Francis Scott Key was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author, and amateur
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, from
GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
, who wrote the lyrics to the United States'
national anthemA national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
, "
The Star-Spangled Banner"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
".
Life
Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
at the family plantation
Terra RubraTerra Rubra is a historic home located near Keysville, Carroll County, Maryland. It was the birth site of Francis Scott Key in 1779. The present Federal-style house was built in the 1850s after the Key residence had become badly deteriorated. The original house was built in the 1770s by Francis...
in what was
Frederick CountyFrederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
and is now
Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
. His father
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
was a lawyer, a judge and an officer in the
Continental ArmyThe Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both born in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, immigrated to
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1726.
He studied law at
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
,
Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
and also learned under his uncle Philip Barton Key.
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
During the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel
John Stuart SkinnerJohn Stuart Skinner was an American lawyer, publisher, and editor.- Biography :Skinner began practicing law as an attorney at the age of twenty-one in 1809. On March 10, 1812, he married Elizabeth G. Davies, the step-daughter of Theodorick Bland...
, dined aboard the British ship
HMS TonnantTonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy and lead ship of the Tonnant class. Admiral Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. The Royal Navy then took her into service...
, as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral
Alexander CochraneAdmiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
, Rear Admiral Sir
George CockburnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr.
William BeanesWilliam Beanes was a medical doctor in the American Colonial Period.-Early life:Beanes was the third generation of the same name and the fourth generation American. He was born near Croome in Prince George's County, Maryland. Little is known of his childhood except that he is of Scottish descent...
. Beanes was a resident of
Upper Marlboro, MarylandUpper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger....
and 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 not allowed to return to their own
sloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
: they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
during the
Battle of BaltimoreThe Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was one of the turning points of the war as American forces repulsed sea and land invasions of the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading...
on the night of September 13 – September 14, 1814.
At dawn, Key was able to see an
American flagThe national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, "Defence of Fort McHenry", which he published in the
Patriot on September 20, 1814. He intended to fit it to the rhythms of
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
John Stafford Smith'sJohn Stafford Smith was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach....
"
To Anacreon in Heaven"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Attributed to the composer John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for...
", a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song "When the Warrior Returns," celebrating U.S. heroes of the
First Barbary WarThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...
. (The earlier song is also the Key's original use of the "star spangled" flag imagery.) 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 WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
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 HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
.
In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "
In God We Trust"In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956. It is also the motto of the U.S. state of Florida. The Legality of this motto has been questioned because of the United States Constitution forbidding the government to make any law respecting the establishment of a...
" by law in 1956.
Later life
From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the
American Bible SocietyThe American Bible Society is an interconfessional, non-denominational, nonprofit organization, founded in 1816 in New York City, which publishes, distributes and translates the Bible and provides study aids and other tools to help people engage with the Bible.It is probably best known for its...
.
In 1832, Key served as the attorney for
Sam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
during his trial in the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for assaulting another Congressman. He published a prose work called
The Power of Literature, and Its Connection with Religion in 1834.
In 1835, Key prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
In 1843, Key died at the home of his daughter Elizabeth Howard in Baltimore from
pleurisyPleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
and was initially interred in
Old Saint Paul's CemeteryOld Saint Paul's Cemetery is a cemetery located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is noted for the several important historical figures that are interred in its grounds.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988....
in the vault of John Eager Howard. In 1866, his body was moved to his family plot in
FrederickFrederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
at
Mount Olivet CemeteryMount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
. Though Key had written poetry from time to time, often with heavily religious themes, these works were not collected and published until 14 years after his death.
The Key Monument Association erected a memorial in 1898 and the remains of both Francis Scott Key and his wife were placed in a crypt in the base of the monument.
Other related items
In 1861, Key's grandson
Francis Key HowardFrancis Key Howard was the grandson of Francis Scott Key and Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard. Howard was the editor of the Baltimore Exchange, a Baltimore newspaper sympathetic to the Southern cause. He was arrested on September 13, 1861 by U.S. major general Nathaniel Prentice Banks...
, was imprisoned in
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
with the
Mayor of Baltimore,
George William BrownGeorge William Brown was the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1860 to 1861.-Pratt Street Riot:Brown played an important role in controlling the Pratt Street Riot on April 19, 1861, at the onset of the American Civil War. After the Pratt Street Riot, some small skirmishes occurred throughout...
