (their first-born is named George) on the census in Caroline and Dorchester counties from 1850 to 1890. This Robert is the brother of Thomas Bland and is a DNA match to my line. The 1850 census of Caroline Co., MD, (household #1299) shows Robert Bland, aged 32, carpenter, Milly 19, George 10. (Note: This George is too old to be a son of this 1849 marriage. A George T. Bland, possibly this same George?, appears on the Caroline Co. civil war rosters of volunteers in Company E). The 1880 Census of Dorchester Co., MD, household #143/150 Cedar St., Cambridge shows Robert Bland, aged 63, carpenter, Amelia 47, wife, Charles 20, son, George 18, son. His other children were Mary Emma (b.1855) and Ella (b.1858). A "Denton Journal" obituary of July 3, 1897, records the death of local Capt. Robert J. Bland from a stroke of paralysis. The parents of Arthur and Robert J. Bland were (almost certainly) George and Clair (Ireland) Bland.
7. George Bland --George Bland (ca.1760-1820), the son of Joseph Bland Sr. of Caroline Co., MD., was the father of Thomas Bland and his brother, Capt. Robert J. Bland. (I show 12 DNA matches to siblings of George Bland as well as 6 more to George.) Maryland records show that George Bland was the son of Joseph Bland and Sarah Andrew, and that he was born between 1760 and 1765 in Caroline Co. He was a militiaman in Charles Co. in 1777 and, after a 20 year unknown period, married Elizabeth "Betsy" Caulk, daughter of Henry and Frances "Frankie" Caulk, in Caroline Co. in 1797. George appears on the Caroline Co. censuses from 1800-1820. In 1800 he has two young daughters, Sally and Arianne, and one 16-26 year old male (a son from a first marriage?). A court document of early 1809 by Betsy Caulk Bland’s sister, Deborah, transferring all of the land which their late mother, Frances Caulk, had bequeathed her 2 daughters to George (with the provision that he build her a small house on the land), clearly infers that George’s wife, Betsy, was already deceased at the time. Soon after this (in Talbot Co. on Dec.28, 1809), George married Clara (Ireland) Collins, widow of Peter Collins (1778-1808, son of Isaac Collins and Ann Nancy Andrew) whom she had married in 1802. Clair (Clear or Clara) brought to the 1809 marriage three young children, who appear on the 1810 census in George’s household: Lisha, Isaac (both born ca.1803-7), and Peter (b.1808). The 1810 census duly reflects this, showing George married with two additional males under 10, and another girl under 10 in his household. The 1820 census (which shows two George Blands) indicates that still two more young males 0-10 were now living in the household of George Bland Sr. (These most likely are Thomas and Robert, born respectively in 1810 and 1817, especially, since there are no other Bland households in the area who show two unidentified males under 10). George apparently died not long after the 1820 census was taken. The other George Bland (Jr,) in the 1820 census was George Sr's nephew, the son of Joseph Bland Jr. (III) (b.ca.1750; d. before 1795), who married Rhoda Andrew.
DNA evidence in Ancestry.com points strongly to George Bland and his siblings as being our correct line. I have 6 DNA matches (one is 20 cM, one segment) to George's sister, Sarah Bland Manship (ca.1755-1797); 2 matches to his sister, Selah Bland Andrew (1755-1820); one match to his sister, Tamsey Bland Towers (1756-1823); and one to George's son Thomas J. Bland (1817-1897).
The Feb.19,1808 will of Peter Collins lists Clear (Clair) as his widowed wife and states that Clear came forth as a witness accompanied by Charles Ireland (1775-1818), who is likely her brother. Ancestry.com shows 22 atDNA matches between the line of Clair's son, Thomas Bland, and the family of Jonathan Ireland Jr. (1752-1780), Charles Ireland's father. (There is a 1778 marriage listing in Caroline Co. MD for John Ireland (1756-1800) and Ann Alford , but this is a son of Jonathan who moved to Camden County, South Carolina and not likely Clair's parents.) The evidence suggests that the likely father of Clair was Jonathan and Rachel Ireland's oldest son, Jonathan Ireland Jr. (ca. 1752-1780), who died in South Carolina as a soldier fighting on behalf of the American patriots. Court records show that Jonathan's wife's name is Rachel, the surname being uncertain--possibly Sullivan. Their children were: John (1772-1843) and Charles (1775-1818), and probably Clair (ca.1776-after 1820) as well as two sons apparently born out of wedlock named Preston and William, who were bound out. The parents of Clair's likely father, Jonathan Ireland Jr., were Jonathan ("John") Ireland (born ca.1725 in Dorchester Co., Maryland and died Nov.25, 1785 in Two John's, Potter's Landing, Caroline Co., Maryland) and Rachel Ozwell (ca.1735-1791). See the Ireland family page for more details.
