Philip Barton Key II | |
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![]() Harper's Weekly engraving of Philip Barton Key from a photograph by Mathew Brady | |
8th United States Attorney for the District of Columbia | |
In office September 6, 1853 – February 27, 1859 | |
President | Franklin Pierce James Buchanan |
Preceded by | Philip Richard Fendall II |
Succeeded by | Robert Ould |
Personal details | |
Born | Georgetown, Washington, D.C., U.S. | April 5, 1818
Died | February 27, 1859 Washington, D.C., U.S. | (aged 40)
Resting place | Oak Hill Cemetery Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Spouse | Ellen Swan |
Children | 4 |
Parent(s) | Francis Scott Key Mary Tayloe Lloyd |
Occupation | Lawyer |
Philip Barton Key II (April 5, 1818 – February 27, 1859)[1] was an American lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.[2] He is most famous for his public affair with Teresa Bagioli Sickles, and his eventual murder at the hands of her husband, Congressman Daniel Sickles of New York. Sickles defended himself by adopting a defense of temporary insanity, the first time the defense had been successfully used in the United States.[2][3]