Caesar Rodney

Best known as: Founding father

Born: October 7, 1728 at Byfield, Kent County, Delaware

Died: June 26, 1784 at Byfield, Kent County, Delaware

Resting place: Byfield, Kent County, Delaware

Biography:

Caesar Rodney was born in 1728 at his family's farm, Byfield (also known as Poplar Grove), in Kent County, Delaware. He was the oldest of eight children, and his parents were named Caesar and Elizabeth. His grandfather had immigrated to America from England, and he was also related to the prominent Adelmare family of Italy. Caesar grew up on the farm and was tutored by his parents. The 800-acre farm, which produced wheat and barley, was profitable and the family was financially well-off. As a teenager, Caesar attended the Latin School at the College of Philadelphia. His father died when he was 17, and he inherited the farm. Nicholas Ridgely, a clerk of the peace, was appointed his guardian.

Possibly inspired by Ridgely, Rodney began a career in politics. In 1755 he was elected sheriff of Kent County, a position that he held for three years. He subsequently served as register of wills, recorder of deeds, clerk of the orphans' court, justice of the peace, and judge. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763) he served as a captain in the Delaware militia. In 1761 he became a delegate to Delaware's Colonial Assembly, a role that he would hold until 1776. He was elected speaker of the assembly in 1769, 1773, 1774, and 1775. He also became a justice of the Delaware Supreme Court. During this period, he split his time between his farm and a townhouse in Delaware's capital city, Dover.

As tensions increased between Britain and the colonies, Rodney became an advocate for independence, even though this view was unpopular in Kent County. He helped to establish the Delaware Committe of Correspondence, became a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, and also served in the Delaware militia, eventually reaching the rank of Major General. On June 15, 1776, with Rodney serving as speaker, the Colonial Assembly of Delaware voted to sever ties with Britain.

In addition to all of these responsibilities, Rodney also served as one of three delegates from Delaware to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was busy with his militia duties, helping to quell a loyalist riot, when the Continental Congress began to debate whether or not the United States as a whole should declare their independence from Britain. The other two Delaware delegates, Thomas McKean and George Read, were deadlocked with McKean voting for independence and Read against. When Rodney received word of this, he rushed to Philadelphia. Through the night of July 1-2, 1776, he rode 80 miles through a thunderstorm. He arrived at at Independence Hall just in time to cast the deciding vote, still wearing his boots and spurs. Delaware thereby became one of the 12 colonies to vote for independence. When the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved, Rodney was one of the 56 people to sign it.

In 1776, Delaware's Colonial Assembly was dissolved and replaced by the State Assembly, to which Rodney was elected to another term. In 1778, Rodney was elected president of Delaware, a role that he held until 1781. He played a crucial role supporting the Continental Army, as he ensured that Delaware met or exceeded all quotas for troops and supplies. Juggling all of these roles, Rodney had little time to focus on his own health. He suffered from asthma throughout his life and also battled cancer beginning around this time. He endured painful and ultimately ineffective treatments for a cancerous growth that disfigured his face. Although elected to Congress in 1782, Rodney was unable to serve because of his failing health. He did, however, maintain his role in the State Assembly for the rest of his life.

Rodney spent his last few years participating in politics to the extent his health allowed, and also relaxing at his beloved farm, Byfield. He died in 1784 at age 55. At the time of his death, he owned 15 slaves, but he ordered them freed in his will. Rodney is buried at his farm in an unmarked grave.

Physical characteristics:

No portraits were painted of Caesar Rodney while he was alive, so it is not known exactly what he looked like. John Adams called him, "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." Later in life, he suffered from cancer which disfigured his face, and he frequently wore a green scarf to hide this.

Personality:

Caesar Rodney was intelligent, popular, and well-respected. His brother Thomas described him as having a "great fund of wit and humor of the pleasing kind, so that his conversation was always bright and strong and conducted by wisdom."

Fun facts:

Quotes:

Pictures:

Portrait of Rodney from from J. Thomas Scharf's History of Delaware

Portrait of Rodney by Ole Erekson, 1876

Rodney's coat of arms (source)

Rodney's signature

Statue by Bryan Baker at the National Statuary Hall in the Capitol building, Washington, D.C.