Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 44

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Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776

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he has a fluent and easy command of language, and would undoubtedly have risen to prom- inence at the bar had he continued in the pro- fession of the law, but he is more than satisfied that he chose a business career in which, by his steady progress, he has in a few years become one of the solid and influential men of the city. He is an ardent Republican, and was chairman of the County Republican Committee during the Garfield campaign, and possesses a commanding influence with his party. His religious connection is with the Unitarian church of Wilmington, of which he is a trus- tee. He was married, March 28, 1865, to Miss Kate C, daughter of John H. and Margaret (Beath) Graupner of Boston. Mr John H. Graupner is the son of Gotlieb A. Graupner, who came from Prussian Germany, and founded in Boston the music business now carried on by Oliver Ditson. He also was one of the founders of the Handel and Hayden Society, and his father, John George Graupner, was Chapel- Master to the King of Prussia. Mr. and Mrs. Stone have three promising boys, whose names are Seymour Howard, Ralph, and Frederick Edward Stone.'

ONES, WILLIAM PAYNTER, Far- mer and Fruit Grower, near Lewes, was born in Dagsboro hundred, Octo- ber 31, 1829. His father, John Jones, was born, April 18, 1796. He began life entirely without means or education, but by his own efforts fitted himself to be a good teacher, and followed that vocation for many years. He purchased a farm and brought up his family in comfort and respectability, and was prominent and useful in the community. He held several local offices, and served four years as a member of the Levy Court. By his first marriage, to Miss Truitt, he had one child who died in infancy. His second wife was Comfort Ingram, daughter of Purnal

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and Sarah Phillips, and they had five chil- | and made it a fine fruit and grain farm. He dren : James Purnal, William Paynter, George ; was married, July 2, 1860, to Miss Margaret Alanson, John Martin, who died, Nov. 8, 1864, Ruth, daughter of Noah and Louisa Conna- and Charles Reed. Mr. Jones and his wife | way, and has eight children : Effie Lee, Arny were members of the Baptist church. He died, Wise, David Price, Charles Vanderbilt, Ralph, Louisa Comfort, Mildred and Ruby. Mr. Jones is one of the leading men in that part of the State, and a highly useful and intelligent citi- zen, enjoying the full confidence and esteem of the community in which he has spent his life. Jan. 4. 1867. His father, James Jones, came from Virginia about the time of the Revolu- tionary war and settled in Sussex county. His ancestors were Scotch, and were probably among the early settlers of the Old Dominion. ! His children were : John, Lewis, James, Wil- liam and Betsey. William P. Jones grew up to the labors of the farm, and attended the schools of the vicinity, but most of his educa- tion was received at home under the careful and constant instruction of his father, who re- quired each week a certain amount of study. At the age of twelve he became a clerk in Millsboro, and acquired such a reputation that his services were sought by the other mer- chants in the place. He was thus engaged for three years, and also a part of the following three, but spent most of that time on the home farm and at school. At the age of twenty-five he became a clerk for Noah Con- naway, and also carried on the butchering business on his own account, which was pro- fitable and enabled him, at the end of four years, to enter into parnership with Mr. Con- naway, which continued three years. In 1857, Mr. Jones spent several months in Kentucky and Ohio, and on his return purchased his first farm of 100 acres, near his old home, for which he paid $1,000. Soon after, he added twenty acres. He was also engaged in buy- ing and driving cattle to the northern mar- kets, which he made profitable. In 1859, he was appointed Justice of the Peace and No- tary Public, by Gov. William Burton, which position he held for the term of seven years with much acceptance to the people. Jan. 17, 1872, he was appointed Clerk of the Peace by Gov. James Ponder, for a term of five years, proving one of the best and most efficient of- ficers the county ever had. During this time he resided at the county seat. In 1880, he was elected to the Legislature by the Demo- cratic party, in which he was prominent, and served his constituents with conspicuous abil- ity and zeal. Mr. Jones purchased, in May, 1877, the farm where he now resides, of 181 acres, then in a greatly neglected state, but he has brought it under excellent cultivation,

