Caesar Rodney is Lewes Lunch and Learn topic Jan. 20
During the next Lewes Lunch and Learn program, set for 12 p.m., Friday, Jan. 20, in Hotel Rodney, Stuart Forman will present Caesar Rodney and the American Revolution.
On July 2, 1776, despite having melanoma, Caesar Rodney rode 80 miles to Philadelphia to cast the deciding patriot vote for Delaware. This was a very significant event, as it was also the deciding vote for independence, separating from England. Forman will highlight the complicated character of this early American's identity as a founding father, which was much more than just the act of his famous ride.
Remembered as a lawyer, politician, militia leader, Continental Congressman and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Caesar Rodney was not alone in wearing many hats and working alongside multitalented Delawarean colleagues Thomas McKean and John Dickinson. Also discussed will be an often-forgotten controversy linked directly to Lewes - was there any truth in famed poet George Alfred Townsend's writings that Rodney spent significant time in Lewes with Loyalist woman Sarah Rowland?
Forman will describe and help attendees imagine the powder keg environment that would have surrounded the election of 1777 in Lewes, comparing the charged nature of the country's current election transition of the office of the president.
Forman is a retired international tax attorney and CPA with an interest in the international aspects of the American Revolution. For more information, go to www.HistoricLewes.org or call 302-645-7670.
