American poet, born in Frederick County, MD, on the 9th of August. He studied law in the office of his uncle, and practiced law at Frederick City, MD, until he became district attorney in Washington, DC. When the British invaded Washington in 1814, they seized Dr. William Beanes, a planter, as a prisoner, and Key, aided by President Madison, resolved to release him. He went with John S. Skinner, agent for the exchange of prisoners, in a cartelship, to the British general, Ross, who finally consented to Dr. Beanes’s release, but detained the party during the attack on Baltimore. From their ship they could see the flag on Fort McHenry nearly all night by the glare of the battle; but before morning the firing ceased, and they watched most anxiously to ascertain which colors floated on the ramparts in the morning. Key’s feelings, when he saw that the stars and stripes had not been hauled down, found expression in the Star-Spangled Banner, which gained for him a lasting reputation. It was to be sung to the tune, “Anacreon in Heaven.” The verses and tune soon became popular throughout the United States. A collection of Key’s poems was published in 1857. James Lick, of California, bequeathed the sum of $60,000 for a monument to Key. It was erected in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, in 1887. He died in Baltimore, MD, on the 11th of January 1843.