, and other locals deemed to be pro-South.
Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist
Thomas Hunt MorganThomas Hunt Morgan was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and embryologist and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries relating the role the chromosome plays in heredity.Morgan received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in zoology...
, guitarist
Dana KeyDana Key was an American Christian rock guitarist, singer, and producer who was co-founder of the Christian rock group DeGarmo and Key with keyboardist Eddie DeGarmo, best friends since the first grade...
, and the American fashion designer and socialite
Pauline de RothschildPauline de Rothschild was a writer, a fashion designer, and, with her second husband, a translator of both Elizabethan poetry and the plays of Christopher Fry...
.
Key's daughter, Alice, married U.S. Senator
George H. PendletonGeorge Hunt Pendleton was a Representative and a Senator from Ohio. Nicknamed "Gentleman George" for his demeanor, he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States during the Civil War in 1864, running as a peace Democrat with war Democrat George B. McClellan; they lost to...
.
His sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married
Roger B. TaneyRoger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...
, future
Chief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
and author of the Court's
Dred Scott decisionDred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
.
Key's son, Philip Barton Key II was shot and killed by then-congressman and future Civil War general
Daniel SicklesDaniel Edgar Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat....
in 1859 after Sickles discovered that his wife was having an affair with Philip Barton Key. Sickles was acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity defense.
Two of Key's religious poems used as Christian hymns include "Before the Lord We Bow" and "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee"
While there were three efforts to save the Francis Scott Key residence, it was dismantled in 1947. The residence was located at 3516–18 M Street in Georgetown.
Monuments and memorials
- Francis Scott Key Monument
The Francis Scott Key Monument is an outdoor sculpture to Francis Scott Key in Baltimore, Maryland.-History:Charles Marburg gave $25,000 to his brother Theodore Marburg to hire a sculptor to create a monument to Francis Scott Key. The French sculptor Marius Jean Antonin Mercié was selected. Mercie...
in Baltimore, Maryland
- Two bridges are named in his honor. The first is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, more commonly known as the Key Bridge, is a six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia and the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C...
between the RosslynRosslyn is an unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Rosslyn encompasses the Arlington neighborhoods of North Rosslyn...
section of Arlington County, VirginiaArlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, and GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Scott's Georgetown home, which was dismantled in 1947 (as part of construction for the Whitehurst Freeway), was located on M Street NW, in the area between the Key Bridge and the intersection of M Street and Whitehurst Freeway. The location is illustrated on a sign in the Francis Scott Key park.
- The other bridge is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, also known as the Outer Harbor Bridge or simply the Key Bridge, is a continuous truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The main span of is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.The bridge was opened in March 1977...
, part of the Baltimore BeltwayInterstate 695 is a -long full beltway Interstate Highway extending around Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I-695 is officially designated the McKeldin Beltway, but is colloquially referred to as either the Baltimore Beltway or 695...
crossing the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is located at the approximate point where the British anchored to shell Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
.
- St. John's College, Annapolis, which Key graduated from in 1796, has an auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
named in his honor.
- Francis Scott Key was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1970.
- He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
in Frederick. His family plot is next to Thomas JohnsonThomas Johnson was an American jurist with a distinguished political career. He was the first Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
, the first governor of Maryland, and friend Barbara FritchieBarbara Fritchie , also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, was a Unionist during the Civil War...
, who allegedly waved the American flag out of her home in defiance of Stonewall Jacksonຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
's march through the city during the Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Fritchie's resistance was memorialized in a poem by Poet Laureate John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
.
- Francis Scott Key Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
is named in his honor. The George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
also has a residence hall in Key's honor at the corner of 20th and F Streets.
- Francis Scott Key also has a school named after him in Brooklyn, New York. I.S 117 is a junior high school located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Willoughby Avenue. It houses 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms as well as a District 75 Special Education unit. The Special Education classes include children who are emotionally disturbed. For more information on the school and its programs please visit the schools main site, P369k, located in Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
.
- Francis Scott Key High School
Francis Scott Key High School is a four-year public high school in Union Bridge in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The school is located near the west-central section of Carroll County.-About the School:...
in rural Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
.
- Francis Scott Key Middle School (at least three)
- Francis Scott Key Elementary School (several, including California, Maryland
The Prince George's County Public Schools system is a large school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education...
