Frank Key Howard was an American newspaper editor and journalist who edited the Daily Exchange, a Baltimore newspaper sympathetic to the Confederacy. He was arrested just after midnight on the 13th of September 1861, without a warrant, on the direct orders of General George B. McClellan enforcing Lincoln's policy, for writing an editorial critical of Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus and the imprisonment of Baltimore officials without charge.
How is Frank Key Howard related to Francis Scott Key?
Frank Key Howard was the grandson of Francis Scott Key, the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner." His other grandfather was Revolutionary War colonel John Eager Howard.
Where was Frank Key Howard imprisoned?
Howard was initially confined to Fort McHenry in Baltimore, the same fort his grandfather Francis Scott Key had watched withstand a British bombardment during the War of 1812. He was then transferred to Fort Lafayette in Lower New York Bay off the coast of Brooklyn, and later to Fort Warren in Boston.
What book did Frank Key Howard write about his imprisonment?
Howard wrote Fourteen Months in American Bastiles, completed in December 1862 and published in 1863. Two of the publishers who sold the book were subsequently arrested.
Was Frank Key Howard ever given a trial or charged with a crime?
No. In all fourteen months of his imprisonment, Howard was never given a trial and was never told what his alleged crime was.
What was Ex Parte Merryman and how does it relate to Frank Key Howard?
Ex Parte Merryman was a federal court ruling that declared Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus in Maryland unconstitutional. It was issued by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who was married to Anne Phoebe Charlton Key, Francis Scott Key's sister, making him Howard's great-uncle by marriage. Lincoln chose to ignore the ruling, and Howard was later arrested for criticizing that same unconstitutional action.