Thomas Rodney papers, circa 1774-1810

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Thomas Rodney papers
Date range:	circa 1774-1810
Creator:	Rodney, Thomas, 1744-1811
Extent:	0.5 linear feet (103 items)
Abstract:	Personal papers and records of Thomas Rodney, including letters, essays, notes on court cases in Mississippi and Delaware (1791 to 1810), a journal about personal matters and Delaware politics (1792-1800), and manuscript poetry.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.Rodney

Scope & content

The Thomas Rodney papers comprise a diverse collection of his writings, and include Rodney's poems, notes on his readings of the Bible and Greek and Roman classics, journals and commonplace books, letters, drafts of Congressional reports, notes on law cases, letters to the newspapers commenting on political affairs in the United States and Europe, as well as more personal documents, including descriptions and interpretations of Rodney's visions, a letter to his son, and notes on remedies for illness. The collection documents Rodney's dealings with other important American lawyers and leaders of his day, including Richard Bassett, John Dickinson, and Thomas McKean.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Bassett, Richard, 1745-1815
• Dickinson, John, 1732-1808
• McKean, Thomas, 1734-1817
• Rodney, C. A. (Caesar Augustus), 1772-1824
• Rodney, Caesar, 1728-1784
• Rodney, Thomas, 1744-1811

Geographical Names

• Delaware--Politics and government
• Mississippi--Politics and government
• United States--Politics and government

Occupations

• Farmers
• Judges
• Legislators
• Soldiers

Document Types

• Diaries
• Essays
• Legal documents
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Notes
• Poems

Subject Topics

• Government, Politics and Law

Arrangement

The collection is divided into 2 series:

• Series 1. Documents
• Series 2. Poems

Series 1 (Documents) is further subdivided into subseries: Accounts, Legal documents, Journals, Letters, Manuscript essays, and Notes. These subseries are arranged chronologically, except the Manuscript essays and Scholarly annotations within "Notes" which are arranged alphabetically by title. Series 2 (Poems) is arranged alphabetically by title.

Biographical note

Thomas Rodney was born on June 4, 1744, the eighth and youngest child of Caesar and Elizabeth (Crawford) Rodney, on his father's farm in St. Jones Neck, in Kent County, Delaware. When Thomas was about a year old, his father died. His mother subsequently married Thomas Wilson. Three years before he attained his majority, Thomas left his childhood home to live with his elder brother, Caesar. In 1764, the two brothers moved to Dover when Caesar was appointed a county officer. Thomas Rodney was married on April 8, 1771, to Elizabeth Fisher of Philadelphia. With the exception of two years spent in Philadelphia as a shopkeeper (1772-1774) and two years in Wilmington in a business partnership for the export of flour (1781-1783), Thomas was engaged principally in farming, both as a manager of Caesar's lands (when the latter was absent in Philadelphia on public business) and as a landowner himself.

Thomas was appointed a justice of the peace for Kent County in 1770, a position to which he was reappointed in 1774. Elected in 1775 as a member of the Assembly for Delaware colony, he participated in the legislative steps taken to transform the Delaware from a colony into a state during the summer of 1776.

In 1775, Thomas Rodney organized a volunteer militia force and was elected a member of the Council of Safety and the Committee of Observation for Kent County. While Washington's army was retreating across New Jersey in 1776, Rodney, as commander of a company of Kent County militia, joined his unit to the division of General Cadwalader. He subsequently led his men in the second battle of Trenton on January 2, 1777 and in the battle of Princeton the following day. He also served as adjutant to his brother Caesar, who was by then in command of the Delaware militia encamped near the British posts outside Philadelphia.

From 1778 to 1785 Thomas Rodney served Delaware as Judge of the Admiralty Court. From 1781 to 1788 he was five times elected to membership in the Confederation Congress, and twice to membership in the lower house of the Delaware General Assembly (1786 and 1787). In December 1802, he was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Delaware, but resigned in August 1803 to accept an appointment by President Jefferson as Federal judge for Mississippi Territory. He remained in this position until his death at Natchez in 1811.

His son, Caesar Augustus Rodney (1772-1824), served as a member of Congress (House of Representatives, 1803-1805; Senate 1822-1823) and as Attorney General of the United States under Presidents Jefferson and Madison.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, and an advance appointment is not necessary to see the collection.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Thomas Rodney papers, Ms. Rodney, Brown University Library.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The Thomas Rodney papers were acquired in two purchases, the first in 1932, the second from Emily Driscoll in 1972.
Processing information:	The title page image is a detail of the poem "Caesariad, A Military Hymn" by Thomas Rodney in Series 2. Poems of this collection.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Jayati Chaudhuri
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-03-27

Additional Information

Related material:

Related material is held by Brown University Library and is retrievable by the following accession/collection numbers: Rodney, Thomas. A journey through the West: Thomas Rodney's 1803 journal from Delaware to the Mississippi Territory. Edited by Dwight L. Smith and Ray Swick. Athens: Ohio University Press, c1997. Call number: F518 R64 1994. Related collections or materials at other institutions include: The Rodney Collection, Historical Society of Delaware The Rodney Family Papers, Manuscripts Division, The Library of Congress The Rodney Family Papers, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library

Other information:

Brown University Library catalog record for this collection: Thomas Rodney papers

Inventory

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