Caesar Rodney

He rode storm to break a tie in Delaware's vote,

And Rodney's military career is impressive to note.

   "I arrived in Congress (tho' detained by thunder and rain) time enough to give my voice in the matter of Independence."

        Image by Ole Erekson, Engraver, c1876, Library of Congress

   "spirit, wit, and humor in his countenance."  John Adams
 

        Caesar Rodney was an Episcopalian.  The family from which he descends is honorably spoken of in the history of early times. 

       Caesar was tutored by his parents.  It is thought that he may have attended a local Parson's school thus making his formal education very limited at best.  After his father died, Caesar was placed in the guardianship of Nicholas Ridgely, a clerk of the peace in Kent county.  It was Ridgely who influenced Caesar to dedicate his life to political interests. 

        When the Stamp Act Congress met in 1765, Caesar was chosen as delegate by unanimous vote.  Persuasive in political sentiments with his pen, he soon became known for his well-reasoned complaints against British injustice.         

        In 1774, he took his seat at the opening of Congress in September with McKean and Read, and in 1775 he was elected a delegate.  In May 1775 Rodney was elected a colonel in the militia, and in September moved up to brigadier general while attending to his duties in Congress.  He was at his military station 80 miles away during the closing debates of the Declaration in 1776 when he was summoned by McKean at private expense to hasten back to Philadelphia.  It was urgent that he be there to assure that Delaware would vote, 'aye.'  Riding all night he made it to the convention with his spurs still on his boots just in time to give Independence a unanimous vote.

       By the time of his death at age 53, Caesar Rodney had held more public offices than any other Delawarean before or since.  His remains are now buried in the yard of Christ Episcopal Church in Dover.   Signers of the Declaration: Historic Places Commemorating the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, published by the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service: Washington, D.C. (revised edition 1975 and issued as part of the NPS observance of our nation's bicentennial).     

http://www.colonialhall.com/rodney/rodney.php  http://www.russpickett.com/history/rodnbio.htm http://www.geocities.com/peterroberts.geo/Relig-Politics/CRodney.html 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000376   

 

           ".......the repeal of the stamp act was followed by other oppressive measures.......The inhabitants of Delaware were for a long time anxious for reconciliation between the mother country and the American colonies; still they understood too well their unalienable rights, and had too high a regard for them, tamely to relinquish them."  In an address written to Great Britain by Mr. Rodney, Mr. McKean, and Mr. Read:

    "If our fellow-subjects of Great Britain, who derive no authority from us, who cannot in our humble opinion represent us, and to whom we will not yield in loyalty and affection to your majesty, can at their will and pleasure, of right, give and grant away our property; if they enforce an implicit obedience to every order or act of theirs for that purpose, and deprive all, or any of the assemblies on this continent, of the power of legislation, for differing with them in opinion in matters which intimately affect their rights and interests, and every thing that is dear and valuable to Englishmen, we cannot imagine a case more miserable; we cannot think that we shall have even the shadow of liberty left. We conceive it to be an inherent right in your majesty's subjects, derived to them from God and nature, handed down from their ancestors, and confirmed by your royal predecessors and the constitution, in person, or by their representatives, to give and grant to their sovereigns those things which their own labors and their own cares have acquired and saved, and in such proportions and at such times, as the national honor and interest may require. Your majesty's faithful subjects of this government have enjoyed this inestimable privilege uninterrupted from its first existence, till of late. They have at all times cheerfully contributed to the utmost of their abilities for your majesty's service, as often as your royal requisitions were made known; and they cannot now, but with the greatest uneasiness and distress of mind, part with the power of demonstrating their loyalty and affection to their beloved king."

Rev. Charles A. Goodrich Lives of the Signers to the Declaration of Independence. New York: William Reed & Co., 1856. Pages 313-319.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31