David M. Key

{{Short description|American politician and judge (1824–1900)}} {{for|the diplomat|David McK. Key}} {{redirect|Senator Key}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = David M. Key | honorific_suffix = | image = DMKey-PostmasGener.jpg | alt = | caption = Key, 1865–1880 | office = Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee | term_start = May 27, 1880 | term_end = January 21, 1895 | nominator = | appointer = Rutherford B. Hayes | predecessor = Connally Findlay Trigg | successor = Charles Dickens Clark | office1 = 27th United States Postmaster General | term_start1 = March 12, 1877 | term_end1 = June 2, 1880 | president1 = Rutherford B. Hayes | predecessor1 = James Noble Tyner | successor1 = Horace Maynard | jr/sr2 = United States Senator | state2 = Tennessee | term_start2 = August 18, 1875 | term_end2 = January 19, 1877 | appointer2 = James D. Porter | predecessor2 = Andrew Johnson | successor2 = James E. Bailey | pronunciation = | birth_name = David McKendree Key | birth_date = {{Birth date|1824|01|27}} | birth_place = Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1900|02|03|1824|01|27}} | death_place = Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = Forest Hill Cemetery Chattanooga, Tennessee | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Democratic | other_party = | height = | spouse = | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = Hiwassee College {{nowrap|University of Tennessee (A.M.)}} read law | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = Signature of David McKendree Key.png | signature_alt = | website =  | nickname = | allegiance = {{flagicon|CSA}} Confederate States | branch = {{army|CSA}} | service_years = 1861–1865 | rank = 35px Lieutenant colonel | unit = {{flagicon|Tennessee}} 43rd Tennessee Regiment | commands = | battles = American Civil War | mawards =  | footnotes = }}

'''David McKendree Key''' (January 27, 1824 – February 3, 1900) was a United States senator from Tennessee, United States Postmaster General and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

==Education and career==

Born on January 27, 1824, near Greeneville, in Greene County, Tennessee,<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|1272|nid=1383291|name=David McKendree Key}}</ref> Key attended the common schools, then graduated from Hiwassee College in 1850 and read law the same year.<ref name="auto"/> He received an Artium Magister degree from East Tennessee University (now the University of Tennessee).<ref name="auto"/> He was admitted to the bar and entered private practice in Madisonville, Tennessee from 1850 to 1852.<ref name="auto"/> He continued private practice in Kingston, Tennessee from 1852 to 1853, and in Chattanooga, Tennessee from 1853 to 1861.<ref name="auto"/> He was a Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket in 1856 and 1860.<ref name="auto1">{{Biographical Directory of Congress|K000156|David McKendree Key|inline=1}}</ref> He served in the Confederate States Army from 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War and was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the Forty-third Tennessee Infantry.<ref name="auto1"/> He resumed private practice in Chattanooga from 1865 to 1880.<ref name="auto"/> He was a member of the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1870.<ref name="auto1"/> He was Chancellor for the Tennessee Chancery Court for the Third Judicial District from 1870 to 1875.<ref name="auto"/> He was an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives of the 43rd United States Congress.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Congressional service==

Key was appointed as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of former President of the United States and United States Senator Andrew Johnson and served from August 18, 1875, to January 19, 1877.<ref name="auto1"/> He was an unsuccessful candidate for election to fill the vacancy in 1876.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Postmaster General==

Key served as Postmaster General of the United States in the cabinet of President Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1880.<ref name="auto"/> Federal judicial service

Key was nominated by President Rutherford B. Hayes on May 19, 1880, to a joint seat on the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee vacated by Judge Connally Findlay Trigg.<ref name="auto"/> He was confirmed by the United States Senate on May 27, 1880, and received his commission the same day.<ref name="auto"/> His service terminated on January 21, 1895, due to his retirement.<ref name="auto"/>

==Death==

Key died on February 3, 1900, in Chattanooga.<ref name="auto"/> He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Chattanooga.<ref name="auto1"/>

==See also== {{Portal|Biography|American Civil War}} * List of United States political appointments across party lines * David McK. Key

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Sources== * {{Biographical Directory of Congress|K000156|David McKendree Key|inline=1}} * {{FJC Bio|1272|nid=1383291|name=David McKendree Key}} * 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.

==External links== *{{commons category-inline}}

{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-sen}} {{s-bef|before=Andrew Johnson}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Senator (Class 1) from Tennessee|years=1875–1877|alongside=Henry Cooper}} {{s-aft|after=James E. Bailey}} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=James Noble Tyner}} {{s-ttl|title=United States Postmaster General|years=1877–1880}} {{s-aft|after=Horace Maynard}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Connally Findlay Trigg}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee}} {{nowrap|Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee}}|years=1880–1895}} {{s-aft|after=Charles Dickens Clark}} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, David M.}} Category:1824 births Category:1900 deaths Category:Confederate States Army officers Category:United States postmasters general Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee Category:Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee Category:People of Tennessee in the American Civil War Category:People from Greene County, Tennessee Category:Politicians from Chattanooga, Tennessee Category:United States federal judges appointed by Rutherford B. Hayes Category:Democratic Party United States senators from Tennessee Category:Tennessee Democrats Category:Hayes administration cabinet members Category:United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law Category:People from Monroe County, Tennessee Category:19th-century United States senators