Delaware's Signers of the Declaration of Independence

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Thomas McKean (March 19, 1734 – June 24, 1817) was born in Chester County, Pennsylvania to William and Letitia (Finney) McKean.  He attended school in Pennsylvania and went to study law in New Castle, Delaware.  After service in the New Castle County Court system, he established a large law practice in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.   McKean became a member of the Delaware Assembly and an outspoken opponent of British policies toward the colonies.  In 1765 he attended the Stamp Act Congress in New York.  He was an active member of the Continental Congress serving on five committees.  He voted for, and signed the Declaration of independence.  McKean also participated in drafting the first state constitution of Delaware.  He supported the Articles of Confederation, and served as President of Congress from July 10 – November 5, 1781.  He later served twenty years as on Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court.  McKean also served as president of Delaware and several terms as Governor of Pennsylvania.  In 1763 he married Mary Borden, after bearing him six children she died in 1773.  In 1774 he married Sarah Armitage, together the couple had five children.

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George Read (September 18, 1733 – September 21, 1798) (above) was born in Cecil County, Maryland to John and Mary (Howell) Read.  Shortly after his birth his family moved to New Castle, Delaware.  He attended school in Pennsylvania and studied law in Philadelphia, being admitted to the bar in 1753.  Read practiced law in Delaware and Maryland and earned a reputation as an honest lawyer.  In 1763 he married Gertrude (Ross) Till and together the couple had a daughter and four sons.  Read strongly opposed the British Acts of Taxation and in 1769, was prominent in securing a non-importation agreement against Britain to protest the acts. As a member of the Continental Congress, Read refused to vote for independence.  But when the resolution for independence passed, he not only signed, but also supported the Declaration. Afterwards he was prominent in drafting the Delaware State Constitution and active in state government, serving for one period as president (governor) of Delaware.  Read was also a member of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.  During the Convention, Read spoke often in defense of the rights of the small states.  He was also instrumental in getting Delaware to be the first state to ratify the new Constitution.  Read also served as one of Delaware’s first United States Senators. (See also Signers of the Constitution)

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Caesar Rodney (1728-1784), (above) best known for his heroic ride for independence in 1776, played an active and important role in Delaware politics for over twenty-five years. A wealthy gentleman farmer from Kent County, he held many political and governmental offices beginning in 1755.  He was first elected to the Delaware Assembly in 1758 and served continuously from 1761 to 1776, except for 1771. He was elected speaker of the Assembly in 1769, 1773, 1774, and 1775.

He took a leading role in events leading up to the American Revolution, always promoting the rights of American colonists against British policies.  In 1765 he served as one of Delaware’s delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York.  In the summer of 1774, as speaker of the Assembly, Rodney took the extra-legal step of calling the Assembly into special session.  At that session, he was elected one of Delaware’s delegates to the First Continental Congress.  He was later elected to the Second Continental Congress.  Rodney’s belief in the American position, combined with England’s increasingly hard-line stance, led him to believe that independence was the only answer for the American colonies.  In all of this, Rodney and the others involved were taking a great risk, for they did not know whether they would succeed.

Rodney’s heroic ride came on the night of July 1-2, 1776.  After the resolution for independence was introduced in Congress in June, Rodney returned home to Dover.  When fellow delegate Thomas McKean learned that a vote on independence was about to take place, he sent an express messenger to Rodney.  Rodney’s presence was vital.  In the Continental Congress each colony had one vote based on the votes of its individual delegates.  Delaware had two other representatives.  Thomas McKean would vote for independence, George Read would vote against it.  Those votes would cancel each other out, leaving Delaware without a vote unless Caesar Rodney was present to vote for independence.

Rodney received McKean’s message on the evening of July 1, he left Dover immediately for Philadelphia.  It is not known whether he rode a horse or took a carriage, the exact route he took, or how long the journey lasted.  Rodney arrived in Philadelphia on the afternoon of July 2, just in time cast his vote. Because of Caesar Rodney’s heroic ride, Delaware voted for independence in 1776.

 After this, Caesar Rodney was briefly out of political power.  In March 1778 he was elected president (governor) of Delaware.  He held that post until November 1781.  After that, he lived quietly until his death.