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Francis Scott Key: Frederick's Immortal Patriot 1779-1843:
The man Americans honor as the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner" began his life and career in Frederick County, Maryland. Here he first learned the American values that guided his life.
Key was a child of the American Revolution, and saw his father go off to war. During the War of 1812, Key served as an officer of militia, and used his skills as an attorney to negotiate with the British on behalf of the United States.
His life and career brought him into contact with many of the prominent political personalities of his time, and his opinion and oratory made a mark on the early history of the United States.
Francis Scott Key is best known for his inspired account of the bombardment of Fort McHenry in 1814. Eighty-eight years after his death the American people prevailed upon Congress to declare his immortal song our national anthem.
"Every word came warm from his heart, and for that reason, even more than for its poetical merit, it never fails to find a response in the hearts of those who listen to it."
-- Roger Brooke Taney, brother-in-law of Key and later Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court
when the flag "... flings forth its folds over the destitute and abandoned... then are its stars a constellation of glory..."
-- F.S. Key, 1842
1779: Key is born August 9, 1779, at his father's estate, Terra Rubra, in what was then Frederick County.
1801: After graduating from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland. Key begins his law practice here in Frederick.
1802: Key married Mary Tayloe Lloyd in Annapolis, Maryland.
1803: Key and his wife move to the Washington DC suburb of Georgetown where he would eventually argue cases before the US Supreme Court.
1814: On September 13, Key boards a British flagship in Baltimore harbor to secure the release of an American prisoner, and witnesses the bombardment of Fort McHenry. That night and the following day, he writes "The Star-Spangled Banner." It became a popular patriotic song immediately.
1843: Francis Scott Key dies at the home of his daughter in Baltimore on January 11, 1843.
1916: President Woodrow Wilson signs an Executive Order requiring all US military bands to play "The Star-Spangled Banner" at official ceremonies.
1931: President Herbert Hoover signs a Congressional Resolution establishing the [sic] "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem of the United States.
Francis Scott Key often walked the streets of Frederick, especially during the early years of his law career. Today you can walk or drive to historic sites that recall Key's emergence as a man who embodied the American spirit. |