Terra Rubra eventually passed out of Key family ownership, and the estate’s acreage dwindled as portions were sold off to pay debts. Key, who is buried at Mount Olivet cemetery in Frederick, condemned the buying and selling of slaves for profit but also opposed freeing slaves unconditionally, favoring instead the concept of sending liberated slaves to Africa, according to biographers. Baker and Rubin identified one bedroom as former slave sleeping quarters, and a slave graveyard is marked on the property. Delaplaine quotes an unidentified granddaughter’s recollection of Key riding on horseback beside his grandchildren during wagon rides around the farm. He practiced law in nearby Frederick and later Washington, but treasured his visits to Terra Rubra, which he inherited and willed to his wife, Polly. He also received his bachelor’s and law degrees there, returning to Terra Rubra in the summers. John’s College in Annapolis, where he lived with relatives.
Delaplaine.Īt age 10, Key was sent to grammar school at St. His father, John Ross Key, a circuit judge, told the boy thrilling stories of his service in the revolutionary army, according to a 1937 biography, “Francis Scott Key: Life and Times,” by Edward S. Key was born at Terra Rubra, then a 3,000-acre plantation, on Aug. The poem, with music borrowed from an English pub song, “To Anacreon in Heaven,” was declared the national anthem in 1931. McHenry in Baltimore Harbor the night of Sept. An oil portrait of Key hangs on one wall, opposite a framed reprint of the poem he wrote after witnessing the British shelling of Ft. The dining room decor better reflects the home’s history. The kitchen is thoroughly modern, and the carriage house contains a hot tub, water bed and bar. One bedroom is decorated with stars and space shuttles wallpaper. The buildings and grounds appear well-kept, although not always with an eye toward historic preservation. “It’s never really been a burden over the years,” Baker said. Most realize that it’s not a museum as they come up the driveway but some ask for tours. The new owner will have to contend with tourists who drop in unexpectedly about once a month after spotting the estate on state road maps. The cellar and chimneys date to 1770, when Key’s grandfather, Philip Key, settled in the hilly area 40 miles northwest of Baltimore. She’ll leave behind memories of the goats, sheep, cattle and horses she raised there, as well as plank floors and hand-forged hardware that date to at least 1865, when the house was rebuilt after an 1858 windstorm. “It’s a good market,” said Baker, a biologist at the National Cancer Institute. Demand for residential real estate has risen sharply since her father bought Terra Rubra for about $250,000 in 1974.
0 kommentar(er)
