Existing comment:
Certainly the most famous grave in the cemetery is that of Francis Scott Key, author of the "Star-Spangled Banner". He wrote the words to our national anthem while watching a British naval bombardment of Fort McHenry during the War of 1812. The song was officially adopted as our national anthem in 1931. The memorial to him here in Frederick was dedicated in 1898. Key's brother in law was Roger Taney, the rabid pro-Southern US Supreme chief justice who ruled that slaves didn't have rights because they were property (the infamous Dred Scott Decision of 1857) and was a continual thorn in Abraham Lincoln's side during the Civil War. He died in 1864 while the war was still on and Lincoln quickly nominated a more pro-Union justice in his place. |