8. Joseph Bland (II)--The father of George Bland, Joseph was born ca.1718/19 in Kent Co., Delaware (a border area of the state later re-zoned as part of MD). A Dorchester Co. MD land record (Lib. 14 old 109) dated March 11, 1746 shows George Andrew, of Dorchester Co. granting land to his daughter "Sarah Bran (Bland), wife of Joseph Bland Jr. of Dorchester County." From this we can infer that sometime before 1746, Joseph married Sarah Andrew (d.1799), daughter of George Andrew Jr. (b.ca.1685?; died after 1755; the son of George Andrew Sr.) and Ellen Adams (d.1745, daughter of Richard Adams, who d.1709 in MD, and Abigail Williams). A Dorchester Co. land record from 1770 (Lib.24 old 308) states that Joseph Bland, aged "about 50 years" gave a deposition. From this we can infer that he was born around 1720 or 1719. His wife Sarah was probably born about this time or slightly later. If she was 18 when she married ca. 1746 she would have been born ca. 1724. Joseph & Sarah moved to Dorchester Co., MD (which became Caroline Co. in 1773) sometime before 1775. Joseph appears on the 1775 Car. Co. census, married with 3 sons & 3 daughters under 16, himself approx.57 years old. In the 1790 census, he has one additional son under 16 and another daughter. A 1798 Caroline Co. MD land record cites Joseph Bland's age as "about 80 years" (ie. born ca. 1718). On Nov.5,1799 Joseph Bland of Kent Co., Delaware wrote his will which was probated on May 27, 1800. In the will, he names his wife, Sarah, and his daughter, Elizabeth Dillen, grand-daughter, Arena Bland (Arianne, George's daughter), son, George Bland and son-in-law, George Andrew. This clearly isn't a complete list of his children. Joseph Bland’s documented children are: Selah (b. before 1755, married George Andrew Jr.), Joseph Jr. (III) (b.ca.1750; d. before 1795, who married Rhoda Andrew--a Joseph Bland, either Jr. or less likely, his 59 year-old father, was a militiaman in Caroline Co. in 1777 and appears on the 1776 Fidelity oath census), Elizabeth Dillen (appears on 1850 census in Caroline Co.), George (born ca.1760/65-1820), Tamsey (married James Towers in 1788), Ann (married Charles Manship in 1778), and Sarah (married Aaron Manship in 1778-double wedding.) There were probably two additional sons. Joseph died around 1799/1800 and does not appear on the 1800 census.
9. Joseph Bland (I)--The father of Joseph Bland II (ca.1718-1800) is likely Joseph Bland I (b.ca.1690-died after 1764. The evidence for the father’s name being Joseph comes from a record of a land purchase by a Joseph Bland made in 1736, when Joseph II (b.1718/9) would have been only 17 or 18 years old. (Minors couldn't purchase land and at best Joseph II would have been 18, a little young even in the colonial era.) Further confirming the existence of a father named Joseph is the later sale of the land in 1764, which mentions both Joseph Bland Sr. and Joseph Bland Jr. (b.1718/9) and Jr.’s wife, Sarah Andrew, showing that he used "Jr." until the death of his father after 1764; then he was Sr. in respect to his own son named Joseph (this Joseph III, being the father of the second, younger, George Bland (designated as Jr.) who appears on the 1820 census). (Thanks to Parker Todd for supplying most of the information relayed here concerning Joseph Jr., Sr. and George Bland.) Joseph I's wife's name is unknown, however there is a 1772 will from Dorchester Co. MD that lists Thomas Alweck deceased as owing money to Eleanor Bland. As there are only two Blands in Maryland in the 1790 census (Joseph II and his son Joseph III and both of their wives are known, Eleanor is almost certainly the widow of Joseph Bland I who died ca. 1764. Joseph I's parents are not known. He might have immigrated from England, or he might have been born in Maryland. If he was born in Maryland or Delaware, John Bland is by far the most likely candidate to be his father. The evidence for his paternity is discussed below.