, VirginiaFrancis Scott Key Elementary School is one of the eighteen elementary schools in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.. It is a countywide school, meaning that it draw students from various neighborhoods in the county...
, Washington, DCThe Palisades is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River, running roughly from the edge of the Georgetown University campus to the D.C.-Maryland boundary...
).
- Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
.
- The Frederick Keys
The Frederick Keys minor league baseball team is the "High-A" class A baseball affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for Star Spangled Banner poet Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. The team mascot is a coyote known as...
minor league baseball team – a BaltimoreThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
affiliate – is named after Key.
- A monument to Key was commissioned by San Francisco businessman James Lick
James Lick was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.-Early years:James Lick was born in Stumpstown Pennsylvania on August...
, who donated some $60,000 for a sculpture of Key to be raised in Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. The travertine monument was executed by sculptor William W. Story in Rome in 1885–87. The city of San Francisco recently allocated some $140,000 to renovate the Key monument, which was about to be lost to environmental degradation if repairs weren't made. Repairs were recently finished on the monument located in the music concourse outside the de Young MuseumThe M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
.
- The US Navy named a submarine in his honor, the USS Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author, and amateur
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, from
GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
, who wrote the lyrics to the United States'
national anthemA national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
, "
The Star-Spangled Banner"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
".
Life
Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
at the family plantation
Terra RubraTerra Rubra is a historic home located near Keysville, Carroll County, Maryland. It was the birth site of Francis Scott Key in 1779. The present Federal-style house was built in the 1850s after the Key residence had become badly deteriorated. The original house was built in the 1770s by Francis...
in what was
Frederick CountyFrederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
and is now
Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
. His father
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
was a lawyer, a judge and an officer in the
Continental ArmyThe Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both born in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, immigrated to
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1726.
He studied law at
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
,
Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
and also learned under his uncle Philip Barton Key.
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
During the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel
John Stuart SkinnerJohn Stuart Skinner was an American lawyer, publisher, and editor.- Biography :Skinner began practicing law as an attorney at the age of twenty-one in 1809. On March 10, 1812, he married Elizabeth G. Davies, the step-daughter of Theodorick Bland...
, dined aboard the British ship
HMS TonnantTonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy and lead ship of the Tonnant class. Admiral Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. The Royal Navy then took her into service...
, as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral
Alexander CochraneAdmiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
, Rear Admiral Sir
George CockburnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr.
William BeanesWilliam Beanes was a medical doctor in the American Colonial Period.-Early life:Beanes was the third generation of the same name and the fourth generation American. He was born near Croome in Prince George's County, Maryland. Little is known of his childhood except that he is of Scottish descent...
. Beanes was a resident of
Upper Marlboro, MarylandUpper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger....
and 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 not allowed to return to their own
sloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
: they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
during the
Battle of BaltimoreThe Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was one of the turning points of the war as American forces repulsed sea and land invasions of the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading...
on the night of September 13 – September 14, 1814.
At dawn, Key was able to see an
American flagThe national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, "Defence of Fort McHenry", which he published in the
Patriot on September 20, 1814. He intended to fit it to the rhythms of
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
John Stafford Smith'sJohn Stafford Smith was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach....
"
To Anacreon in Heaven"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Attributed to the composer John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for...
", a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song "When the Warrior Returns," celebrating U.S. heroes of the
First Barbary WarThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...
. (The earlier song is also the Key's original use of the "star spangled" flag imagery.) 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 WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
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 HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
.
In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "
In God We Trust"In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956. It is also the motto of the U.S. state of Florida. The Legality of this motto has been questioned because of the United States Constitution forbidding the government to make any law respecting the establishment of a...
" by law in 1956.
Later life
From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the
American Bible SocietyThe American Bible Society is an interconfessional, non-denominational, nonprofit organization, founded in 1816 in New York City, which publishes, distributes and translates the Bible and provides study aids and other tools to help people engage with the Bible.It is probably best known for its...
.
In 1832, Key served as the attorney for
Sam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
during his trial in the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for assaulting another Congressman. He published a prose work called
The Power of Literature, and Its Connection with Religion in 1834.
