| Born: 10 DEC 1791 in Lincoln County, Virginia Colony
Married: Elizabeth Jennings Duncan b 1796 in Virginia Both died: in an epidemic the same week summer 1844. Marriage bond in source below:
|
According to Leland Bland's report. Thomas Pope Bland's grandparents
(that would be Charles Bland and Phyllis Ann Pope lived on on a farm on
Bagdad road between Bagdad and Shelbyville with two rows of magnificent
old elms along the drive. In 1985 the farmhouse had long since been replaced
by a more modern house. John Thomas Bland and his wife, Elizabeth Duncan,
are believed to have moved to Missouri together with the (grand-)parents
of Harry S. Truman, who had had a farm farther up the road on the other
side going to Bagdad.
Thomas Pope Bland and the surviving younger children were returned to the grandparents farm near Bagdad, Shelby Co., Ky. in 1846 after their parents's death. |
| Thomas Pope Bland and Elizabeth Duncan had issue:
Bl4-1 X Bland b c 1817 ?m Y Moseley Bl4-2 Sarah Prudence Bland b c 1818 d. 8 Jan. 1856 Bl4-3 Benjamin Mason Bland b 13 NOV 1820 Bl4 Thomas Pope Bland b 12 Oct 1832 Bl4-5 John Duncan Bland b c 1832/3 married x and had Bl4-5-1-1 Martha Eugene Bland Bl4-6 Elizabeth Bland b 1833 Bl4-7 Mary S Bland b 9 MAY 1834 Bl4-8 Dalzell Leland Smith Bland b 30 JUL 1838, grew up in Vandalia, Audrain County, Missouri where he was raised by his eldest brother, Benjamin Mason Bland. Bl4-9 William Henry Bland b 29 JAN 1840 |
The marriage bond shown in the source below also has William G. Harris
as bondsman. So it is likely that this same William Harris was the uncle of Levicy Jane Harris. The Harris house was just outside Bagdad
on Elmburg Road just past the Bagdad Road turnoff to Shelbyville.
If there was a family Bible it is likely to have been left to one of the three elder children and remained in Missouri. This Bible would be invaluable in clarifying the conflicting statements on names. Questions arise from the unusual pattern of birth years, as there seem to have been three children born in quick succession, then a pause of 12 years followed by another 4 in quick succession then a break of 4 years followed by another 2 in quick succession. The name Dalzell shows up rather far back in the Truman pedigree (but changed to Dalyell) and is an ancient Scotish family, so it does not seem likely that the eigth child was named by this influence, but rather some other connection between the Duncans and Dalzell families or he was named after respected personal acquaintance. The earliest known of the name, John Leland, was a prolific writer patronized by Henry VIII. And there was a Baptist minister named John Leland from Massachusettes, who lived in Virginia 14 years. And a son or brother of his may have accompanied the Bland and Duncan families to Kentucky and later to Missouri as their minister. |
There is a problem with the count of males in the two younger age brackets, where there should be two each, unless William Henry died before the census, but then the total count of children in the household would not have been eight.
John Duncan's birth year would also have to have been at least 3 years earlier for there to be a son between 10 and 15, or he would have to have been dead by 1840.