William Rodman was born in Bensalem Township, Pennsylvania, near Bristol, Pennsylvania. He served in the American Revolutionary War as a private and subsequently as brigade quartermaster. He commanded a company during the Whisky Rebellion in 1794. He was a justice of the peace from 1791 to 1800, and a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1804 to 1808.
Rodman was elected as a Republican to the Twelfth Congress. He died at “Flushing” near Bristol on July 27, 1824. Interment in the Episcopal Cemetery (later known as the St. James Burying Ground).