Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 09.djvu/160

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ROE

lished himsi'lf in practice in Wilmington, Del. lie w:vs inaniecl in 17'Jl to Susan. dau^'litiT of John Hunn. He \v;is a represontativf in the 8th congress, 1S03-05, serving ou the committee on ways and means, and on Dec. 4. 1804, was chosen one of the managers to conduct the impeacliment trial of Judge Chase; also, in 180.3. conducting the impeachment trials of three of the four judges of the supreme court of Pennsylvania. He was appointed attorney-general of the United States ill l><Or. and lield this ollice under Presidents Jef- ferson an 1 Madison till ISll, when he returned to his law practice at Wilmington. On the outbreak of the war of 1812 he commanded a rifle corps in Wilmington, Del., which was later changed to a company of liglit artillery, of which he became captain and which lie commanded on the Cana- dian frontier. lie was a member of the commit- tee of safety of Delaware in 1S13; state senator in 1815, and was appointed one of the commis- sioners sent to South America by President Mon- roe to report on the conditions of the Spanish- American republics and the advisability of recog- nizing them as independent governments. He was a representative in the 17th congress, 1821- 22. taking his seat, Dec. 3, 1821, resigning, Jan. 24, 1822, to take his seat in the U.S. senate, and re- signing from the senate, Jan. 27, 1823. He was the first Democrat to be sent to congress. He was appointed U.S. minister plenipotentiary to the United Provinces of La Plata, and arrived at Buenos Ayres, Dec. 27, 1823, where he was received with imposing ceremonies, but declining health prevented his active participation in affairs. In connection with Jolin Graham lie published: Reports on the Present State of the United Prov- inces of South America. ( 1819) . He died in Buenos Ayres, S.A.. June 10. 1824.

RODNEY, Caleb, governor of Delaware, was born in Lewes, Del., April 29, 17G7; son of Jolin and Rutli (Hunn) Rodney, and brother of Sena- tor Daniel Rodney (q.v.). He engaged in the mercantile busine.ss in Lewes; wasspeakeriu the state senate, and on the death of Governor John Collins in April, 1822, he was chosen acting gov- ernor of Delaware, serving until 1823. when he was succeeded by Samuel Paynter. He died in Lewes. Del., April 29, 1840.

RODNEY, Daniel, senator, was born in Lewes, Sus^s.-.\ county, Del., Sept. 10, 1764; son of Jolin and Ruth (Hunn) Rodney, and great-grandson of William Rodney, the emigrant. He was master of a coasting ves-sel when a youth, and was twice captured by the British, and after the war he settled in business in Lewes, ami was marrieil, March 5, 1788, to Sarah, daughter of Maj. Henry FLsher. He was judge of the court of common pleas of Delaware for twelve years; presidential elector in 1809, and was governor of the state of

Delaware, 1814-17. In 1821 he received the four electoral votes of Delaware for vice-president of the United States; was a representative in the 17th congress, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Ciesar A. Rodney ^.q.v.), serving' from Dec. 2, 1822, to March 3, 1823, and was ap- pointed U.S. senator to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Nicholas Van Dyke, serving from Dec. 4. 1826, to Jan. 23, 1827, when a successor was elected. He died in Lewes, Del., Sept. 2, 1846.

RODNEY, Thomas, delegate, was born in Sus- sex county, Del., June 4, 1744; son of Caesar and

(Crawford) Rodney, and brother of Caesar

Rodney, the signer (q.v.). Thomas was a justice of tiie peace in 1770 and 1784; a member of the assembh' lield in 1774 for the purpose of electing delegates to the first Continental congress; a member of the council of safety in 1770, and a colonel of Delaware militia during the war. He was married to Elizabeth Fisher. He was chief justice of the Kent county court, 1778-79; regis- ter of wills, 1779-81, and a delegate to the Conti- nental congress, 1781-83 and 1785-87. He was speaker of the state assembly in 1787; was super- intendent of the Kent county alms-house in 1802, and in 1803 he was appointed U.S. judge for the territory of Mississippi. The town of Rodney, Jefferson county. Miss., in which lie was a large land owner, was named in his honor. He died in Rodney, Miss., Jan. 2, 1811.

ROE, Charles Francis, soldier, was born in New York city. May 1, 1848; son of Stephen Romer and Josephine (Foster) Roe; grandson of Bentley and Elizabeth (Romer) Roe, and of James Gardiner and Anna E. (Colson) Fo.ster, and a descendant of Stephen Roe, a Revolutionary- soldier, who settled in Ulster county, N.Y., 1782, as conveyancer and school teacher. Charles Francis Roe entered the U.S. Military academy in 1864, and Jan. 15, 1868, was appointee" 2d lieu- tenant in the 1st cavalry. He was transferred to the 2d cavalry in 1870, and was mustered out of the service, Dec. 28, 1870, owing to the reduction of the army. He was commissioned 2d lieutenant, 2d cavalry, in 1871, and in 1876 led one of the columns sent to the relief of General Custer. He was married, July 29, 1874, to Katherine Bis- sell, daughter of John Banter and Elizabeth (Bis- sell) Bogert of Brooklyn, N.Y. He served as adjutant of his regiment for nine years; in 1880 was promoted 1st lieutenant; resigned his com- mission, Jan. 31, 1888, and engagetl in real estate business in New York city. In 1889 he became the first captain of trooj) A, 1st brigade, N.G.S.N.Y., which troop did effective work during the strikes in Buffalo. N.Y., in 1892, and in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1895. He was appointed major of the squad- ron, February, 1895, and was appointed major- general in command of the N.G.S.N.Y. by