{{Short description|American politician}} {{Other people|Thomas Key}} {{Use American English|date=April 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2026}}
'''Thomas Marshall Key''' (August 8, 1819 – January 15, 1869) was an American politician.
==Early life and education== Key was the son of Marshall Key, a connection of Chief Justice Marshall, and was born in Mason County, Kentucky on August 8, 1819.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://mssa.library.yale.edu/obituary_record/1859_1924/1868-69.pdf|title=Yale Obituary Records, 1868-69|access-date=April 17, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=The Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky|last1=Tenkotte|first1=Paul A.|last2=Claypool|first2=James C.|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|year=2015|isbn=978-0813159966|pages=519}}</ref> He graduated from Augusta College in Kentucky, and entered Yale College where he graduated in 1838.
==Career== Key went to Cincinnati after graduation and began practice of the law, as partner of Alphonso Taft and William M. Dickson in April 1854.<ref name="UM bio">{{Cite web |url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?cc=clementsead;c=clementsead;idno=umich-wcl-M-2051dic;didno=umich-wcl-M-2051dic;view=text |title=William Dickson papers 1849-1912 |last=Dickson |first=William |website=quod.lib.umich.edu |access-date=2020-01-23}}</ref> In 1848 the Commercial Court of Cincinnati was established, of which he served as Judge for five years. He resumed practice of law in 1853, and continued in it, in partnership and alone, until the outbreak of the American Civil War.
In 1858, Key was elected a member of the Ohio State Senate on the Democratic ticket. While still a state Senator, the attack on Fort Sumter occurred. Judge Key took an active and controlling part in securing unanimous action in the Ohio Legislature for the support of the National Government. In this he was brought into contact with General McClellan, becoming Judge Advocate on his staff with the rank of Colonel, and received in an unusual degree the confidence of his commander. He remained in this position while General McClellan continued in command. While stationed in Washington, he drafted, and promoted the passage of, the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia. When McClellan was removed, Key returned to the labors of his profession in Cincinnati.
==Marriage, health issues, death== Key was married, June, 1858, to Mrs. Elizabeth B. Boylan. He contracted pulmonary disease under the exposure of the Chickahominy and Antietam campaigns, and was never well afterward. He died at Lebanon, Ohio on January 15, 1869.
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==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|last1=Styple|first1=William B.|title=McClellan's other story : the political intrigue of Colonel Thomas M. Key, confidential aide to General George B. McClellan|date=2012|publisher=Belle Grove Pub. Co.|isbn=978-1883926250}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|78971639}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20150716105249/http://64.70.12.51/History/Events/The-Civil-War-Gen-McClellan-Col-Key/10737436865-3/ The Civil War: Gen. McClellan & Col. Key], C-SPAN ("Author William Styple discusses Gen. George McClellan’s working relationship with staff officer, Col. Thomas Key").
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Thomas Marshall}} Category:1819 births Category:1869 deaths Category:Augusta College (Kentucky) alumni Category:Yale College alumni Category:Ohio lawyers Category:Democratic Party Ohio state senators Category:Union army colonels Category:19th-century American lawyers Category:19th-century members of the Ohio General Assembly