Murder in Front of the White House --February 1859

Murder in Front of the White House --February 27,1859 

From Harper's Magazine

    The Honorable Daniel E. Sickels (D-NY) murdered the DC Federal Attorney, Philip Barton Key II in broad daylight in front of the White House.  Key, son of the composer of the Star Spangled Banner, a widower with four children, was known as the most handsome and eligible bachelor in town.

    At least a dozen witnesses testified Sickels shot Key several times using two of the three pistols he carried. Sickels himself immediately confessed to the murder to the Assistant DC Federal Attorney.

    It took the jury almost no time to acquit Sickels. 

    He was the first person to use the temporary insanity plea in America.

    "Scoundrel" would have been a great first, middle, and last name for Daniel Edgar Sickels. He lived to be 94, so had ample time to be involved in too many scandals to cover in one blog entry. 

Key's Rendezvous house pictured in Leslie's Illustrated Weekly

    Sickels claimed his wife, Teresa DaPonte Bagioli, confessed that she and Key had had an ongoing affair. Sickels forced her to write a full confession including the details of their sexual encounters; how often and where. Teresa confessed that Key had bought a house in a run-down area of town where they could meet whenever Key walked past Teresa's house on Lafayette Square waving a white handkerchief.  

    The next day, Barton Key walked past their house. He did not know Sickels had found out about the affair. Confession in hand, Sickels caught sight of Key, waving a white handkerchief.  Grabbing three pistols, the congressman charged out of his house.                         Approaching the unsuspecting Key, Sickels shouted, “You are having an affair with my wife!” and started shooting.   

Teresa Sickels 

P. Barton Key II

   Sickels claimed news of his wife’s affair and her detailed confession offended his honor so deeply, he went insane briefly when Key showed up outside their house.

    The modern mind will find the following hard to comprehend.

    The fact that Sickels was a notorious ladies’ man and having an affair or two himself at the time he killed Key made no difference in the public’s opinion or the jurors’ decision. A congressman having an affair was not news to women or men at the time. “Boys will be boys,” was the attitude.  But a woman disgraced herself and her husband forever if she had an affair. Public opinion was in favor of the congressman.

    Sickels' temporary insanity plea was not really what made the jury declare him innocent.  His honor had been insulted and it was seldom a jury would convict a husband for killing his wife's lover.  Dueling was still a custom, particularly in the South. If, on the other hand, a wife killed an abusive or philandering husband, she was nearly always tried for murder. 

    (You can read the editorial in Harper's magazine defending Sickels at the end of this blog entry.)

    Teresa’s hand written confession was not admissible in court, but Sickels arranged for a copy to be leaked to newspapers.

    Public opinion turned against Sickels after he publicly forgave her (through the press, of course, he was a consummate politician.)  It was immoral for an honorable man such as Dan Sickels to publicly state he would continue to live with such a harlot wife.  

    He could have divorced her, but the default position of courts then was the father took custody of the children.  I don’t think Sickels wanted to be bothered with raising his daughter.

    As a young man he was trained as a printer.  He had higher ambitions, though. Believing he would advance by learning Italian and French, he moved in with an Italian family in New York.  Lorenzo DaPonte and his in-laws, the Bagioli’s, was a houseful.  One of the children was the infant Teresa.  It’s not clear why Sickels left after a year.  (Utter bit of trivia--Lorenzo Da Ponte wrote the librettos for several of Mozart's operas, including Magic Flute before moving to NY) 

    Sickels met Teresa again in 1850 when she was 15.  He was immediately charmed by her, and they were soon wed, though Sickels was at least 18 years older. By now, Sickels had passed the bar and now served as New York City's corporate attorney.  

    He resigned in 1853 when President Franklin Pierce appointed him private secretary to James Buchanan, ambassador to England.          Sickels left his pregnant young wife, Teresa,  at home and sailed for England with Fanny White, a well-known prostitute. Scandal ensued when he introduced Fanny to Queen Victoria. On returning to the US, Sickels served a term in the New York Legislature and then successfully became US congressman from New York’s 3^rd District. 

    Daniel and Teresa Sickels quickly became known as one of the leading entertaining couples in Washington.  Teresa was praised as charming, lively, beautiful, and intelligent. She held social events twice a week at their home on Lafayette Square. 

    It wasn’t enough to keep Daniel at home.  He was often away “on business.”

     It was socially unthinkable for Teresa to go to any party or public event unaccompanied.  "Barton," as Key was called, had become good friends with Dan and Teresa. He offered to escort her whenever Dan was away “on business.” Barton fell for Teresa passionately.  Neglected by her husband, Teresa reciprocated.

    A year and half after the scandal and trial, Sickels resigned from Congress and returned to New York to raise troops for the Union.  He recruited and found funding for five regiments of volunteer infantry, an extraordinary accomplishment.

    As a reward, he was made colonel of one of the regiments, though he had no prior military experience.

    And that’s enough Sickels scandal for now. There will be so much more. 

Major General Daniel Edgar Sickels

Site of the Trial

He Was Just Defending His Honor

Harper's March 12, 1859