William Rodney
Under the auspices of William Penn, William Rodney came to Philadelphia, a branch of this ancient family. He was the son of William Rodney of England and settled in Kent, Delaware. His mother, Alice, was the daughter of Sir Thomas Caesar, a wealthy English merchant. William Rodney left one son, Caesar, who was the father of the subject of this biographette. This son was born in Dover, Kent County, Delaware in 1730. He received a good education and inherited a large real estate from his father.In 1758, he became high sheriff of his native county and was appointed a Justice of the Peace and a judge of the lower courts. In October 1762, he took his seat in the Legislature at Newcastle and became an active and influential member.
He was a member of the Congress that convened at New York in 1765 to remonstrate against the Stamp Act and other threatened innovations upon the privileges of the Colonies. After the repeal of the Stamp Act, Messrs. Rodney, McKean, and Read were appointed a committee to prepare an address to the sovereign expressive of the joy produced throughout the Colony by this event.
In 1769, Mr. Rodney was chosen Speaker of the Assembly of Delaware and continued to fill the chair for several years with honor and dignity.
In the autumn of 1776, the Tories defeated his election to Congress. With increasing zeal, he entered the field of military operations. He repaired to Princeton soon after the brave Haslet and Mercer fell, fighting for the cause of justice and freedom. He remained with the army for two months and received the approval of General Washington, expressed in the following letter from Morristown, New Jersey, on February 18, 1777.
" The readiness with which you took the field at the period most critical to our affairs and the industry you used in bringing out the militia of Delaware State and the alertness observed by you in forwarding troops to Trenton and reflect the highest honor on your character and place your attachment to the cause in the most distinguished point of view. They claim my sincerest thanks, and I am happy to have this opportunity to give them to you. "