Philip Barton Key II (April 5, 1818 – February 27, 1859)Richardson, Hester Dorsey. ''Side-Lights on Maryland History: With Sketches of Early Maryland Families.'' Baltimore, Md.: Williams and Wilkins company, 1913. was an American lawyer who served as

U.S. Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

. He is most famous for his public affair with Teresa Bagioli Sickles, and his eventual murder at the hands of her husband,

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Daniel Sickles Daniel Edgar Sickles (October 20, 1819May 3, 1914) was an American politician, American Civil War , Civil War veteran, and diplomat. He served in the United States House of Representatives , U.S. House of Representatives both before and after t ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Sickles defended himself by adopting a defense of

temporary insanity The insanity defense, also known as the mental disorder defense, is an affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for their actions due to a psychiatric disease at the time of the criminal act ...

, the first time the defense had been successfully used in the United States. Gallagher, Gary W. ''Three Days at Gettysburg: Essays on Confederate and Union Leadership.'' Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1999.

Biography

Born in Georgetown,

D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Key was the son of

Francis Scott Key Francis Scott Key (August 1, 1779January 11, 1843) was an American lawyer, author, and poet from Frederick, Maryland, best known as the author of the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" which was set to a popular British tune and eventually became t ...

Walther, Eric H. ''The Shattering of the Union: America in the 1850s.'' New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2004. and the great-nephew of

Philip Barton Key Philip Barton Key (April 12, 1757 – July 28, 1815), was an American Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War and later was a United States Circuit Judge and Chief United States Circuit Judge of the United States circuit court for the F ...

. He was also a nephew of Chief Justice

Roger B. Taney Roger Brooke Taney ( ; March 17, 1777 – October 12, 1864) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the fifth Chief Justice of the United States, chief justice of the United States, holding that office from 1836 until his death in 186 ...

.Flower, Frank Abial. ''Edwin McMasters Stanton: The Autocrat of Rebellion, Emancipation, and Reconstruction.'' New York: W.W. Wilson, 1905. He married Ellen Swan, the daughter of a

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

attorney, on November 18, 1845. Allegedly the most handsome man in Washington and by 1859 a widower with four children, Key was known to be flirtatious with many women. Sickles homicide

Key was appointed to his father's former position,

United States Attorney for the District of Columbia The United States attorney for the District of Columbia (USADC) is responsible for representing the Federal government of the United States, federal government in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's ...

, by President Pierce in September 1853, during a recess of the Senate; the Senate later confirmed his nomination in March 1854. Four years later, he was nominated, and confirmed again, for another four-year term; thus, he would serve until his death. HarpersMagazineMrs

Sometime in the spring of 1858, Teresa Sickles began an affair with Key. Dan Sickles, though a serial adulterer himself, had accused his much-younger wife of adultery several times during their five-year marriage, and she had repeatedly denied it to his satisfaction. But then Sickles received a

poison pen letter A poison pen letter (or poisoned pen letter) is a letter or note containing unpleasant, abusive, or malicious statements or accusations about the recipient or a third party. It is usually sent anonymously, often by employing the ransom note ...

informing him of his wife's affair with Key. He confronted his wife, who confessed to the affair. Sickles then made his wife write out her confession on paper.Hartog, Hendrik. ''Man and Wife in America: A History.'' Reprint ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2002.

Death

Sickles saw Key sitting on a bench outside the Sickles home on February 27, 1859, signalling to Teresa, and confronted him. Sickles rushed outside into Lafayette Square, cried "Key, you scoundrel, you have dishonored my home; you must die", and with a pistol repeatedly shot the unarmed Key, who was pleading for his life. After being shot, an unconscious Key was taken into the nearby

Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House The Benjamin Ogle Tayloe House is a Federal-style house located at 21 Madison Place NW in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The house is on the northeast corner of Madison Place NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, directly across the street fr ...

, where he died some time later.Smith, Hal H. "Historic Washington Homes." ''Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington.'' 1908. Sickles was acquitted based on

, a

crime of passion A crime of passion (), in popular usage, refers to a violent crime, especially homicide, in which the perpetrator commits the act against someone because of sudden strong impulse such as anger or jealousy rather than as a premeditated crime. A ...

, in one of the most controversial trials of the 19th century. It was the first successful use of the defense in the United States."Crime History", ''The Washington Examiner'', Feb. 27, 2012, p. 8. One of Sickles' attorneys,

Edwin Stanton Edwin McMasters Stanton (December 19, 1814December 24, 1869) was an American lawyer and politician who served as U.S. Secretary of War, U.S. secretary of war under the Lincoln Administration during most of the American Civil War. Stanton's manag ...

, later became the

Secretary of War The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...

. Newspapers declared Sickles a hero for "saving" women from Key. Years later, while attending the theater in New York City, Sickles became aware of the presence of Key's son, James Key, in the audience; both men watched each other throughout the performance. Nothing else happened. Key is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, with a dedicatory in his son-in-law's family plot in

Westminster Hall and Burying Ground Westminster Hall and Burying Ground is a graveyard and former church located at 519 West Fayette Street (at North Greene Street) in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It is currently part of the grounds of the University of Maryland's School ...

.''Murder of the U.S. Attorney''
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

* One o

escorts was Philip Barton Key *

{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Philip Barton 1818 births 1859 deaths People murdered in 1859 People from Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) American murder victims Daniel Sickles Burials at Westminster Hall and Burying Ground American prosecutors People murdered in Washington, D.C. Deaths by firearm in Washington, D.C. United States attorneys for the District of Columbia Key family (Maryland) Lloyd family (Maryland) Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)