LOCKSOM, JOSEPH T. V., of Wil- mington, Physician and Surgeon, was born in Milton, March 26, 1850. His father, Richard Blocksom, is a farmer of that vicinity. He received an aca- demic education in his native town, and at the age of seventeen commenced the study of medicine in the same place with Dr. James A. Hopkins. In 1869, he entered Jefferson Medi- cal College, from which he graduated with the class of 1871. During the summer of that year he took an extra course at the college, and was also engaged in hospital practice. After practicing a short time in his native town he settled at Little Creek, Kent county, where he was very successful as a country physician, but in the spring of 1874, he removed to Wilming- ton, and has since resided in that city. Here he rapidly rose to prominence, and has a large and steadily increasing practice. In 1876, he was elected City Vaccine Physician, holding the position one year. Since 1872, he has been a member of the Delaware State Medical So- ciety. In politics he affiliates with the Demo- cratic party. He was married, in 1872, to Miss Sallie Fisher, granddaughter of William V. Colter, Esq., of Wilmington.

ODNEY, WILLIAM .- The Rodney family which has figured so prominent- ly in the history of Delaware, is de- scended from a very ancient English family, who resided at Rodney Stoke, now the city of Bristol, in Somersetshire, since the earliest times of which records exist. In 1682 William Rodney came to this coun- try with William Penn, as his legal ad- viser, and from him all the American Rodneys are descended. He settled in Philadelphia, where, in 1688, he married Mary Hollyman, who died in 1690. After the death of his wife

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he removed to Dover, where he married, in |

colonies sent deputies to unite in petition to 1693, Sarah, daughter of Daniel Jones, for to the King and both Houses of Parliament, to whom Jones Creek and Jones Neck near Dover are named. Daniel Jones was at that time the largest land owner, and the wealthiest man in the province. Mr. Rodney being a man of education and legal attainments, ex- erted a potential influence in the province during his life. He was the first speaker of the first General Assembly of the three lower counties in Delaware, and filled many posi- tions of trust and influence. He died in 1708. leaving one son, William, by the first wife,and one son, Cæsar, by the second. From Wil- liam are descended all of what are knows as the Sussex county Rodneys.

ODNEY, CÆSAR, was the son of William Rodney, ( see preceding sketch,) and inherited all the property of his grandfather Jones, consisting of about a thousand acres of land. He married Mary, eldest daughter of the Rev. Thomas Crawford, the first Episcopal clergy- man who ever came to Delaware. Cæsar Rodney was an educated and cultivated gen- tleman, but was unambitious, and declined all offers of public service, and never accepted office of any kind. Two of his sons, however, whose lots were cast in the stirring times of the American Revolution, have left their mark so indelibly upon the pages of American history, that their names are likely to be remembered while the Republic exists. These were Cæsar Rodney, the signer of the Declaration of In- dependence, and Col. Thomas Rodney, who died Chief Justice of the Mississippi Terri- tory.

obtain a repeal of the Stamp act, a most op- pressive invasion of the liberties of America. In 1774, he was elected a delegate to the First Continental Congress which met in Carpen- ter's Hall, Philadelphia, in the fall of that year, and took a most active part in the measures that led to the final separation of the colonies from Great Britian and the establishment of the United States in 1776. The three lower counties of New Castle, Kent and Sussex, on Delaware, were largely under tory influences, and it was princi- pally due to Cæsar Rodney's exertions and personal influence that induced approval of separation from the mother country. In 1776, in addition to his duties as member of Congress, Mr. Rodney was made Major Gen- eral of the Delaware State, and as commander in chief, several times led the State forces against the British foe. After the cap- ture of Trenton, on the night of Christmas, 1776, he remained for some time in com- mand of that post. . In 1778 he was elected President of the Delaware State, and during his term of office used his utmost efforts to further the cause of American Independence ; freely using his own large fortune, when pub- lic funds were not forthcoming, so that at the time of his death his property was nearly absorbed. At the close of his term as President, he was again elected to Congress, but did not take his seat owing to ill health. His death occurred at Poplar Grove, his home, on the west side of Dover river on the twen- ty-ninth of June, 1784. No man has filled a larger or more important place in the history of Delaware than Cæsar Rodney, nor has any one more fully deserved that distinction. Honest and true to his convictions, cultivated, intelligent, generous and courteous in his man- ners, he exerted a wide personal influence, and always for the good of the State, that has never been excelled and gave him the confi- dence of all classes. He is described by a co-temporary as being a man of about five feet ten inches in height, and of fine appear- ance, of clear understanding and good judg- ment. His manners were graceful, easy and polite ; he had a vast fund of humor and had the happiest talent in the world of making

