Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, an author, and an amateur poet who wrote the words to the United States national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".
Life
He was born to Ann Louis Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Capt John Ross Key at the family plantation Terra Rubra in what is now Carroll County, Maryland. He was an alumnus of St. John's College, Annapolis, Maryland.
During the War of 1812, Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Col. John Stuart Skinner, dined aboard the British ship HMS Tonnant, as the guests of Vice Admiral Alexander Cochrane, Rear Admiral Sir George Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross. They were there to negotiate the release of a prisoner, Dr. William Beanes. A resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Beanes had been captured by the British after he placed rowdy stragglers under citizen's arrest with a group of men. Skinner, Key and Beanes were allowed to return to their own sloop, but were not allowed to return to Baltimore because they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and of the British intention to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of Ft. McHenry during the Battle of Baltimore, and was inspired to write a poem describing the experience.[1] Entitled "The Defense of Fort McHenry", intended to fit the rhythms of composer John Stafford Smith's "To Anacreon in Heaven", it has become better known as "The Star Spangled Banner". Under this name, the song was adopted as the American national anthem, first by an Executive Order from President Woodrow Wilson in 1916 (which had little effect beyond requiring military bands to play it,) and then by a Congressional resolution in 1931, signed by President Herbert Hoover.
In 1832, Key served as the attorney for Sam Houston during his trial in the U.S. House of Representatives for assaulting another Congressman. [2]
In 1835 Key prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate President of the United States Andrew Jackson.
Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of F. Scott Fitzgerald whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist Thomas Hunt Morgan, guitarist Dana Key, and the American fashion designer and socialite Pauline de Rothschild.
Monuments and memorials
The Francis Scott Key Bridge between the Rosslyn section of Arlington County, Virginia, and Georgetown in Washington, D.C., and the Francis Scott Key Bridge, part of the Baltimore Beltway crossing the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland, are named in his honor. Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is located at the approximate point where the British anchored to shell Fort McHenry.
His sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married Roger B. Taney, future Chief Justice of the United States and author of the Court's Dred Scott decision.
Francis Scott Key was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970.
Robert Altman credited him with the "title song" of Brewster McCloud, though it contained only John Stafford Smith's instrumentals.
He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, next to Thomas Johnson, the first governor of Maryland, and friend Barbara Fritchie, who allegedly waved the American flag out of her home in defiance of Stonewall Jackson's march through the city during the Civil War.
Francis Scott Key Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park is named in his honor. It is on the longest mall of any university in the United States. The George Washington University also has a residence hall in Key's honor at the corner of 19th and F Streets.
Media
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Notes
- ^ Siege of Ft. McHenry and the first stanza of “Star-Spangled Banner”
- ^ Sam Houston. Handbook of Texas Online.
External links
