Caesar Rodney - The Delegate Who Rode the Declaration to Unanimity
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Caesar Rodney was born on October 7, 1728, on Byfield Plantation near Dover, Delaware, to Caesar and Elizabeth (Crawford) Rodney. He was the eldest of eight children. His family ancestry can be traced back to England and Scotland through his paternal grandfather, William Rodney. William came to America around 1681 or 1682 with William Penn and settled in Kent County, Delaware, around 1693. William’s ancestry can be traced back to 1095, and he was related to Sir Henry Seymour, who was the brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII. His maternal grandfather, Daniel Jones, settled at Byfield in the early !680s. [1] Rodney’s mother was the daughter of Reverend Thomas Crawford, of Scotland, who came to America as a missionary.
Rodney grew up on Byfield Plantation and would inherit it after his mother died in 1763. From here, he was sent to the Latin School in Philadelphia. In 1745, his father passed away, and he was put under the guardianship of Nicholas Ridgley. Unfortunately, Rodney would never marry, even though he courted several women, and he has no direct descendants.
By 1755, he was appointed Sheriff of Kent County, and this was the start of a long and varied career of office holding, which no other individual from Delaware has matched. Other positions he held were Justice of the Peace and Judge of the lower courts. In 1758, he represented Kent County in the Colonial Legislature and, by 1766, had introduced a bill prohibiting the importation of slaves into the colony. The irony, with him presenting this bill, was that he owned 200 slaves and a 1000-acre plantation, yet, he was against the importation of any more slaves. He was the speaker of the Assembly at this time, as well as when Delaware declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. He would serve on a variety of committees during his tenure in the assembly, including the Committee of Safety and the Committee of Inspection.
The 1760’s were a busy time for Rodney, as his brother, Thomas, was sent to help him with the management of his farm while he pursued political duties. Along with McKean, he revised the laws of the lower counties of Delaware in 1762. By 1764, Thomas would accompany Rodney on his official duties in Kent County. Thomas eventually names his son after his brother, and Rodney takes a special interest in his nephew and assists with his education. Additional duties in the 1760s included being a member of the Stamp Act Congress. He was appointed a delegate, along with Kollock and McKean, by the Delaware Assembly. And to close out the decade, he was appointed to the Delaware Superior Court.
Cancer strikes Rodney in 1774 when a growth appears on his nose. He begins a ten-year battle with the disease and goes to Philadelphia to have a doctor remove the growth. Often, he would have a scarf covering the side of his face, hiding the scars left from different operations. Some books state the cancer may have been discovered as early as 1766, but no matter when it was discovered, he never lost sight of the duties he felt he needed to do for his country.
Besides discovering he had cancer, Rodney was appointed to the First Continental Congress and took his seat in Carpenter Hall, along with Read and McKean, in September of 1774. He signed the Olive Branch Petition before the First Congress was dismissed. He was returned to the Second Continental Congress in May of 1775. During the second meeting of the delegates, he had an interesting exchange with Benjamin Harrison, who was droning on about the deplorable state of Virginia. Rodney rose and said, “let her be of good cheer; she has a friend in need; and Delaware will take her under its protection, and insure her safety.” Harrison was as good-natured and humored as Rodney and joined in the laughter that occurred after this exchange. [2]
During the Revolution, he would serve as a Brigadier General and then was promoted to Major General in the Delaware Militia. He serves in the New Jersey area and helps supply the Delaware militia to General Washington. Many letters between Generals Washington and Rodney show a mutual respect between the gentlemen. He would also buy necessary items for the troops with his own money after failing to secure funds from the Council of Safety. While he was busy with the Delaware militia and the Loyalist uprising that was occurring there, he received an urgent message from McKean, stating he was needed back in Philadelphia for a vote on independence. They had done a test vote on July 1, and Delaware was split. Rodney leaves Delaware, on horseback, and rides all night in a rainstorm, arriving on the morning of July 2, 1776, to vote for independence. He was muddy, dripping wet, sick, and fatigued, but without his vote, the Declaration would not have been unanimous. It is estimated that he rode a total of 80 miles, which was normally a two-day trip. There is some question as to whether he rode on horseback, as a letter his brother Thomas wrote notes that he rode in a carriage. Rodney’s letter to Thomas about these events reads “I arrived in Congress (tho detained by thunder and rain) time enough to give my voice in the matter of independence…We have not got through the whole declaration and ordered it to be printed so you will soon have the pleasure of seeing it.”[3] On July 4, Rodney wrote to his brother, Thomas, again, about the vote to approve the text of the Declaration. He notes that he arrived in time to vote that day. It was being oriented, and it would be “sent to armies, county towns, etc. To be published or rather proclaimed in form.” What is fun about this letter is that at the very end he notes, “Don’t neglect to attend closely and carefully to my harvest and you’ll oblige.” [4] It was as if, yes, we had declared independence, but work still needed to be done on the farm.
Voting for the Declaration would deprive him of his seat in the state legislature and a place at the state constitutional convention. He was not re-elected to the Continental Congress until several years later, as there was strong loyalist sentiment in Delaware. It is said that those loyal to the royal government were responsible for his removal from office. Even though he was removed from office, he remained active in the militia during this time. British excursions into Delaware were consistently happening, and he was eventually required to command troops in the field. George Washington specifically requested his presence, and they were near Princeton for two months.
Rodney was elected President of Delaware in 1778 and would serve three years and seven months. During this time, there was a contentious debate over the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in the Delaware Legislature. Additionally, Rodney would be ill, and the assembly would come to him because he could not travel. But he never gave up on his public duties. He left office in 1781
Cancer would continue to plague him, and in 1781, he would go to Philadelphia for additional surgeries and treatments. This lasted several months, but upon his return to Dover, he slowly began to lose strength. He was reappointed to the Continental Congress and the Delaware Assembly but was unable to serve due to his poor health. He retired from office around 1783.
On June 24, 1783, Caesar Rodney succumbed to cancer at his Byfield plantation, where he was buried. He would later be reinterred at the Christ Episcopal Church in Dover, Delaware, in 1888. It is not positive that the bones buried in the Christ Church cemetery are those of Rodney or another family member because positive identification could not be made. In his will, he left most of his estate to his nephew, Caesar August Rodney, and made provisions for the gradual emancipation of his 200 slaves.
In 1888, Eleanor Brooks wrote a poem called Rodney’s Ride:
In that soft mid-land where the breezes bear
The north and the south on genial air
Through the county of Kent, on affairs of state,
Rode Caesar Rodney, the delegate….
At Tyranny’s feet the gauntlet flung;
“We are free!” all the bells through the colonies rung.
And the sons of the agree may recall with pride
The day of Delegate Rodney’s ride.
Tidbits 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 a sense and fire, spirit, wit, and humor in his countenance.” No actual portrait of Rodney exists; any drawings are just based on what people said he looked like. He was described as a temperate and patient man who was also a realist. On the Delaware State Quarter, he is pictured on his famous ride. |
[1] Through the paternal side of his family
[2] “Miscellany” Christian Register (1821‑1835) 6, no. 18 (May 05, 1827): 72.
[4] Rodney, Caesar. “Caesar Rodney’s letter of July 4, 1776” (January 14, 2009): 1.
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