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Philip Barton Key


Gender:
Male
Born:
September 2, 1804
Died:
May 4, 1854
Home Town:
Georgetown, MD
Later Residences:
Rosedale, LA
Marriage(s):
Mary Sewall Key (December 4, 1828)
Maria Sewall Key (April 25, 1833)
Biographical Notes:
Philip Barton Key was the son of Philip Barton Key, a prominent lawyer and Congressman from Maryland, and his wife Ann Plater. Philip was born at "Woodley" his family's Georgetown, MD home.

After studying law at Litchfield Law School, he moved to Annapolis, MD where he practiced law for several years. In 1835, he moved to Louisiana and became a planter, living on his sugar plantation in Rosedale, near Baton Rouge. Key and his second wife had ten children. He died at his plantation "Acadie" in Thibodaux, LA.

Education
Years at LLS:
1829
Other Education:
Graduated from Hamilton College in 1823.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Lawyer; Agriculture; Political Office
Training with Other Lawyers:
He studied law under the tutelage of his cousin, Francis Scott Key, the author of the "Star Spangled Banner".
State Posts:
State Representative (LA)
State Senator (LA) 1854
State Committees:
Delegate to the LA State Constitutional Convention in 1850.

help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1848.
Secondary Sources:
Lane, Mrs. Julian C. Key & Allied Families. Macon, GA: J.W. Burke Co., 1931.

A Memorial of the Semi-Centennial Celebration of the Founding of Hamilton College. Clinton, NY: Ellis H. Roberts, 1862.

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