Born on October 7, 1728, on a farm east of Dover, Caesar Rodney became one of Delaware's most distinguished statesmen. Entering public life at an early age, he held numerous local offices, served in the Colonial State Assembly, and was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress. From 1774 through 1776 he was a member of the Continental Congress, and in 1776 he was summoned from his home to Philadelphia to break a deadlock among the states approving the Declaration of Independence. During the Revolution he was commissioned brigadier general and given responsibility for commanding the Delaware Militia. In 1778 he was elected President, or Governor, of Delaware and served in that capacity until 1781. He died at his home near Dover on June 29, 1784. Throughout his career of public service, he was noted for high integrity, purity of character, and patriotic leadership. In 1916, a new school for area youth was constructed and named in honor of Delaware's patriot hero, with the first Caesar Rodney High School located on Camden-Wyoming Avenue, and it was replaced by the present structure in 1967.