Caesar Rodney

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{{Infobox Politician-DE | name=Caesar Rodney | nationality=American | image name=CaesarRodney.jpeg | office(s)=President of Delaware
(1778–1781)
| party=Country | date of birth=October 7, 1728 | place of birth=Dover, Delaware | dead=dead | date of death=June 25, 1784 | place of death=Dover, Delaware | residence=Dover, Delaware | religion=Episcopalian | spouse=nospouse | spouse name= }}

Caesar Rodney (October 7 1728 – June 26 1784), was an American lawyer and politician from Dover, Delaware in Kent County. He was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and President of Delaware.

Contents

Early life and family

Rodney was born October 7, 1728 on his family's farm near Dover, Delaware, son of Caesar and Mary Crawford Rodney. His father had been Speaker of the Assembly of the Lower Counties and his mother was the daughter of the Anglican minister. At first he was educated at home, but later attended school in Philadelphia. He never married. Rodney's father died when he was 17 years old, and the younger Rodney was placed under the guardianship of Nicholas Ridgely, Clerk of the Peace in Kent County. As the eldest son, he ran the family farm for 10 years before entering politics. He was a member of Christ Episcopal Church in Dover.

Early political career

Under the Proprietary government, he served as Sheriff of Kent County from 1755 through 1758, and later was appointed to a series of positions including Register of Wills, Recorder of Deeds, Clerk of the Orphan's Court, and Justice of the Peace. During the French and Indian War, he joined Col. John Vining's regiment of Delaware militia, and was named Captain of the Dover Hundred Company. They never saw active service. From 1766 through 1777 he was an Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Rodney also began service in the Assembly of the Lower Counties in the 1766/67 session and continued in office through the 1775/76 session. Several times he served as Speaker, including the momentous day of June 15, 1775 when "with Rodney in the chair and McKean leading the debate on the floor," the Assembly of the Lower Counties voted to separate all ties with the British Parliament and King.

American Revolution

Rodney joined Thomas McKean as a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 and was a leader of the Delaware Committee of Correspondence. He served in the Continental Congress along with Thomas McKean and George Read from 1774 through 1777. As Brigadier General of Delaware's militia, Rodney was in Dover attending to loyalist activity in Sussex County when he received word from Thomas McKean that he and George Read were deadlocked on the vote for Independence. To break the deadlock, Rodney rode eighty miles through a thunderstorm on the night of July 1, 1776, voted with McKean, and thereby allowed Delaware to join eleven other states voting in favor of the Declaration of Independence. McKean later remembered meeting Rodney at the door in "in his boots and spurs."

Rodney assisted General George Washington briefly in late 1776 and early 1777, but soon returned to Delaware as Major-General of the Delaware Militia, where his service continued to be needed to protect the state from British military intrusions and to control continued loyalist activity, particularly in Sussex County.

President of Delaware

The Delaware General Assembly elected Rodney President of Delaware on March 31, 1778 and he served until November 6, 1781, which was after the end of the American Revolution. As President, Rodney was the first effective leader of an independent Delaware, energetically leading a partially occupied and politically divided state, back to some of the order that had preceeded the war.

Rodney was elected by the Delaware General Assembly to the United States Congress under the Articles of Confederation in 1782 and 1783, but declined to serve due to ill health. However, two years after leaving the State Presidency he was elected to the 1783/84 session of the Legislative Council or State Senate and they selected him to be their Speaker. Regretably, his health was rapidly declining and even though the Legislative Council or State Senate met at his home for a short time, he died in office, before the session ended.

Death and legacy

Rodney died June 25, 1784 and is buried on the same family farm near Dover, Delaware where he was born. It is just north of John Dickinson's mansion, Poplar Hall. The exact location of his grave on the farm is unknown. There is a monument in the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Dover, built over what were believed at one time to have been his remains.

Suffering from asthma as well as skin cancer of the face, John Adams described Rodney as "the oddest looking man in the world; he is tall, thin and slender as a reed, pale; his face is not bigger than a large apple, yet there is sense and fire, spirit, wit and humor in this countenance." Although they both had military experience, Rodney's background was almost the mirror of his predecessor, John McKinly. Where McKinly was a Ulster-Scot Presbyterian from New Castle County who was politically aligned with the compromise seeking "Court Party" of the Lower Counties, Rodney was a member of the Anglican gentry from strongly Loyalist downstate who was politically aligned with the independence seeking "Country Party." Combined with his personal abilities, it was the right mix to successfully lead a very divided Delaware population into the new nation.

Rodney is said to have held more public offices than any other person from Delaware, and the state is littered with schools, streets, squares and buildings named in his honor. Rodney's statue, along with that of John Middleton Clayton, represents Delaware in the National Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol. Delaware chose to use the image of his famous ride on the back of the Delaware Statehood Quarter in 1999.

Popular election results

Elections were held in October of the year noted with terms of service in the years to follow. At that time the Legislative Council or State Senate had a term of three years. State Presidents were elected by the Delaware General Assembly.

Year Office Subject Party votes Pct Opponent Party votes Pct
1783 State Senate Caesar Rodney unknown unknown unknown unknown

See also

Image:Delaware quarter, reverse side, 1999.jpg

References

  • {{{Author|}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1| (1984)}}{{{{{Year|}}}}}}|show1|.}} {{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|[{{{URL}}}}} A History of Delaware Through its Governors{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|]}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|, {{{Pages}}}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|Show1|, McClafferty Press, Wilmington}}. {{{ID|}}}
  • {{{Author|}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1| (1993)}}{{{{{Year|}}}}}}|show1|.}} {{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|[{{{URL}}}}} History of Delaware{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|]}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|show1|, {{{Pages}}}}}{{|{{{3}}}}}}|Show1|, University of Delaware Press}}. {{{ID|}}}
  • Pickett, Russell S. (2005). Caesar Rodney. Retrieved August 7, 2005.
  • Independence Hall Association(2005). Caesar Rodney. Retrieved October 5, 2005.
  • Independence Hall Association(2005). Caesar Rodney. Retrieved October 5, 2005.
{{succession box
before=George Read after=John Dickinson title=President of Delaware years=Mar. 31, 1778 - Nov. 6, 1781}}


Image:Delaware state flag.png

State of Delaware
</b> Cities | Government | History | U.S. Congress

State capital:

Dover

Regions:

Delaware Valley | Chesapeake

Cities & Towns: Wilmington | Dover | Newark | Milford | Seaford | Georgetown
Counties:

Kent | New Castle | Sussex

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