David M. Key

David McKendree Key
27th United States Postmaster General
In office March 12, 1877 – August 25, 1880
Preceded by	James N. Tyner
Succeeded by	Horace Maynard
Personal details
Born	January 27, 1824(1824-01-27) Greeneville, Tennessee, U.S.
Died	February 3, 1900(1900-02-03) (aged 76) Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Lenoir Key
Alma mater	Hiwassee College
Profession	Lawyer, Politician
Military service
Service/branch	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.

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 was 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 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, and in August of the same year was elected chancellor of the Chattanooga (3rd) division. 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. He later accepted appointment as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee. He died in Chattanooga in 1900 and is buried there.

See also

	Biography portal
	American Civil War portal

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

References

• David M. Key at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2008-02-13
• 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.

Political offices
Preceded by James N. Tyner	United States Postmaster General Served under: Rutherford B. Hayes 1877 – 1880	Succeeded by Horace Maynard
United States Senate
Preceded by Andrew Johnson	Senator from Tennessee (Class 1) 1875–1877 Served alongside: Henry Cooper	Succeeded by James E. Bailey

Persondata
Name	Key, David M.
Alternative names
Short description	Confederate Army officer
Date of birth	January 27, 1824
Place of birth	Greeneville, Tennessee
Date of death	February 3, 1900
Place of death	Chattanooga, Tennessee