10. John Bland-- The likely father of Joseph Bland I, was born ca. 1770 either in Kent Co. Delaware or England. He first appears in the Delaware records in 1711, and appears in many land transactions and court documents in Kent Co. and Maryland throughout the 1720s and 1730s. He marries in 1730 to Ann Robisson (Robinson), daughter of George Robisson (likely his second marriage) and dies intestate ca. 1739. After John's death, Ann Bland remarries Thomas Brannock in 1740 and dies after 1751.
On the Eastern shore of Maryland and Delaware in the early 18th-century the Bland surname was rare. Other than John Bland of Kent Co. DE and Thomas Bland of Anne Arundel Co. MD (ca.1650-ca.1700), there are very few Blands in the early Colonial record. This makes John Bland--about 20 years older than Joseph-- a strong candidate for being the father of Joseph. In small populations, shared surnames usually indicate close kinship. If only one adult male Bland (John) is active in Kent Co. during the 1720s and 1730s, and another younger Bland (Joseph) emerges 10–20 miles away in 1730s land records, they are almost always father–son (or possibly brothers). Also in 1800 Joseph Bland II wrote his will in Kent Co. Delaware, which suggests that he might have inherited land in Delaware from his grandfather. During the 18th century Dorchester Co. MD and Kent Co. DE bordered each other and landowners often owned land on both sides of the state line.
The name of John's first wife--the likely mother of Joseph---is unknown. It can be surmised that she died before 1730 when John, aged about 50 years old, married Ann Robisson. Later records show another John Bland in Maryland in the 1760s who could be a son of John Bland Sr. A Thomas Bland appears once as a witness along with John Bland Sr. in Kent Co.. Thomas could be a father, brother of son of John.
Of particular interest is John Bland's procurement of a sloop in 1723 called The Three Brothers, acquired through a sheriff's sale in Kent County, Delaware. Such vessels were integral to colonial trade, ferrying goods like tobacco, grain, and other commodities between colonies and across the Atlantic. Given its acquisition by a merchant like John Bland, it's plausible that the Three Brothers was utilized for regional trade, navigating the interconnected waterways of the Mid-Atlantic. During the period of North American colonization and early settlement, sloops formed the backbone of the trade along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and to the West Indies. Such sloops were typically manned by a crew of about four sailors, a captain and a cook.
Below we offer a biographical sketch of John Bland as the likely father of Joseph Bland, followed by a timeline of records of all the known Blands in Colonial Maryland, which reinforces the likelihood that John is Joseph's father, when there are so few other candidates. (Most of the records mentioned on the timeline are to be found on FamilySearch.org)
John Bland, the likely patriarch of the Bland family of Kent County, Delaware and Dorchester County, Maryland, was probably born around 1670–1675 and may have emigrated from England in the late 1680s or early 1690s. No verifiable record of his birth or parents has yet been found in colonial Maryland, strengthening the case for his English origins, possibly from merchant or yeoman roots in counties such as Yorkshire or London, where the Bland surname was well established.
One speculative but plausible scenario is that John Bland was the son of Thomas Bland (b. ca. 1650), an attorney and political figure active in Anne Arundel County, Maryland during the late 17th century. Thomas was involved in legal and political affairs during a period of upheaval and is last recorded in the late 1690s. A 1720 document from Kent County, Delaware shows John Bland and a Thomas Bland serving together as trustees, suggesting a familial tie. While the geographic distance between Anne Arundel and Kent/Dorchester counties might seem to weaken the connection, the absence of any other older Bland male in the region strengthens the possibility that Thomas was John’s father. Their shared involvement in law and public affairs also supports a potential family link, though definitive proof remains elusive.
John first emerges in Maryland records in the early 1710s. In 1711, John Bland asserted legal rights to a 500-acre tract called "Man Mum" on the north side of Sheppard's Detary Fork in Dorchester County. This early legal action suggests that Bland had already become a man of property and influence in the Eastern Shore region. His participation in the formal proclamation of King George I in Annapolis in 1714 confirms his recognized status among the colonial elite.