In 1835, Key prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
In 1843, Key died at the home of his daughter Elizabeth Howard in Baltimore from
pleurisyPleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
and was initially interred in
Old Saint Paul's CemeteryOld Saint Paul's Cemetery is a cemetery located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is noted for the several important historical figures that are interred in its grounds.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988....
in the vault of John Eager Howard. In 1866, his body was moved to his family plot in
FrederickFrederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
at
Mount Olivet CemeteryMount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
. Though Key had written poetry from time to time, often with heavily religious themes, these works were not collected and published until 14 years after his death.
The Key Monument Association erected a memorial in 1898 and the remains of both Francis Scott Key and his wife were placed in a crypt in the base of the monument.
Other related items
In 1861, Key's grandson
Francis Key HowardFrancis Key Howard was the grandson of Francis Scott Key and Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard. Howard was the editor of the Baltimore Exchange, a Baltimore newspaper sympathetic to the Southern cause. He was arrested on September 13, 1861 by U.S. major general Nathaniel Prentice Banks...
, was imprisoned in
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
with the
Mayor of Baltimore,
George William BrownGeorge William Brown was the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1860 to 1861.-Pratt Street Riot:Brown played an important role in controlling the Pratt Street Riot on April 19, 1861, at the onset of the American Civil War. After the Pratt Street Riot, some small skirmishes occurred throughout...
, and other locals deemed to be pro-South.
Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist
Thomas Hunt MorganThomas Hunt Morgan was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and embryologist and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries relating the role the chromosome plays in heredity.Morgan received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in zoology...
, guitarist
Dana KeyDana Key was an American Christian rock guitarist, singer, and producer who was co-founder of the Christian rock group DeGarmo and Key with keyboardist Eddie DeGarmo, best friends since the first grade...
, and the American fashion designer and socialite
Pauline de RothschildPauline de Rothschild was a writer, a fashion designer, and, with her second husband, a translator of both Elizabethan poetry and the plays of Christopher Fry...
.
Key's daughter, Alice, married U.S. Senator
George H. PendletonGeorge Hunt Pendleton was a Representative and a Senator from Ohio. Nicknamed "Gentleman George" for his demeanor, he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States during the Civil War in 1864, running as a peace Democrat with war Democrat George B. McClellan; they lost to...
.
His sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married
Roger B. TaneyRoger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...
, future
Chief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
and author of the Court's
Dred Scott decisionDred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
.
Key's son, Philip Barton Key II was shot and killed by then-congressman and future Civil War general
Daniel SicklesDaniel Edgar Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat....
in 1859 after Sickles discovered that his wife was having an affair with Philip Barton Key. Sickles was acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity defense.
Two of Key's religious poems used as Christian hymns include "Before the Lord We Bow" and "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee"
While there were three efforts to save the Francis Scott Key residence, it was dismantled in 1947. The residence was located at 3516–18 M Street in Georgetown.
Monuments and memorials
- Francis Scott Key Monument
The Francis Scott Key Monument is an outdoor sculpture to Francis Scott Key in Baltimore, Maryland.-History:Charles Marburg gave $25,000 to his brother Theodore Marburg to hire a sculptor to create a monument to Francis Scott Key. The French sculptor Marius Jean Antonin Mercié was selected. Mercie...
in Baltimore, Maryland
- Two bridges are named in his honor. The first is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, more commonly known as the Key Bridge, is a six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia and the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C...
between the RosslynRosslyn is an unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Rosslyn encompasses the Arlington neighborhoods of North Rosslyn...
section of Arlington County, VirginiaArlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, and GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Scott's Georgetown home, which was dismantled in 1947 (as part of construction for the Whitehurst Freeway), was located on M Street NW, in the area between the Key Bridge and the intersection of M Street and Whitehurst Freeway. The location is illustrated on a sign in the Francis Scott Key park.
- The other bridge is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, also known as the Outer Harbor Bridge or simply the Key Bridge, is a continuous truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The main span of is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.The bridge was opened in March 1977...
, part of the Baltimore BeltwayInterstate 695 is a -long full beltway Interstate Highway extending around Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I-695 is officially designated the McKeldin Beltway, but is colloquially referred to as either the Baltimore Beltway or 695...
crossing the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is located at the approximate point where the British anchored to shell Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
.
- St. John's College, Annapolis, which Key graduated from in 1796, has an auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
named in his honor.
- Francis Scott Key was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1970.
- He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
in Frederick. His family plot is next to Thomas JohnsonThomas Johnson was an American jurist with a distinguished political career. He was the first Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
, the first governor of Maryland, and friend Barbara FritchieBarbara Fritchie , also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, was a Unionist during the Civil War...
