Caesar Rodney
BIRTH
Oct 7, 1728
Kent County, Delaware
DEATH
June 26, 1784
Kent County, Delaware
FAMILY
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Rodney, Caesar
(1728-1784)
Caesar Rodney was an American Founding Father, lawyer, and politician from St. Jones Neckin Dover Hundred, Kent County, Delaware. He was an officer of the Delaware militia during the French and Indian War and the American Revolutionary War, a Continental Congressman from Delaware, a signer of the Continental Association and Declaration of Independence, and president of Delaware during most of the American Revolution.
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Places | Image | Address | GPS | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Independence National Historical Park | 520 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19106 | MUSEUM | ||
Caesar Rodney Monument | 1000 N Market St, Wilmington, DE 19801 | MARKER | ||
Caesar Rodney Marker | 239 Old North Rd, Camden, DE 19934 | MARKER | ||
Mattaponi Church Marker | 13466 The Trail, King and Queen Court House, VA 23085 | MARKER | ||
Byfield Marker | Bayside Drive, Dover, Delaware, 19901, USA | MARKER | ||
Home of Signer Marker | 9614 Richmond Rd, Lanexa, VA 23089 | MARKER |
DIED:
Kent County, Delaware
Jun 26, 1784
Caesar was educated when he was 13 or 14 years old. He attended The Latin School, part of the academy and the College of Philadelphia(now known as University of Pennsylvania) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania until his father's death. Caesar was the only one of the Rodney children to receive anything approaching a formal education. Caesar Rodney's father died in 1746, and Caesar's guardianship was entrusted to Delaware Supreme Court Justice Nicholas Ridgely by the Delaware Orphan's Court.
Rodney joined McKean as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and was a leader of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence. He began his service in the Assembly of Delaware in the 1761/1762 session and continued in office through the 1775/1776 session. Several times he served as speaker, including the momentous day of June 15, 1776, when "with Rodney in the chair and Thomas McKean leading the debate on the floor," the Assembly of Delaware voted to sever all ties with the British Parliament and King.
Rodney served in the Continental Congress along with McKean and Read from 1774 through 1776. Rodney was in Dover tending to Loyalistactivity in Sussex County when he received word from McKean that he and Read were deadlocked on the vote for independence. To break the deadlock, Rodney rode 70 miles through a thunderstorm on the night of July 1, 1776, arriving in Philadelphia "in his boots and spurs" on July 2, just as the voting had begun. He voted with McKean and thereby allowed Delaware to join eleven other states in voting in favor of the resolution of independence. The wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved two days later; Rodney signed it on August 2. Backlash in Delaware led to Rodney's electoral defeat in Kent County for a seat in the upcoming Delaware Constitutional Convention and the new Delaware General Assembly.