By the 1720s, John Bland had relocated or expanded his operations into Kent County, Delaware, where he was referred to as a merchant. He appears in numerous transactions: as a landholder, trustee, and ship owner. In 1722 and 1723, he acquired substantial tracts of land from Ellinor Ellensworth, daughter of William Ellensworth, and sold other lands to Talbot County’s Hugh Waterman. In May 1723, Bland acquired a sloop named The Three Brothers through a sheriff's sale, underscoring his involvement in intercolonial trade, possibly linking Delaware, Maryland, and New York merchants.
His marriage to Ann Robinson (daughter of George Robisson of Kent County) likely occurred around 1730. George Robisson's 1733 will confirms the relationship, naming John Bland as his son-in-law and bequeathing five shillings to John and Ann, likely a token inheritance due to a prior dowry or land transfer. John is likely the father by an unknown first wife of Joseph Bland Sr., born circa 1690–1700, who appears in neighboring Dorchester County by the 1730s.
In 1737/8, John Bland witnessed the will of Benjamin Aydelott in Somerset County, Maryland, which confirms he was still alive and active in legal affairs at that time. Shortly thereafter, his widow Ann (also called Nanny) remarried Thomas Brannock. By 1740, Brannock held land in trust originally intended for Ann Bland from her father, further suggesting John Bland’s death occurred between 1738 and 1739. Maryland court documents from 1741 feature a plaintive vs. "John Bland & Company," suggesting that John operated an active mercantile house, which operated for a time after his death, raising the possibility that either Joseph or possibly John Bland Jr. might have managed the business in the 1740s.
John Bland's legacy lives on through his son Joseph Bland Sr., who became a substantial landholder in Dorchester County and was father to Joseph Bland Jr. (b. 1718), a Revolutionary-era figure in Caroline County, Maryland. The continuation of property, naming patterns, and merchant activity into the next generation supports a strong familial and economic lineage. Though John Bland left no known will, his numerous legal and commercial dealings portray him as a self-made merchant who helped establish the Bland family in the Mid-Atlantic.
TIMELINE:
ca. 1670- birth of John Bland (either in Delaware or more likely he emigrated from England ca. 1690)
1672-Immigration list-arrival of Thomas Bland in Maryland from Staffordshire, England
1678- 3950 lbs. of tobacco to Thomas Bland of Maryland (Maryland. Court Records 1637–1650)
1683-MD court trial of James Young. Thomas Bland, an Attorney, appeared and pleaded for the Prisoner
1689–1696- Thomas Bland of Anne Arundel County involved in the political turmoil following
the overthrow of the proprietary government of Lord Baltimore.
ca.1690-1700 birth of Joseph Bland (Sr.) in Kent Co. Delaware, Dorchester Co., MD (or England?)
ca. 1700 - the last records showing attorney Thomas Bland (ca.1650-ca.1700) of Anne Arundel Co. alive
1706- Robert Bland – Talbot Co. acts in estate matter for Wm. Osbourn
1708 – MD “account of Robert Bland (Blinde) Com who married Martha (daughter?) of John Holloway”
1711-John Bland land dispute. He asserts rights to 500 acres near Shepalled Detary’s Fork in
Dorchester Co. MD called Man Mum. (note the name John Bland in the document is hard to read)
Oct. 27, 1714 Council meeting at Annapolis, MD for Formal proclamation of King George I's accession
after Queen Anne’s death. John Bland included in the list of attendees.
1718 – birth of Joseph Bland (Jr.) in Dorchester Co., MD, son of Joseph Bland Sr.
Nov.5,. 1720 George Robinson conveyed land in the Forrest of Murderhill Hundred, in Kent Co. DE to
his son John Robinson in Trust for Nanny Blan (Ann Robinson Bland), daughter of George Robinson
Dec.1720- John Bland and Thomas Bland both serve as trustees in Kent Co. DE
March 21, 1722 John Bland, merchant, of Kent Co. De sells land to Hugh Waterman of Talbot Co. MD
1722/23- John Bland acquires Kent Co. land via Ellinor, daughter of William Ellensworth called Domaster
ca. 1724 – birth of Sarah Andrew in Somerset, Maryland, daughter of George Andrews & Ellen Adams
May 28, 1723 John Bland purchases a sloop in Sheriff’s sale called The Three Brothers
Nov. 6, 1732 Dorchester Co. MD Joseph Braun (Bland) bought land from Henry Hooper, both of Dor. Co.
land is called “Good Hope”
August 15, 1733 will of George Robisson of Kent County, Delaware. He leaves 5 shillings to his
son-in-law John Bland and his wife, Ann Robisson Bland, George’s daughter.