, who allegedly waved the American flag out of her home in defiance of Stonewall Jacksonຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
's march through the city during the Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Fritchie's resistance was memorialized in a poem by Poet Laureate John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
.
- Francis Scott Key Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
is named in his honor. The George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
also has a residence hall in Key's honor at the corner of 20th and F Streets.
- Francis Scott Key also has a school named after him in Brooklyn, New York. I.S 117 is a junior high school located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Willoughby Avenue. It houses 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms as well as a District 75 Special Education unit. The Special Education classes include children who are emotionally disturbed. For more information on the school and its programs please visit the schools main site, P369k, located in Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
.
- Francis Scott Key High School
Francis Scott Key High School is a four-year public high school in Union Bridge in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The school is located near the west-central section of Carroll County.-About the School:...
in rural Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
.
- Francis Scott Key Middle School (at least three)
- Francis Scott Key Elementary School (several, including California, Maryland
The Prince George's County Public Schools system is a large school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education...
, VirginiaFrancis Scott Key Elementary School is one of the eighteen elementary schools in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.. It is a countywide school, meaning that it draw students from various neighborhoods in the county...
, Washington, DCThe Palisades is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River, running roughly from the edge of the Georgetown University campus to the D.C.-Maryland boundary...
).
- Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
.
- The Frederick Keys
The Frederick Keys minor league baseball team is the "High-A" class A baseball affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for Star Spangled Banner poet Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. The team mascot is a coyote known as...
minor league baseball team – a BaltimoreThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
affiliate – is named after Key.
- A monument to Key was commissioned by San Francisco businessman James Lick
James Lick was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.-Early years:James Lick was born in Stumpstown Pennsylvania on August...
, who donated some $60,000 for a sculpture of Key to be raised in Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. The travertine monument was executed by sculptor William W. Story in Rome in 1885–87. The city of San Francisco recently allocated some $140,000 to renovate the Key monument, which was about to be lost to environmental degradation if repairs weren't made. Repairs were recently finished on the monument located in the music concourse outside the de Young MuseumThe M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
.
- The US Navy named a submarine in his honor, the USS Francis Scott Key
Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779 – January 11, 1843) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
lawyerA lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
, author, and amateur
poetA poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, from
GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
, who wrote the lyrics to the United States'
national anthemA national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...
, "
The Star-Spangled Banner"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships...
".
Life
Francis Scott Key was born to Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy (Charlton) and Captain
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
at the family plantation
Terra RubraTerra Rubra is a historic home located near Keysville, Carroll County, Maryland. It was the birth site of Francis Scott Key in 1779. The present Federal-style house was built in the 1850s after the Key residence had become badly deteriorated. The original house was built in the 1770s by Francis...
in what was
Frederick CountyFrederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
and is now
Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
. His father
John Ross KeyJohn Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key....
was a lawyer, a judge and an officer in the
Continental ArmyThe Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. His great-grandparents were Philip Key and Susanna Barton Gardiner, both born in
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, immigrated to
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
in 1726.
He studied law at
St. John's CollegeSt. John's College is a liberal arts college with two U.S. campuses: one in Annapolis, Maryland and one in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Founded in 1696 as a preparatory school, King William's School, the school received a collegiate charter in 1784, making it one of the oldest institutions of higher...
,
Annapolis, MarylandAnnapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
and also learned under his uncle Philip Barton Key.
"The Star-Spangled Banner"
During the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, Key, accompanied by the American Prisoner Exchange Agent Colonel
John Stuart SkinnerJohn Stuart Skinner was an American lawyer, publisher, and editor.- Biography :Skinner began practicing law as an attorney at the age of twenty-one in 1809. On March 10, 1812, he married Elizabeth G. Davies, the step-daughter of Theodorick Bland...
, dined aboard the British ship
HMS TonnantTonnant was an 80-gun ship of the line of the French Navy and lead ship of the Tonnant class. Admiral Nelson captured her at Aboukir Bay on 1 August 1798. The Royal Navy then took her into service...
, as the guests of three British officers: Vice Admiral
Alexander CochraneAdmiral Sir Alexander Forrester Inglis Cochrane GCB RN was a senior Royal Navy commander during the Napoleonic Wars.-Naval career:...