ODNEY, CÆSAR, Patriot and Signer of the Declaration of Independence, was the eldest son of Cæsar Rodney, (see preceding sketch,) and was born near Dover, Oct. 7, 1728. He was carefully educated by private tutors and succeeded to his father's large estate. He was elected High Sheriff of Kent county in 1758, and from that time until his death, continuously filled impor- tant offices of trust and honor. In 1765 he was, with Thomas Mckean and Joseph Kol- lock, appointed by the House of Assembly to represent the lower counties at the General Congress held at New York, where all the | his wit pleasant and agreeable." He was a

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faithful public officer, an intense patriot, just in all his dealings, easy to his tenants and debtors, sincere to his friends, beneficent to his relatives and kind to his servants. Pos- sessed of ample means, he always lived in a generous, social and elegant style. John Adams in a letter to a friend written in 1815, says : "I was intimately acquainted with Cæsar Rodney, who under the constant pres- ence of ill health preserved a clear under- standing, and a firmness, a steadiness and in- flexibility of heart equal to any statesman I have known."

ODNEY, JUDGE THOMAS, fifth son of Cæsar Rodney, and brother of the Signer of the Declaration of Independ- ence, was born near Dover, Del., the 4th day of June, 1744. He was care- fully educated, and being a hard student be- came one of the best informed, and cultivated men of his time. He was an enthusiastic advo- cate of the Independence of the colonies, and did much to reconcile public opinion to the change of government. Though not connected with the continental army, he, on several occasions of pressing necessity, led bodies of Delaware volunteers to the aid of the Ameri- can cause. He took part in the movement of Gen. Washington against the Hessians occu- pying Trenton and Bordentown, and his com- mand acted an important and leading part in the victory at Princeton. He was, for a time, in charge of the Head Quarters at Morristown. The American historian is largely indebted to him for his careful notes of the campaign, which are considered the fullest and most reliable authority on this eventful period of our history. Thomas Rodney filled many positions of trust and honor : he was a mem- ber of the "Council of Safety," and many times a member of the General Assembly of Dela- ware; was Judge of Admiralty and of the Common Pleas ; Colonel of the Eighth Dela- ware Regiment ; (Militia), and for a time the agent of the French Government for the supply of French troops in America. In 1781 he was a member of the Continental Congress, and took an important part in its discussions. His diary of his term of service, and his sketches of the men of that period are invalu- able contributions to the early history of the United States. After the close of the war,

tory influence regained sway in Sussex, and Col. Rodney, with the rest of the leading Whigs who had controlled the State during the war for Independence, were swept into the obscurity of private life, where he remained until appointed Chief Justice of the Mississippi Territory in 1802 by President Jefferson. He filled this position with signal ability until his death, which occurred at Washington, near Natchez, January 2, 1811. Judge Rodney married Elizabeth Fisher, daughter of Jabez and Maud Fisher of Philadelphia, and left two children ; Lavinia, who married Hon. John Fisher, the second Judge of the United States District Court of Delaware, and the Hon. Cæsar A. Rodney. The State of Delaware owes much to Thomas Rodney ; and while the principles and exertions which operated in transferring it from a Royal to a Republi- can government continue to be revered, his name cannot cease to occupy a distinguished place in the gratitude and affection of her people.

ODNEY, CÆSAR A., Statesman, only son of Judge Thomas Rodney, was born at Dover, January 4, 1772. He was educated at the University of Penn- sylvania, studied law in Philadelphia with Joseph B. McKean, and was admitted to the bar in that city. In 1793 he married Susan, daughter of Captain John Hunn of Philadel- phia. They had a large family, only one son, however, leaving issue. He came to Wilming- ton soon after his marriage and began the practice of the law. Delaware was then under control of the Federal party, and the cause of its opponents seemed hopeless of obtaining political power. Mr. Rodney being a great admirer of Mr. Jefferson, and devoted to the principles of the Democratic-Republican party, as enunciated by that statesman, at once took an active interest in politics, and being pos- sessed of agreeable manners and great elo- quence, soon became the acknowledged leader of that party in the state. He was elected to the Legislature in 1797, and in 1802, at the solicitation of Mr. Jefferson, ran for Congress against James A. Bayard, whom Mr. Jefferson greatly disliked, and was elected over him by a small majority, thus being the first Democrat chosen from Delaware to any public position. It is worthy of note that the change of

