William Thomas Bland was born on January 21, 1861, in Weston, the county seat of Lewis County, Virginia (in what would soon become West Virginia)[1] to Columbia Ann Madison Jackson Duncan and her second husband, Dr. William John Bland (1816-1897).

[5] Meanwhile, Bland's political career began as he became chairman of the Kansas City River and Harbor Improvement Commission 1909-1918, director of the National Rivers and Harbors Congress, and vice president of the Mississippi Valley Waterway Association.

[1] Bland also served as chairman of the First Liberty Loan campaign in Kansas City for World War I.

[6] Bland died at his home at 716 South Orange Avenue in Orlando on January 15, 1928, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery.

[1][3] His elder brother Meigs Bland (1859-) would marry Lutie, the daughter of Virginia Judge John James Allen and their son Major William John Bland would drill many soldiers in Kansas City before dying heroically in World War I.

Major Bland is buried at Arlington National Cemetery and become the namesake of Kansas City's American Legion post.