Richard P. Bland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri | |
| In office March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1895 | |
| Preceded by | John B. Clark, Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Joel D. Hubbard |
| Constituency | 5th district (1873–83) 11th district (1883–93) 8th district (1893–95) |
| In office March 4, 1897 – June 15, 1899 | |
| Preceded by | Joel D. Hubbard |
| Succeeded by | Dorsey W. Shackleford |
| Constituency | 8th district |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Richard Parks Bland August 19, 1835 Hartford, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | June 15, 1899 (aged 63) Lebanon, Missouri, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Virginia Elizabeth Mitchell (1873–1899; his death); 9 children |
| Alma mater | Hartford College (Kentucky) |
| Signature | .png){kind=small} |
Richard Parks Bland (August 19, 1835 – June 15, 1899) was an American politician, lawyer, and educator from Missouri. A Democrat, Bland served in the United States House of Representatives from 1873 to 1895 and from 1897 to 1899,[1] representing at various times the Missouri 5th, 8th and 11th congressional districts. Nicknamed "Silver Dick" for his efforts to promote bimetallism, Bland is best known for the Bland–Allison Act.
Born in Kentucky, he established a legal practice in Utah Territory after working as a miner and schoolteacher. He served as the treasurer of Carson County from 1860 to 1864 during the peak years of the Comstock Lode mining rush. He settled in Missouri in 1865 and established a legal practice in Lebanon, Missouri. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1872 and quickly established himself as a leading advocate of the free silver movement. He sponsored the Bland–Allison Act, which required the United States Department of the Treasury to buy a certain amount of silver and put it into circulation as silver dollars.[2] He also established himself as an anti-imperialist. Bland lost re-election in the 1894 election but won his seat back in 1896.
Bland was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1896, though he expressed reluctance about running for president. His marriage to a Catholic woman engendered opposition from the anti-Catholic elements of the party. Bland received the most votes on the first three ballots of the 1896 Democratic National Convention, but not enough to win the necessary majority. William Jennings Bryan, who also favored bimetallism, won the Democratic nomination on the fifth ballot and went on to lose to Republican William McKinley in the 1896 presidential election. After the convention, Bland served in the House from 1897 to his death in 1899.
- ^ "Honor "Silver Dick" Bland's Memory" (PDF). The New York Times. April 8, 1900. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
- ^ Ari Arthur Hoogenboom, Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President (1995) pp 96-98