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sentiment indicated by the election of Mr. [ decided to acknowledge the independence of Rodney to Congress, was the beginning of a the South American Republics, and in 1823 he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces of La Plata. He presented his credentials, having been sent out to the city of Buenos Ayres in the United States Frigate, Congress, on December 27th, 1823, and was enthusiastically received. Mr. Rod- ney's health had been failing for some time, but his death, which occurred June 10, 1824, was sudden and entirely unexpected. He was buried in the English church in the suburbs of the city where the government of that State erected a handsome monument to his memory. "On the border of the prairie,extending in all its glory from La Plata to the Andes, moul- der among strangers, the remains of Cæsar Augustus Rodney." Mr. Rodney was slightly under the average stature, but was well pro- portioned, and was a singularly, intellectually handsome man. He was a hard student, a rare scholar, an eminent lawyer and a cultivated and polished gentleman. His gift of language was most remarkable, and it is strictly within the bounds of truth to say that his eloquence has never been surpassed by any Delawarean and by few Americans. Mr. Rodney's great learning and wide experience made him a most charming conversationalist, and this combined with agreeable and courteous manners ren- dered him exceedingly popular wherever he was known. William Cobbitt, the celebrated English writer, frequently asserted that he had met but two men in America, who in his opinion, were fit to be President of the United States, and they were Thomas Jefferson and Cæsar A. Rodney. His death was a serious loss to his State and to the nation. period of political domination which lasted for upwards of fifty years. The Democratic party of Mr. Jefferson which came into power at that time continued, under its successor, the Whig party, to control the destines of Delaware until the election in the fall of 1858. In 1804 Mr. Rodney was chosen one of the seven managers to conduct the impeachment of Judge Chase. The importance of this case is a matter of national history. Mr. Rodney displayed much ability and great legal knowl- edge as one of the managers of this case, and gained thereby a national reputation as an eminent lawyer. In 1805 he was employed by the state of Pennsylvania to conduct the impeachment of the Judge of that State for unlawful commitments for contempt. In 1807 he was appointed by President Jefferson Attorney General of the United States, and continued to fill that position under President Madison until his resignation in 1811. During his term of office many im- portant cases were tried by him for the Government, among which were the Bollman and Swartwout cases, and the Burr con- spirators, etc. On his resignation, he re- turned to the practice of the law at Wil- mingion. On the breaking out of the war with England in 1812, Mr. Rodney was charged with the command of the troops raised in Delaware, and was for a long time in command of the forts at Wilmington and at New Castle. In 1817, Mr. Rodney was appointed by Presi- dent Monroe, the head of a mission to the South American States, to ascertain their condition and the expediency of their ac- knowledgement by the United States. On the return of the mission, in 1818, Mr. Rodney ODNEY, GOV. DANIEL, was born at Lewes, September 10, 1764, and at the time of his death was nearly eighty- two years of age. His father was John, son of William and Mary (Hollyman) Rodney. John Rodney removed from Kent to Sussex in 1736, and filled the offices of Sheriff of Sussex, trustee of the Loan office and was a Judge of the "Sessions." Daniel was endowed with a vigorous mind, and sought every available means for improvement, but the war of the revolution having broken out when a child, his facilities were few, even to those of competent means. He, however, communicated to Congress an able paper on the condition of those countries, advising their acknowledgment by the United States as in- dependent States. In 1820 Mr. Rodney was again elected to Congress, and received a re- spectable vote for the speakership, but being a pronounced opponent of slavery, the southern influence was thrown against him and he failed of election. In 1822 he was elected to the United States Senate, by the Legislature of Delaware. In the same year, Congress, largely influenced by Mr. Rodney's report on the subject, and his exertions in their behalf,