, Rear Admiral Sir
George CockburnAdmiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, 10th Baronet GCB was a British naval commander of the late 18th through the mid-19th centuries. He held important commands during the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812 and eventually rose to become Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord.-Naval...
, and Major General Robert Ross. Skinner and Key were there to negotiate the release of prisoners, one being Dr.
William BeanesWilliam Beanes was a medical doctor in the American Colonial Period.-Early life:Beanes was the third generation of the same name and the fourth generation American. He was born near Croome in Prince George's County, Maryland. Little is known of his childhood except that he is of Scottish descent...
. Beanes was a resident of
Upper Marlboro, MarylandUpper Marlboro is a town in and the county seat of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The live-in population of the town core proper was only 648 at the 2000 census, although Greater Upper Marlboro is many times larger....
and 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 not allowed to return to their own
sloopA sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
: they had become familiar with the strength and position of the British units and with the British intent to attack Baltimore. As a result of this, Key was unable to do anything but watch the bombarding of the American forces at
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
during the
Battle of BaltimoreThe Battle of Baltimore was a combined sea/land battle fought between British and American forces in the War of 1812. It was one of the turning points of the war as American forces repulsed sea and land invasions of the busy port city of Baltimore, Maryland, and killed the commander of the invading...
on the night of September 13 – September 14, 1814.
At dawn, Key was able to see an
American flagThe national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
still waving and reported this to the prisoners below deck. On the way back to Baltimore, he was inspired to write a poem describing his experience, "Defence of Fort McHenry", which he published in the
Patriot on September 20, 1814. He intended to fit it to the rhythms of
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
John Stafford Smith'sJohn Stafford Smith was a British composer, church organist, and early musicologist. He was one of the first serious collectors of manuscripts of works by Johann Sebastian Bach....
"
To Anacreon in Heaven"The Anacreontic Song", also known by its incipit "To Anacreon in Heaven", was the official song of the Anacreontic Society, an 18th-century gentlemen's club of amateur musicians in London. Attributed to the composer John Stafford Smith, the tune was later used by several writers as a setting for...
", a popular tune Key had already used as a setting for his 1805 song "When the Warrior Returns," celebrating U.S. heroes of the
First Barbary WarThe First Barbary War , also known as the Barbary Coast War or the Tripolitan War, was the first of two wars fought between the United States and the North African Berber Muslim states known collectively as the Barbary States...
. (The earlier song is also the Key's original use of the "star spangled" flag imagery.) 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 WilsonThomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
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 HooverHerbert Clark Hoover was the 31st President of the United States . Hoover was originally a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted partnerships between government and business...
.
In the fourth stanza Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto. The United States adopted the motto "
In God We Trust"In God We Trust" was adopted as the official motto of the United States in 1956. It is also the motto of the U.S. state of Florida. The Legality of this motto has been questioned because of the United States Constitution forbidding the government to make any law respecting the establishment of a...
" by law in 1956.
Later life
From 1818 until his death in 1843, Key was associated with the
American Bible SocietyThe American Bible Society is an interconfessional, non-denominational, nonprofit organization, founded in 1816 in New York City, which publishes, distributes and translates the Bible and provides study aids and other tools to help people engage with the Bible.It is probably best known for its...
.
In 1832, Key served as the attorney for
Sam HoustonSamuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
during his trial in the
U.S. House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
for assaulting another Congressman. He published a prose work called
The Power of Literature, and Its Connection with Religion in 1834.
In 1835, Key prosecuted Richard Lawrence for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate
President of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew JacksonAndrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
In 1843, Key died at the home of his daughter Elizabeth Howard in Baltimore from
pleurisyPleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, the lining of the pleural cavity surrounding the lungs. Among other things, infections are the most common cause of pleurisy....
and was initially interred in
Old Saint Paul's CemeteryOld Saint Paul's Cemetery is a cemetery located in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is noted for the several important historical figures that are interred in its grounds.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988....
in the vault of John Eager Howard. In 1866, his body was moved to his family plot in
FrederickFrederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...
at
Mount Olivet CemeteryMount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
. Though Key had written poetry from time to time, often with heavily religious themes, these works were not collected and published until 14 years after his death.
The Key Monument Association erected a memorial in 1898 and the remains of both Francis Scott Key and his wife were placed in a crypt in the base of the monument.
