The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
State of Service: DE
Qualifying Service: Patriotic Service / Military Service / Signer of the Declaration of Independance
Birth: 07 Oct 1728 Dover / Kent / DE Death: 29 Jun 1784 Dover / Kent / DE
Qualifying Service Description:
1774, Delegate from Delaware to the 1st Continental Congress
1776, Signer of Declaration of Independence
1776, named Brigadier General of Kent County, Delaware
1776, delegate to the 2nd Continental Congress
1778, named Major-General of the Delaware Militia
1778, elected President or Chief Executive/Governor of Delaware
Additional References:
Richards, Mary F.Graves of Delaware Soldiers and Patriots of the American Revolution, Vols. 2 and 3, 1983-85
Spouse: Children: Members Who Share This Ancestor
None*
*This means that the NSSAR has no applications for this Patriot on file.
Instead the information provided is best effort, and from volunteers who have either researched grave sites, service records, or something similar. There is no documentation available at NSSAR HQ to order.
The cemetery is located next to the church near the corner of State and Water Streets in Dover.
Author: President Gen John Thomas Manning M.Ed.
Caesar Rodney was born on 7 October 1728, near Dover, Kent County, Delaware, to a moderately prosperous planter who died when Caesar was only 16. On his father's death, the Orphan's Court placed Caesar in the home of Nicholas Ridgely, a clerk of the peace in Kent County. Ridgely's influence may have originated Caesar's interest in politics, but he also had a grandfather who was once the Speaker of Delaware's Colonial Assembly.
Starting at 22, Caeser filled several local political positions in Kent County, including Sheriff, Register of Wills, Justice of the Peace, Clerk of the Orphan's Court, and Recorder of Deeds. At the age of 30, Rodney was elected for the first time to the Delaware Assembly, a position he served in until 1776. He also became an Associate Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court from 1769 through 1777. He served as a Kent County Militia Captain during the French and Indian War, but his unit never saw active duty.
Caesar was a delegate to the 1765 Stamp Act Congress and served on Delaware's Committee of Correspondence. In the House of Assembly, he was Speaker when Delaware declared its Independence on 15 June 1775. He was subsequently made a Brigadier-General of the Delaware militia, charged with defending the state and putting down Loyalist rebellions.
Between 1774 and 1776, Caesar was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He was a member when the vote for Independence was made but was away in Delaware when the issue was being debated. The final vote, which was scheduled for July 2, would have passed without his presence, but the other members wanted a unanimous decision from the colonies present. Delaware's other two delegates, George Read and Thomas McKean, were split in their votes. McKean sent an urgent letter to Caesar to come to Philadelphia immediately to cast his vote. He made his own "midnight ride" through the night of July 1st and arrived just as the votes were being cast on the 2nd. His vote, along with McKean's, meant Delaware voted in the affirmative for a Declaration of Independence. Caesar’s signature and the other 55 signers were later added to the formal Declaration of Independence.
He was elected President of Delaware in 1778 under the new independent government. He served three years in this position while simultaneously being the General in charge of the state militia. Throughout the war, Caesar was instrumental in sending supplies and troops to aid George Washington in numerous battles. In 1783, he was again elected to the Continental Congress but did not serve because of ill health.
Caesar suffered from cancer and had a cancerous growth that had disfigured his face. He was often known to wear a covering for it in public. Perhaps this was the reason that he never married. Caesar Rodney passed away at his plantation "Byfield" near Dover on 26 June 1784 at the age of 55.
Send a biographical sketch of your patriot!
Patriot biographies must be the original work of the author, and work submitted must not belong to another person or group, in observance with copyright law. Patriot biographies are to be written in complete sentences, follow the established rules of grammar, syntax and punctuation, be free of typographical errors, and follow a narrative format. The narrative should unfold in a logical manner (e.g. the narrative does not jump from time period to time period) or have repeated digressions, or tell the history of the patriot's line from the patriot ancestor to the author. The thinking here is that this is a patriot biography, not a lineage report or a kinship determination project or other report published in a genealogy journal. The biography should discuss the qualifying service (military, patriotic, civil) of the patriot ancestor, where the service was rendered, whether this was a specific state or Continental service, as well as significant events (as determined by the author) of the patriot's life. This is the entire purpose of a patriot's biography.
Additional guidelines around the Biography writeup can be found here:
Send your submission1, in a Microsoft Word compatible format, to patriotbios@sar.org for inclusion in this space 1Upon submission of a patriot biography, the patriot biography becomes the property of the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and may be edited to conform to the patriot biography submission standards.