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to a great extent overcame them by receiving | private instruction, and in culture he favora- bly compared with the leading men of his time. His enterprising spirit led him, at the age of sixteen years, to become the master of a vessel navigating the Delaware, which being infested by the enemy's cruisers, was a very hazardous employment. He was twice cap- tured by the British, and suffered the loss of his property. When peace came he settled in business in Lewes, and soon after married the daughter of Major Henry Fisher, a patriot whose name is deserving of an honored place in the history of the war for independence. Upon the adoption of the constitution of the State, 1793, Governor Clayton offered him the choice of any of the offices of his county, but with a disinterestedness hard to understand in our day, he declined. He was afterward prevailed upon by the Governor to take the judgeship in the Court of Common Pleas, and for twelve years occupied the position having won the high regard of his associates on the bench, and of the bar, when J. P. Wilson, Jas. A. Bayard, Cæsar A.Rodney, John Vining, and Nicholas VanDyke were among its mem- bers. The sacrifice of pecuniary interests in- volved in attendance on public duties, with the care of a growing family induced his resig- nation, and he resumed active business until his election in . 1813, to the position of Gov- ernor of the State, to which office he was elected by a large majority. It was a perilous period. Yet its trying and manifold duties were performed in a manner to reflect honor upon Governor Rodney, and in 1817 he re- ceived the vote of the Electoral College of Delaware for the position of Vice President of the United States, which, though not leading to any result as to that position was a high testimonial to the retiring Governor, and a mark of their confidence in his fitness for this exalted position. In 1822 he was elected to Congress and served on the Committee on Foreign Relations, perhaps, at that time, the most important Committee of the House, and one for which his abilities were well fitted. In 1827 he served for a time as United States Senator from his State, and then withdrew to a retirement suiting his taste for literary studies and agricultural pursuits. In all these positions, so honorably filled, he was sought after, and not a seeker for office. He spent

the leisure of his later life in self examination and preparation for the future life to which the gospel he so intelligently believed pointed him. If in public life he was stainless, in the domestic circle his virtues endeared him to his family. It was said of him that his long life passed without the stain of an immoral act. He was actively hostile to the system of slavery and was one of the originators of an Abolition Society, early in this century. A copy of its printed constitution and by-laws was supplied the editors of this work by Squire J. A. Hazzard's lady, of Milton, and bears evidence of those better days when professing christians felt as Patrick Henry expressed it that "it was a duty which they owed to re- ligion to manifest its hostility to the practice of slavery." His ashes sleep in the old grave- yard of his birth-place, at Lewes.

ODNEY, THOMAS MCKEAN, was the third son of Hon. Cæsar A. Rod- ney and was born Sept. 11, 1800, in Wilmington. At the age of fourteen, he was appointed by President Madison, a cadet at West Point, where he remained for three years, when he obtained leave of absence to accompany his father on a mission to South America. On his return to the United States he resigned his commission, and began the study of law with his father, and was admitted to the bar. In 1823 his father having been appointed minister to Buenos Ayres, he accompanied him as Secre- tary of Legation to that country. Upon his return to America he was appointed by Presi- dent J. Q. Adams, Consul General to the city of Havana, Cuba, in which position he con- tinued until removed by President Jackson. In 1842 he was appointed United States Con- sul at Matanzas, Cuba, where he remained until the close of President Tyler's adminis- tration. In 1849 he was appointed to the same consulate by President Taylor, continu- ing in this office until the close of President Fillmore's term. Mr. Rodney belonged to the Whig school of politics, and was opposed to the extension of slavery and became an earnest supporter of the Republican party upon its organization. He was one of the electors on the Republican ticket in Delaware, in 1856, which received the now historic num- ber of 308 votes, which represented the nu-

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merical strength of the party at that day in | Returning to Delaware he built the schooner the State of Delaware. In 1847 he was elected to the Legislature of the State and served as chairman of the celebrated com- mittee on contested election cases of that year, with marked ability and firmness. On the inauguration of President Lincoln in 1861, Mr. Rodney was appointed Collector of Cus- toms for the District of Delaware, and re- tained that position until removed by Andrew Johnson in 1866. By his personal integrity, faithful attention to duty, and uniform frank courteous manners, he won the esteem and respect of all who were brought in official relations with him. He was a most enter- taining and genial companion and abounded in anecdote and humor, which rendered him exceedingly popular wherever he was known. Mr. Rodney possessed an extensive acquaint- ance among the public men of his time, and numbered among his friends many of the dis- tinguished men of his day. He died at his residence, Cool Spring, Wilmington, April 24, 1874.

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Historical and biographical encyclopaedia of Delaware. V 2, Part 44

Author: Publication date: 1972 Publisher: Number of Pages: 776

Author:
Publication date: 1972
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 776