David M. Key

For the diplomat, see David McK. Key.

David M. Key
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee
In office May 27, 1880 – January 21, 1895
Appointed by	Rutherford B. Hayes
Preceded by	Connally Findlay Trigg
Succeeded by	Charles Dickens Clark
Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee
In office May 27, 1880 – January 21, 1895
Appointed by	Rutherford B. Hayes
Preceded by	Connally Findlay Trigg
Succeeded by	Charles Dickens Clark
27th United States Postmaster General
In office March 12, 1877 – June 2, 1880
President	Rutherford B. Hayes
Preceded by	James N. Tyner
Succeeded by	Horace Maynard
United States Senator from Tennessee
In office August 18, 1875 – January 19, 1877
Preceded by	Andrew Johnson
Succeeded by	James E. Bailey
Personal details
Born	(1824-01-27)January 27, 1824 Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	February 3, 1900(1900-02-03) (aged 76) Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Elizabeth Lenoir Key
Alma mater	Hiwassee College
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Military service
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Branch/service	Confederate States Army
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Unit	43rd Tennessee Regiment
Battles/wars	American Civil War

David McKendree Key (January 27, 1824 – February 3, 1900) was a Democratic U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1875 to 1877 as well as the U.S. Postmaster General under President Hayes, and a United States federal judge.

Biography

Key was born in Greene County, Tennessee, the son of Reverend John and Margaret (Armitage) Key. In 1826 the family moved to Monroe County where Key was reared, graduating from Hiwassee College in 1850. He selected the legal profession as his vocation through life, and the same year of his graduation he read law to be admitted to the bar. He practiced law for two years at Madisonville, then worked for a short time in Kingston. He moved to Chattanooga in February 1853. He married Elizabeth Lenoir in 1857, and fathered nine children.

When the Civil War broke out, Key enlisted in the Forty-third Confederate Tennessee Regiment of Infantry, served until the close of the war, and was mustered out as a lieutenant colonel. He then resumed the practice of law in Chattanooga until 1868.

Key was a member of the Tennessee state constitutional convention of 1870, which composed the basic instrument of government of the state still in effect. In August of the same year, he was elected chancellor of the Chattanooga (3rd) division, defeating the Republican incumbent, Daniel C. Trewhitt. He maintained his chancellorship during an unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. House in 1872, but resigned in 1875 to accept the appointment by Tennessee Governor James D. Porter to the vacant Senate seat created by the death of Andrew Johnson.

Defeated in the next senate election in the Tennessee General Assembly, Key was appointed Postmaster General in 1877 by President Hayes, and served until August 25, 1880. His appointment as Postmaster General was part of the Compromise of 1877, implemented to ensure there was Democratic power in the Republican cabinet. Key's work as Postmaster General is harshly criticized by Mark Twain in The Autobiography of Mark Twain.

On May 19, 1880, Key was nominated by President Hayes to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, vacated by Connally F. Trigg. Key was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 27, 1880, and received his commission the same day. Key retired from the bench on January 21, 1895. He died in Chattanooga in 1900 and is buried there.

See also

• List of United States political appointments across party lines
• David McK. Key

References

• United States Congress. "David McKendree Key (id: K000156)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
• David McKendree Key at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Goodspeed Publishing, History of East Tennessee, Hamilton County. (1887)
• Dictionary of American Biography
• Abshire, David. The South Rejects a Prophet: The Life of David Key. New York: F.A. Praeger, 1967.
• Murrin, John M. Liberty, Equality, Power. Fourth Edition. Australia: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005.