Legislator Details
J. Edward Bland, portrait from Nimmo, p. 21
Vital Records Information:
Marital Information:
single
Number of Children:
Background
Education:
public schools of London, ON; and business college;
Bachelor and Master of Laws degrees from University of Michigan
Biographical Sketch:
He emigrated to the US around 1875. He was a volunteer marine. Parents were the Irish branch of the English family of Blands that settled in Ireland around 1692. During his college life, he was a member of the " Varsity Glee Club," and president of the post graduate law class of which he was a member. For several years he engaged in newspaper work in the west, and while secretary treasurer and manager of the Phoenix Arizonan, he was a delegate to the Denver convention of the International Typographical Union, when the erection of the Childs-Drexel Home (at Colorado Springs) was undertaken. He afterwards went to the Pacific coast and was part owner and manager of the Daily Argus at Alameda, California, when he decided to return east and adopt his chosen profession, the practice of law. He was first associated with ex- Congressman Levi T. Griffin, and later a member of the law firm of Sullivan, Bland, Cook & Van Syckle. Mr. Bland served during the Spanish - American war in the navy on board the U.S.S. Yosemite with the Michigan naval reserves. Practiced law in Detroit except for the few years when he resided in California.
Notable Facts:
Chair of the House comm. on Gaming interests (wildlife); favored regulation of electric railway fares.