William Shaffer Key (October 6, 1889 – January 5, 1959) was a decorated officer of the United States Army with the rank of major general and businessman. A member of the Oklahoma National Guard, he was called up for federal service and participated in the combats on Western Front during World War I as Divisional Quartermaster of 7th Division.
Following the War, Key returned to the National Guard service and held several consecutive civil assignments including as warden of Oklahoma State Penitentiary; chairman of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board; and director of Security National Bank; State administrator of Oklahoma State Works Progress Administration.
Key returned to active service in September 1940 as commanding general, 45th Infantry Division of the Oklahoma National Guard and later embarked overseas for duty as Provost Marshal General of the European Theater of Operations. He then served as commanding general, Iceland Base Command and completed his service as Chief of the Military Control Commission for Hungary in 1946.
Early career
William S. Key was born on October 6, 1889, in Dudleyville, Alabama, as the son of Cullen R. and Hadassah Key. Both of his grandfathers had served in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. He completed high school in Opelika, Alabama and enlisted the Georgia National Guard as private on April 7, 1907. He was commissioned second lieutenant in summer 1910, but left the National Guard one year later, when his family moved to Oklahoma.
Key settled in the town of Wewoka and established the Key Hardware Co. and the Wewoka Gas Co. and enlisted the Oklahoma National Guard. He was commissioned again and promoted to first lieutenant on July 12, 1912, and to captain in summer 1916. Key then assumed command of Company G, 1st Oklahoma Infantry Regiment stationed in Wewoka and served on the Mexican Border during the Pancho Villa Expedition, when his unit was called up for federal service in March 1917 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
Following the United States' entry into World War I, Key was promoted to the rank of major and embarked for France. He was attached to the headquarters, 7th Division under Brigadier General Charles H. Barth and served as divisional quartermaster during Champagne Defensive, Château-Thierry, Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse–Argonne offensive. While in France, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and then to colonel.
Civil career during interwar period
Key returned to the United States in early 1919, he was returned to the hardware business and remained in the Oklahoma National Guard. During the rising racial tensions in Okmulgee and Tulsa counties, Governor Jack C. Walton declared martial law and Key commanded Oklahoma City Military district. Key was appointed warden at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester in early 1924 and held that job until late 1927. He was also president of the Wardens Association of the United States in 1926 and chaired the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board from 1928 to 1932.
In 1927, Key moved to Oklahoma City and established the Keyokla Oil Company and a real estate business in the Key Building. He was a director of numerous business in bank sector including Security National Bank from 1928 to 1929 or First National Bank and Trust Company from 1929 to 1933. Key was also promoted to the brigadier general of the Oklahoma National Guard in August 1928.
He was also active during the Great Depression, when he served as head of the Executive Relief Committee in Oklahoma City, when he was responsible for the coordination of public and private relief effort to local citizens. Key was also appointed State administrator of Oklahoma State Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935 and during his tenure, he directed a progressive program during which 350 schools and 20 libraries were constructed and also supervised the building of Oklahoma National Guard Armories. From total of 126 armories build in the United States, 53 were built in Oklahoma under the supervision of Key. Also due to his work in WPA, Oklahoma state had received forty-three millions dollar in WPA funds and had employed more than one hundred thousands Oklahomans.
In 1936, Key was inducted to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Key was also involved in politics as Democratic candidate for Governor in January 1938. During the campaign, Key was accused by another candidate of irregularity in the building of one of the state armories. Even Key denied that, he lost to Leon Phillips by the difference of 3,300 votes. He then worked as director of Lincoln Income Life Insurance Company in Louisville, Kentucky until 1941.