Philip Barton Key

Philip Barton Key (* April 12, 1757 in Charlestown, Cecil County, Maryland, † July 28, 1815 in Washington DC) was an American lawyer and politician. Between 1807 and 1813 he represented the state of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives; previously he served as a federal judge.

Career

Philip Barton Key was a cousin of Congressman Philip Key ( 1750-1820 ). He was also the uncle of Francis Scott Key (1779-1843), who wrote, among other things, the text of the American national anthem. Key received an academic education. During the Revolutionary War he fought as a Loyalist to the British side. In 1781 he got into Florida in Spanish captivity. After a month in a camp in Cuba, he was pardoned. After the war he went to England, where he studied law.

After his return to Maryland in 1785 Key studied American law. In 1787 he was admitted to the bar. He practiced first in Leonardtown and moved in 1790 to Annapolis. At the same time he embarked on a political career. Between 1794 and 1799 he sat in the House of Representatives from Maryland. End of the 1790s he became a member of the Federalist Party, founded by Alexander Hamilton. In the years 1801 and 1802 Philip Key federal judge was in the fourth judicial district. He then worked again as a private lawyer. He was also engaged in farming.

In the congressional elections of 1806 Key was selected in the third electoral district of Maryland in the U.S. House of Representatives in Washington, where he became the successor of Patrick Magruder on March 4, 1807. After two re- election he was able to complete in Congress until March 3, 1813 three legislative periods. From 1807 to 1809 he headed the Committee for management of the Federal District District of Columbia. After the end of his time in the U.S. House of Representatives Philip Key has joined politically in appearance. He died on July 28, 1815 in Georgetown, a suburb of Washington, where he was also buried.