Caesar Rodney, Delaware
Caesar Rodney was born near Dover, Delaware on October 7, 1728. At age thirty he began his career in public office, becoming county sheriff, justice of the peace, and then a member of the Delaware colonial legislature. He would also on serve on the Stamp Act Congress in 1765, and on the First and Second Continental Congresses.
Rodney was a liberal. He supported separation and opposed slavery. He was a tall, thin man with a small head. He was afflicted in the left cheek by advanced skin cancer, and he always wore a green scarf to cover it.
In 1775, Rodney was recalled from Congress and returned to Delaware to help combat Tory opposition. Rodney formed a militia of local Patriots which he trained into one of the colonies' best disciplined units.
This was the real reason, then, that Rodney missed most of the debate on independence. Late June, Thomas McKean summoned Rodney back to Congress to cast his vote for independence. So Rodney rode a distance of 80 miles in great pain, back to Philadelphiaon July 1 during the night.
Rodney had planned to go to London to see a famous surgeon who may have been able to help his cancer. Unfortunately, by signing the Declaration, he ruined these plans.
After signing, he returned to the Delaware militia. In 1778 he was elected president of Delaware. Although his health grew increasingly worse, he served successfully for four years. He died on June 29, 1784 at the age of 55.Back to the cast page