Last modified on May 11, 2020, at 15:41

Philip Barton Key

Philip Barton Key

Louisiana State Representative for Lafourche Parish
Incumbent
Assumed office 
Date unspecified

Born September 2, 1804
Washington, D.C.
Died May 4, 1854
Acadia Plantation

Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish
Louisiana

Resting place St. Joseph's Church Cemetery in Thibodaux
Spouse(s) (1) Maria Brent Sewall Key (died 1831)

(2) Maria Laura Sewall Key

Children Ten children from second marriage
Occupation Lawyer; Planter

Philip Barton Key, Jr. (September 2, 1804 – May 4, 1854), was an ante-bellum planter in Louisiana, who served in his state's House of Representatives. He was a cousin of his mentor, Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Key was born in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C., a son of the senior Philip Barton Key (1757-1815), a member of the United States House of Representatives from Maryland and later, briefly, a United States District Court judge. His mother was the former Ann Plater (1774-1834), a daughter of Governor George Plater of Maryland. He studied law under his cousin, Francis Scott Key. He was twice married; his first wife, the former Maria Brent Sewall of Prince Georges County, Maryland, died in 1831. He then married his sister-in-law, the former Maria Laura Sewall (1812-1890) of St. Mary County, Maryland, by whom he had ten children.[1] 

Key practiced law in the capital city of Annapolis, Maryland, until 1835, when he relocated to Ascension Parish near the capital city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. In 1845, he purchased Acadia Plantation in Lafourche Parish near Thibodaux. In addition to his legislative duties,[2] he was a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1850. He died at his plantation and is interred at St. Joseph's Church Cemetery in Thibodaux.[1]

Barton had the same name as a son of Francis Scott Key, Philip Barton Key, II.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Key, Philip Barton. Louisiana Historical Association. Retrieved on May 18, 2016.
  2. Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2020 has fragmentary information prior to the American Civil War and does not have a reference to Key serving in the state House.