John Ross Key was a lawyer, a commissioned officer in the Continental Army

Continental Army

The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...

, a judge, and the father of writer Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key

Francis Scott Key was an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet, from Georgetown, who wrote the lyrics to the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".-Life:...

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Key was born in Redland, Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....

, to English parents Francis Key, whose parents had come to Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

 in 1726, and his wife Ann Arnold (Ross) Key. She was a strong influence on her grandson Francis when he lived with her near Annapolis

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

 when he was in school there.

Mustered into service at Frederick on June 21, 1775, Key was commissioned as a second lieutenant

Second Lieutenant

Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...

 in Captain Thomas Price's Maryland Rifle Company. It was one of the first military forces from outside New England that came to aid General Washington

George Washington

George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...

 at the siege of Boston

Siege of Boston

The Siege of Boston was the opening phase of the American Revolutionary War, in which New England militiamen—who later became part of the Continental Army—surrounded the town of Boston, Massachusetts, to prevent movement by the British Army garrisoned within...

, July-August 1775. By 1781 Key was a captain. He commanded a Frederick County Company of Cavalry during the Yorktown Campaign

Yorktown campaign

The Yorktown or Virginia campaign was a series of military maneuvers and battles during the American Revolutionary War that culminated in the decisive Siege of Yorktown in October 1781...

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He was later a Justice of the Peace, a Judge, and Associate Justice of his Judicial District, which comprised Allegany, Washington and Frederick Counties. His brother Philip Barton Key

Philip Barton Key

Philip Barton Key was a Representative from the third district of Maryland, and later a United States federal judge. Unusually for a politician in the early United States, Key had been a Loyalist in the American Revolution.Born in Charleston, Cecil County, Maryland, Key pursued an academic course...

, also an attorney arranged for his nephew Francis to study law under his friend, Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase

Jeremiah Chase

Jeremiah Townley Chase was an American lawyer and jurist from Annapolis, Maryland. He served as a delegate for Maryland in the Continental Congress of 1783 and 1784, and for many years was chief justice of the state’s court of appeals.-Early life :Chase was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Richard...

 in 1800 and with whom he would later be a partner in Georgetown

Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

Georgetown is a neighborhood located in northwest Washington, D.C., situated along the Potomac River. Founded in 1751, the port of Georgetown predated the establishment of the federal district and the City of Washington by 40 years...

. Francis took the practice over entirely when his uncle ran for Congress

United States Congress

The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....

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He married Ann Phoebe Penn Dagworthy Charlton at the city of Frederick on October 19, 1775. Six children were born to the couple, but only three reached maturity. Francis Scott Key, his sister Anne Arnold Phoebe Charlton Key who would marry Roger Brooke Taney and John Alfred Key who died at Edgefield, South Carolina

Edgefield, South Carolina

Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,449 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County.Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area.-Geography:...

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Key died at the age of 67 in Frederick City and was interred there at Mount Olivet Cemetery

Mount Olivet Cemetery (Frederick)

Mount Olivet Cemetery is a cemetery in Frederick City, Maryland. It was chartered on October 4, 1852 to provide several of the downtown churches more room for interments, after their cemeteries became full...

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External links

• John Ross Keys's biographic sketch at Find A Grave
  Find A Grave
  Find a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...