February 1737/8- John Bland appears as a witness to the will of Benjamin Aydelott in Somerset Co. MD
ca.1739 following the death of John Bland, his widow Ann (Nanny) remarries Thomas Brannock in DE
Their marriage certificate dates the marriage to between 1728-1745.
May 1740-Nanny Bland, daughter of George Robisson, has remarried Thomas Brannock
April 1741-court case in Maryland court:“John Bland & Company” vs. Richard Lee
(Is the business run by a son of John Bland, deceased, perhaps a John Bland Jr. or Joseph Bland?)
March 11, 1746 - Dorchester Co. MD land record shows George Andrew granting land to his daughter
"Sarah Bran (Bland), wife of Joseph Bran (Bland) Jr. of Dorchester Co.”
May 17, 1748 Thomas Brannock has land surveyed that was bequeathed to his wife, "Nanny Blan", by her
father George Robisson (Robinson).
June 14, 1748 Joseph Bland Jr. buys land in Dorchester Co. from John Andrew
Sept 5, 1751 Thomas & Ann Brannock are selling land in Kent Co. DE to Ann’s brother, Daniel Robinson
ca. 1761 – birth of George Bland in Caroline Co., Maryland
May 22, 1764 Joseph Bland Sr., Joseph Bland Jr., and his wife, Sarah sell land in Dor. Co to Richard Jones
land is called “Good Hope” (bought in 1732). The father, Joseph Bland dies intestate, soon after this
April 1765-land record for Joseph Blann (spelled “Blann”) called Blann’s Bit (this is likely Joseph Jr.)
Dec.17, 1768 Dorchester Co. MD land sale between George Andrew (father of Sarah Andrew Bland, wife
of Joseph Bland) and George Bland (Sarah's son), Isaac (Peter’s father) & Andrew Collins witnesses
1768/1769 a John Bland owes a large sum of £600 sterling (business debt?) to William O’Hery in
Maryland Court (John Bland of Kent Co. would be about 100, this may be John’s or Joseph Sr.’s son)
ca. 1772 –Dorchester Co. will of Thomas Alweck deceased…money due from him to Eleanor Bland
(might this be the widow of Joseph Bland Sr. who died ca. 1764 without a will and wife unknown?)
Nov. 1776 Joseph Bland aged “about 57 years” (b. ca.1718/9)
1778 census- shows Joseph Bland (Brand) (b. 1718) and his son Joseph Bland (III) (b. 1750)
1790 census - Joseph & Sarah Bland are in Caroline Co. MD; also their son Joseph Bland III (1750- 1795)
1798 Joseph Bland aged “about 80 years” (b. ca.1718)
Nov. 5, 1799 Joseph Bland of Kent Co. Delaware wrote his will (probated May 27, 1800)
names wife Sarah, son George, daughter Elizabeth Dillen
Most likely, the Maryland Blands were closely related to the Virginia Blands. These include the famous Theoderick Bland Sr. (1629-1671) of Virginia, father of Theoderick Jr. (1663-1700) and Richard Bland Sr.(1665-1720), who lived in Prince George Co, Virginia from 1653 until his death. Richard’s son, Col. Richard Bland Jr. of Williamsburg lived from 1710-1776). Richard Sr.’s grandson, Theoderick lived from 1740-1790. In Charles Bland’s 1982 book, A Vision of Unity: The Bland Family in England and America, he cites a Thomas Bland, a relative of the VA Blands, from Sussex County, England, who came to Maryland between 1666 and 1672, traveled about, and had land around the Anne Arundel Co. area, but he seems to disappear from the MD records around 1700. The earliest Bland cited in the Charles Bland’s book whose children immigrated to America (Virginia) is the English Adam Bland (1528-1598), father of Gregory Bland (1567-ca.1627) and a relative of John Bland of Kent Co. England, the Marian martyr. The name Bland (sometimes spelled Blann, Bran, Braun, Blin and in France: de Bland) was said to have originated in a hamlet in Westmoreland County, England named Bland. An early Robin Hood era figure mentioned by author Howard Pyle, was named Sir Roland of Bland.