David McKendree Key

David McKendree Key (January 27, 1824 – February 3, 1900) was a United States senator from Tennessee, a member of the Democratic Party, 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. He served as a Senator from Tennessee in the United States Congress from 1875 to 1877, contributing to the legislative process during one term in office and representing the interests of his constituents during a significant period in American history.

Key was born on January 27, 1824, near Greeneville, in Greene County, Tennessee. He attended the common schools of the region before pursuing higher education at Hiwassee College, from which he graduated in 1850. In the same year he read law and was admitted to the bar. He later received an Artium Magister degree from East Tennessee University, now the University of Tennessee, reflecting a solid academic foundation that underpinned his long public career.

After admission to the bar in 1850, Key entered private legal practice in Madisonville, Tennessee, where he practiced from 1850 to 1852. He then moved his practice to Kingston, Tennessee, from 1852 to 1853, and subsequently settled in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he practiced law from 1853 until 1861. During this antebellum period he became active in Democratic politics, serving as a Presidential Elector on the Democratic ticket in both the 1856 and 1860 presidential elections, thereby participating in national electoral politics on behalf of his party.

With the outbreak of the American Civil War, Key entered the Confederate States Army in 1861. He served throughout the conflict until 1865 and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel in the 43rd Tennessee Infantry. Following the war, he returned to Chattanooga and resumed private legal practice there from 1865 to 1880. As Tennessee rebuilt its political and legal institutions during Reconstruction, Key played a role in shaping the state’s postwar framework as a member of the Tennessee constitutional convention in 1870. That same year he was appointed Chancellor of the Tennessee Chancery Court for the Third Judicial District, a position he held from 1870 to 1875. He also sought federal office as an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for election to the United States House of Representatives for the 43rd Congress.

Key’s service in the United States Senate began with his appointment as a Democrat to fill the vacancy caused by the death of former President and Senator Andrew Johnson. He was appointed to the Senate from Tennessee and served from August 18, 1875, to January 19, 1877. During this one term in office, he participated in the legislative process at a time marked by the closing years of Reconstruction and significant national political realignment. In 1876 he was an unsuccessful candidate for election to fill the Senate vacancy on a permanent basis, and his appointed service concluded in early 1877.

Following his Senate tenure, Key entered the executive branch at the national level. He served as Postmaster General of the United States in the cabinet of President Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877 to 1880. His appointment by a Republican president, despite his Democratic affiliation, placed him among the notable United States political appointments made across party lines in the post–Civil War era. As Postmaster General, he oversaw the federal postal system during a period of administrative reform and expanding national communications.

Key’s federal judicial service began when President Rutherford B. Hayes nominated him 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, filling the vacancy created by the death of Judge Connally Findlay Trigg. The United States Senate confirmed his nomination on May 27, 1880, and he received his commission the same day. He served as a United States district judge for these two districts until January 21, 1895, when his service terminated due to his retirement, concluding a fifteen-year tenure on the federal bench.

In his later years, Key remained a prominent figure in Tennessee’s legal and political history. He died on February 3, 1900, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He was interred in Forest Hill Cemetery in Chattanooga, closing a career that had encompassed service as a Confederate officer, state jurist, United States senator, cabinet officer, and federal district judge.