Other related items
In 1861, Key's grandson
Francis Key HowardFrancis Key Howard was the grandson of Francis Scott Key and Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard. Howard was the editor of the Baltimore Exchange, a Baltimore newspaper sympathetic to the Southern cause. He was arrested on September 13, 1861 by U.S. major general Nathaniel Prentice Banks...
, was imprisoned in
Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
with the
Mayor of Baltimore,
George William BrownGeorge William Brown was the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland from 1860 to 1861.-Pratt Street Riot:Brown played an important role in controlling the Pratt Street Riot on April 19, 1861, at the onset of the American Civil War. After the Pratt Street Riot, some small skirmishes occurred throughout...
, and other locals deemed to be pro-South.
Key was a distant cousin and the namesake of
F. Scott FitzgeraldFrancis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
whose full name was Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald. His direct descendants include geneticist
Thomas Hunt MorganThomas Hunt Morgan was an American evolutionary biologist, geneticist and embryologist and science author who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1933 for discoveries relating the role the chromosome plays in heredity.Morgan received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in zoology...
, guitarist
Dana KeyDana Key was an American Christian rock guitarist, singer, and producer who was co-founder of the Christian rock group DeGarmo and Key with keyboardist Eddie DeGarmo, best friends since the first grade...
, and the American fashion designer and socialite
Pauline de RothschildPauline de Rothschild was a writer, a fashion designer, and, with her second husband, a translator of both Elizabethan poetry and the plays of Christopher Fry...
.
Key's daughter, Alice, married U.S. Senator
George H. PendletonGeorge Hunt Pendleton was a Representative and a Senator from Ohio. Nicknamed "Gentleman George" for his demeanor, he was the Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States during the Civil War in 1864, running as a peace Democrat with war Democrat George B. McClellan; they lost to...
.
His sister, Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, married
Roger B. TaneyRoger Brooke Taney was the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was the first Roman Catholic to hold that office or sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. He was also the eleventh United States Attorney General. He is most...
, future
Chief Justice of the United StatesThe Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
and author of the Court's
Dred Scott decisionDred Scott v. Sandford, , also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves were not protected by the Constitution and could never be U.S...
.
Key's son, Philip Barton Key II was shot and killed by then-congressman and future Civil War general
Daniel SicklesDaniel Edgar Sickles was a colorful and controversial American politician, Union general in the American Civil War, and diplomat....
in 1859 after Sickles discovered that his wife was having an affair with Philip Barton Key. Sickles was acquitted in the first use of the temporary insanity defense.
Two of Key's religious poems used as Christian hymns include "Before the Lord We Bow" and "Lord, with Glowing Heart I'd Praise Thee"
While there were three efforts to save the Francis Scott Key residence, it was dismantled in 1947. The residence was located at 3516–18 M Street in Georgetown.
Monuments and memorials
- Francis Scott Key Monument
The Francis Scott Key Monument is an outdoor sculpture to Francis Scott Key in Baltimore, Maryland.-History:Charles Marburg gave $25,000 to his brother Theodore Marburg to hire a sculptor to create a monument to Francis Scott Key. The French sculptor Marius Jean Antonin Mercié was selected. Mercie...
in Baltimore, Maryland
- Two bridges are named in his honor. The first is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, more commonly known as the Key Bridge, is a six-lane reinforced concrete arch bridge conveying U.S. Route 29 traffic across the Potomac River between the Rosslyn neighborhood of Arlington County, Virginia and the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C...
between the RosslynRosslyn is an unincorporated area in Northern Virginia located in the northeastern corner of Arlington County, Virginia, north of Arlington National Cemetery and directly across the Potomac River from Georgetown in Washington, D.C. Rosslyn encompasses the Arlington neighborhoods of North Rosslyn...
section of Arlington County, VirginiaArlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...
, and GeorgetownGeorgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...
in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. Scott's Georgetown home, which was dismantled in 1947 (as part of construction for the Whitehurst Freeway), was located on M Street NW, in the area between the Key Bridge and the intersection of M Street and Whitehurst Freeway. The location is illustrated on a sign in the Francis Scott Key park.
- The other bridge is the Francis Scott Key Bridge
The Francis Scott Key Bridge, also known as the Outer Harbor Bridge or simply the Key Bridge, is a continuous truss bridge spanning the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. The main span of is the third longest span of any continuous truss in the world.The bridge was opened in March 1977...
