Caesar Augustus Rodney (1772-1824) , the author of the notebook while an undergraduate at the University of the State of Pennsylvania, developed in to a distinguished attorney and politician. Rodney was born on January 4, 1772 in Dover, Delaware. His family was well established in Delaware, with roots in the colony dating back to 1689. Caesar Augustus was the nephew of Caesar Rodney (1728-1784), a Representative and Senator from Delaware and signer of the Declaration of Independence.
The younger Caesar graduated from the University of the State of Pennsylvania in 1789. Upon graduating, Rodney pursued a legal career and was admitted to the Delaware bar in 1793 and practiced law in Wilmington and New Castle. He began his career as a public servant three years later, having been elected to the Delaware General Assembly in 1796. Rodney left the state house for the federal one six years later, having been elected as representative to the Eighth Congress (1803-1805). A staunch Jeffersonian Democrat, Rodney was appointed Attorney General by Thomas Jefferson in 1807. He served in that office through the first part of the Madison administration, resigning in December 1811.
When the War of 1812 broke out, Rodney served his native state in another capacity, as commander of a rifle corps and later a light artillery company. After the war, he resumed his political career, serving in the Delaware State Senate in 1815-1816. In 1817, he was tapped by President Monroe as a commissioner to investigate the worthiness of the South American republics. Rodney strongly recommended that the U.S. recognize their independence. A further term in the United States House of Representatives followed in 1821-1822, followed by a short stint in the United States Senate in 1822-1823. Another appointment by President Monroe ended Rodney's time in the Senate; Monroe appointed Rodney Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata [Argentina] in 1823. Rodney served in that role until his death from fever in Buenos Aires on June 10, 1824.
Samuel Magaw (1735-1812) taught the course in logic at the University of the State of Pennsylvania from which Rodney made his notes. At the time of the lecture, the Reverend Magaw was a professor of moral philosophy and vice provost of the university.
Magaw was born in rural Pennsylvania in 1735 and was raised in Cumberland County. He held the distinction of being a member of the first class of the College of Philadelphia (the forerunner of the University of Pennsylvania). Magaw graduated from the school in 1757, one of a class of twelve. He studied divinity and was the only member of the class to have attended on a scholarship. After graduating, as part of the scholarship that supported his studies, Magaw ran a charity school for German immigrants in Philadelphia.
He continued his own education, earning a Master's degree in divinity in 1760. He made his way to England and was ordained an Anglican minister in 1767. Returning stateside, Magaw performed missionary work in Dover and Duck Creek, Delaware. His religious work culminated in his becoming rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1781. He held that position for twenty-three years. Active in the protestant culture and education in the city, Magaw helped found the Academy of the Protestant Episcopal Church in Philadelphia in 1785.
Shortly after settling in at St. Paul's, Magaw was appointed professor of moral philosophy and vice provost at the University of the State of Pennsylvania in 1782. He held the dual-appointment until the university and College of Philadelphia and merged to form the University of Pennsylvania in 1791.
Magaw died in Philadelphia on December 1, 1812.
