Background

Francis Scott Key was born on August 01, 1778 on the family estate, "Terra Rubra, " then in Frederick but later in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. He was the great-grandson of an Englishman, Philip Key, who came to Maryland about 1720, and son of John Ross Key, who married Ann Phoebe Charlton.

Education

Francis S. Key attended St. John's College, Annapolis, 1789-1796, living with his grandmother Ann Ross Key at "Belvoir" on the Severn River, and with her sister Mrs. Upton Scott in Annapolis. After graduation he studied law under Judge J. T. Chase in Annapolis.

Career

In 1801 Key opened practice in Frederick, whither he was accompanied by a fellow student, Roger B. Taney, later chief justice, who married his only sister. Later he moved from Frederick to Bridge Street, Georgetown, D. C. , where Key was at first associated in practice with his uncle, Philip Barton Key. It was as an influential young Washington attorney that Key was called in 1814 upon the mission that occasioned "The Star Spangled Banner. "

During the British retreat from Washington a prominent physician, Dr. William Beanes, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was seized and confined aboard the British fleet. Key was asked to undertake his release. Accompanied by Colonel J. S. Skinner, government agent for exchange of prisoners, he went down the Chesapeake from Baltimore on September 5, visited Admiral Cockburn, and secured Beanes's liberation, but he was detained pending the projected attack on Baltimore and was off the city in an American vessel during the attack. Through the night bombardment of September 13-14 he remained on deck in agonized suspense but at daybreak was overjoyed to see the flag still flying over Fort McHenry. In intense emotional excitement he then composed the poem. According to an account by Chief Justice Taney in the 1857 edition of Key's poems, the verses were first set down from memory on an envelope on the way ashore that morning and were rewritten in a hotel that night. Next morning he showed them at the home of Judge Joseph Hopper Nicholson, who had married his wife's sister. The judge was enthusiastic, and according to a fairly authentic story, his wife at once took the poem to a printer, who struck off handbills for circulation through the city. It was published in the Baltimore American, September 21, sung in Baltimore taverns and theatres, and soon gained nationwide popularity.

Probably Key himself had in mind the well-known English tune "To Anacreon in Heaven" in writing the poem, though its adoption has also been credited to Judge Nicholson and to the first singer of the poem, the actor Ferdinand Durang. The tune had been previously used for a song of the American Revolution, "Adams and Liberty. " Key's manuscript fair copy was preserved in Annapolis by Mrs. Nicholson until her death in 1847 and later in the Walters Gallery, Baltimore. Neither before nor after writing his famous song did Key take his muse at all seriously. The slender collection of his poetry published posthumously (Poems of the Late Francis S. Key, Esq. , 1857) contains obituary, religious, amatory, and mildly facetious verse, respectable in meter but of slight consequence, save perhaps the hymn, "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee, " still included in hymnals.

An effective speaker, as suggested by several of his addresses preserved in print, with a quick, logical mind, he had an extensive practice in the federal courts. In 1833 he became United States attorney for the District of Columbia.

He died of pleurisy at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Charles Howard, Mt. Vernon Place, Baltimore. His body was placed first in the Howard vault, St. Paul's Cemetery, Baltimore, then transferred in 1866 to Mt. Olivet Cemetery, Frederick. He has monuments there, at Fort McHenry, and at Eutaw Place in Baltimore, and in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.

Achievements

• Key became prominent as an author of the U. S. national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner. ” He played an important part in the negotiation of a settlement between the state and federal governments over the Creek Indian Lands in 1833. He also became involved in colonization efforts and helped establish and promote the cause of the American Colonization Society.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The power of literature and its connexion with religion: an oration, delivered at Bristol College - Scholar's Choice Edition

    ( This work has been selected by scholars as being cultur...)

  • Poems of the Late Francis S. Key (Classic Reprint)

    (Poems of the Late Francis S. Key was written by Francis S...)

  • The Star-Spangled Banner - Charts & Tracks for Singers: with Recorded Backing Tracks in Two Keys: High and Low

    ((Vocal Collection). You've always imagined the crowd risi...)

  • Star Spangled Banner (1907)

    (In good condition. Minor cover/shelf wear. Excellent cust...)

Religion

Key was of a warmly religious nature, in 1814 seriously considered entering the clergy, was delegate to the general conventions of the Episcopal Church, 1814-1826, and for many years was lay reader in St. John's Church, Georgetown.

Politics

Key was a strong supporter of the Democratic Party.

Views

Key was an ardent opponent of slave trafficking.

Personality

Key was a slender, erect man with dark blue eyes and thin, mobile features, and of ardent, generous nature.

Interests

• Francis Key was fond of riding.

Connections

On January 19, 1802 Key married Mary Tayloe Lloyd, the daughter of Colonel Edward Lloyd. They had six sons and five daughters.

Father:

John Ross Key

Mother:

Ann Phoebe Charlton

Spouse:

Mary Tayloe Lloyd

aunt:

Upton Scott

Uncle:

Philip Barton Key

grandmother:

Ann Ross Key

Great-grandfather:

Philip Key

References

• Francis Scott Key (Sower Series)
• Francis Scott Key: Patriotic Poet (The New Nation Biographies)
• What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life
• Francis Scott Key: The Life and Legacy of the Man Who Wrote America’s National Anthem
• Francis Scott Key: Life and Times