Philip Barton Key | |
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Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 3rd district |
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In office March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1813 |
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Preceded by | Patrick Magruder |
Succeeded by | Alexander Hanson |
Chief Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit | |
In office February 20, 1801 – July 1, 1802 |
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Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Fourth Circuit | |
In office February 20, 1801 – July 1, 1802 |
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Appointed by | John Adams |
Preceded by | Seat established |
Succeeded by | Seat abolished |
Member of the Maryland House of Delegates | |
In office 1794-1799 |
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Personal details | |
Born |
Charlestown, Province of Maryland, British North America |
April 12, 1757
Died | July 28, 1815 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
(aged 58)
Political party | Federalist |
Spouse(s) | Ann Plater Key |
Children | Philip Barton Key, Jr. |
Alma mater | Middle Temple |
Philip Barton Key, Sr. (April 12, 1757 – July 28, 1815), was a Representative from the third district of Maryland, and later a United States federal judge. In contrast to most American politicians, of the Revolutionary era United States, Key enlisted, as a British Loyalist and fought against the American Revolution. After the war, Key was the only former, British American Loyalist to be regain prominence in United States politics.
Born in Charlestown. Cecil County, Maryland, Key pursued an academic course.
During the American Revolutionary War, Philip Barton Key served in the Maryland Loyalists Battalion, as a captain. Key fought under the British Army, from 1777-1781, until he was captured, by the Spanish Army, who were at war with the British, in Pensacola, Florida, with the rest of his battalion. Key was a prisoner, for a month, in Havana, Cuba, before being paroled and sent to New York City, until the end of the war.
After the war, Key traveled to England to study law at the Middle Temple. In 1785 he returned to Maryland and read law to be admitted to the bar. He began practicing law in Leonardtown, Maryland in 1787, before moving to Annapolis in 1790, becoming a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1794 until 1799. He served as Mayor of Annapolis from 1797 to 1798. He returned briefly to private practice in Annapolis from 1799 to 1800.