Francis Scott Key

KEY, Francis Scott. b. Pipe’s Creek, Frederick County, Maryland, 9 August 1779; d. Baltimore, Maryland, 11 January 1843. Key was educated at St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland (BA 1796). He studied law and served as District Attorney of Washington, DC (1833-41). He was a leader in St John’s [Episcopal] Church and later in Christ Church, both in Georgetown; he was also a founder of the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in Virginia. He helped organize the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society in 1820, was active in the anti-slavery movement, and in 1823 served on the committee preparing the new Episcopal hymnal of 1826, in which his ‘Lord, with glowing heart I’d praise thee’ appeared. He...