, part of the Baltimore BeltwayInterstate 695 is a -long full beltway Interstate Highway extending around Baltimore, Maryland, USA. I-695 is officially designated the McKeldin Beltway, but is colloquially referred to as either the Baltimore Beltway or 695...
crossing the outer harbor of Baltimore, Maryland. Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is located at the approximate point where the British anchored to shell Fort McHenryFort McHenry, in Baltimore, Maryland, is a star-shaped fort best known for its role in the War of 1812, when it successfully defended Baltimore Harbor from an attack by the British navy in Chesapeake Bay...
.
- St. John's College, Annapolis, which Key graduated from in 1796, has an auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
named in his honor.
- Francis Scott Key was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1970.
- He is buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery
Mount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...
in Frederick. His family plot is next to Thomas JohnsonThomas Johnson was an American jurist with a distinguished political career. He was the first Governor of Maryland, a delegate to the Continental Congress and an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States....
, the first governor of Maryland, and friend Barbara FritchieBarbara Fritchie , also known as Barbara Frietchie, and sometimes spelled Frietschie, was a Unionist during the Civil War...
, who allegedly waved the American flag out of her home in defiance of Stonewall Jacksonຄຽשת״ׇׂׂׂׂ֣|birth_place= Clarksburg, Virginia |death_place=Guinea Station, Virginia|placeofburial=Stonewall Jackson Memorial CemeteryLexington, Virginia|placeofburial_label= Place of burial|image=...
's march through the city during the Civil WarThe American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Fritchie's resistance was memorialized in a poem by Poet Laureate John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
.
- Francis Scott Key Hall at the University of Maryland, College Park
The University of Maryland, College Park is a top-ranked public research university located in the city of College Park in Prince George's County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C...
is named in his honor. The George Washington UniversityThe George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
also has a residence hall in Key's honor at the corner of 20th and F Streets.
- Francis Scott Key also has a school named after him in Brooklyn, New York. I.S 117 is a junior high school located in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn on Willoughby Avenue. It houses 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms as well as a District 75 Special Education unit. The Special Education classes include children who are emotionally disturbed. For more information on the school and its programs please visit the schools main site, P369k, located in Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City , and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn...
.
- Francis Scott Key High School
Francis Scott Key High School is a four-year public high school in Union Bridge in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The school is located near the west-central section of Carroll County.-About the School:...
in rural Carroll County, MarylandCarroll County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland. In 2010, its population was 167,134. It was named for Charles Carroll of Carrollton , signer of the American Declaration of Independence. Its county seat is Westminster....
.
- Francis Scott Key Middle School (at least three)
- Francis Scott Key Elementary School (several, including California, Maryland
The Prince George's County Public Schools system is a large school district administered by the government of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States and is overseen by the Maryland State Department of Education...
, VirginiaFrancis Scott Key Elementary School is one of the eighteen elementary schools in Arlington, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C.. It is a countywide school, meaning that it draw students from various neighborhoods in the county...
, Washington, DCThe Palisades is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., along the Potomac River, running roughly from the edge of the Georgetown University campus to the D.C.-Maryland boundary...
).
- Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick County, Maryland
Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....
.
- The Frederick Keys
The Frederick Keys minor league baseball team is the "High-A" class A baseball affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for Star Spangled Banner poet Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. The team mascot is a coyote known as...
minor league baseball team – a BaltimoreThe Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...
affiliate – is named after Key.
- A monument to Key was commissioned by San Francisco businessman James Lick
James Lick was an American carpenter, piano builder, land baron, and patron of the sciences. At the time of his death, he was the wealthiest man in California, and left the majority of his estate to social and scientific causes.-Early years:James Lick was born in Stumpstown Pennsylvania on August...
, who donated some $60,000 for a sculpture of Key to be raised in Golden Gate ParkGolden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
. The travertine monument was executed by sculptor William W. Story in Rome in 1885–87. The city of San Francisco recently allocated some $140,000 to renovate the Key monument, which was about to be lost to environmental degradation if repairs weren't made. Repairs were recently finished on the monument located in the music concourse outside the de Young MuseumThe M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, commonly called simply the de Young Museum, is a fine arts museum located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. It is named for early San Francisco newspaperman M. H...
.
- The US Navy named a submarine in his honor, the USS Francis Scott Key
Ancestors of Francis Scott Key
Media
External links