William Shaffer Key was the son of Cullen R. Calloway "Callie" Key and Hadassah "Hassie" L. (Fargason) Key and grandson of William R. Wilburn Key and Elizabeth "Betsey" Ann (Henderson) Key and Thomas Benjamin Fargason and Laura W. (Dunson) Fargason.
At the age of 21, William Shaffer Key came from Alabama to Oklahoma with his family circa 1910. Before long, he started a hardware and undertaking business in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
To drum up business, he waged a campaign throughout Seminole County [Oklahoma] that would do any political campaign proud. He visited all parts of the county, shaking hands with as many people as possible to inform them that Key's Hardware was about the best hardware store this side of Kansas City.
He served in an Alabama National Guard unit a couple of years before coming to Oklahoma, joined a Wewoka Guard unit in 1912 as a private. Two years later, he was a second lieutenant and served on the Mexican border campaign against Pancho Villa.
He led the Wewoka Guard unit to France in World War I as a captain, returning 17 months later as a lieutenant colonel.
He married Irene Genevieve Davis on 05 MAY 1914 in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
They were the parents of 3 children:
1) William Shaffer Key, Jr.
2) Mary "Genevieve" Key, wife of William Harper.
3) Robert Carleton Key, husband of Mavis Parker.
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin, a member of the 45th Division when Key was the commanding general before and during World War II, once called Key "one of those rare commanders who refuse to order a subordinate to do anything they themselves wouldn't do."
As an example, Mauldin cited the time that an order was issued for every man in the division to take a series of conditioning hikes, starting at six miles and ending with a 25 mile hike. General Key took the "every man" order literally and made all the hikes.
"General Key has trained this outfit to the peak of perfection," Mauldin wrote after Key was assigned to General Dwight "Ike" David Eisenhower's staff as provost marshall for the U.S. Armed forces in Europe. "And you can bet that every one of us when going into action will automatically think, "Is this the way Bill would do it?"
For five days during World War II, Key was the commanding general of all American forces in Europe. The commanding general, Frank Maxwell Andrews, was killed in a plane crash and Key held that position until a successor was appointed.
Between wars, Key served twice as warden at the state penitentiary, the first time in 1924-1927 and agian in 1933-1934. After his first stint as warden, The Daily Oklahoman noted that his penitentiary operation had cost taxpayers $ 340,000 a year duting the four years before Key became warden. At the end of his first two years in the job, the cost had been wiped out and the prison was self-supporting.
The state's minimum-securty prison in Fort Supply [Oklahoma] is named in his honor and is known as William Shaffer Key Correctional Center. Key had started an industrial proigram among the improvements he made at the prison.
In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Key as state administrator of the Works Progress Administration. Under his administration, 550 new school buildings were built and additions were made to 478. The WPA under Key also built 129 other public buildings and 52 community buildings that were used for National
Guard armories.
Key's only political venture came in 1938 when he sought the Democratice nomination for governor. He lost to Leon Chase "Red" Phillips, by 3,000 votes, which was the closest race for governor up to that time. Phillips became the 11th Governor of Oklahoma, serving from 1939 to 1943. Phillips was a rapib opponent of Roosevelts' New Deal.
He was listed in Who's Who in Oklahoma in 1935.
He was the commander of the Allied Forces in Iceland during World War II [1943 - 1944.]
Note: The "Key Gate" was named in his honor that leads into Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from Interstate 44.
It's appropriately named because it really is the key or main gate into the sprawling post in Commanche County, Oklahoma, the training ground for all field artillery soldiers, Marines, and many international students from allied nations.
At the age of 21, William Shaffer Key came from Alabama to Oklahoma with his family circa 1910. Before long, he started a hardware and undertaking business in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
To drum up business, he waged a campaign throughout Seminole County [Oklahoma] that would do any political campaign proud. He visited all parts of the county, shaking hands with as many people as possible to inform them that Key's Hardware was about the best hardware store this side of Kansas City.
He served in an Alabama National Guard unit a couple of years before coming to Oklahoma, joined a Wewoka Guard unit in 1912 as a private. Two years later, he was a second lieutenant and served on the Mexican border campaign against Pancho Villa.
He led the Wewoka Guard unit to France in World War I as a captain, returning 17 months later as a lieutenant colonel.
He married Irene Genevieve Davis on 05 MAY 1914 in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
They were the parents of 3 children:
1) William Shaffer Key, Jr.
2) Mary "Genevieve" Key, wife of William Harper.
3) Robert Carleton Key, husband of Mavis Parker.
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin, a member of the 45th Division when Key was the commanding general before and during World War II, once called Key "one of those rare commanders who refuse to order a subordinate to do anything they themselves wouldn't do."
As an example, Mauldin cited the time that an order was issued for every man in the division to take a series of conditioning hikes, starting at six miles and ending with a 25 mile hike. General Key took the "every man" order literally and made all the hikes.
"General Key has trained this outfit to the peak of perfection," Mauldin wrote after Key was assigned to General Dwight "Ike" David Eisenhower's staff as provost marshall for the U.S. Armed forces in Europe. "And you can bet that every one of us when going into action will automatically think, "Is this the way Bill would do it?"
For five days during World War II, Key was the commanding general of all American forces in Europe. The commanding general, Frank Maxwell Andrews, was killed in a plane crash and Key held that position until a successor was appointed.
Between wars, Key served twice as warden at the state penitentiary, the first time in 1924-1927 and agian in 1933-1934. After his first stint as warden, The Daily Oklahoman noted that his penitentiary operation had cost taxpayers $ 340,000 a year duting the four years before Key became warden. At the end of his first two years in the job, the cost had been wiped out and the prison was self-supporting.
The state's minimum-securty prison in Fort Supply [Oklahoma] is named in his honor and is known as William Shaffer Key Correctional Center. Key had started an industrial proigram among the improvements he made at the prison.
In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Key as state administrator of the Works Progress Administration. Under his administration, 550 new school buildings were built and additions were made to 478. The WPA under Key also built 129 other public buildings and 52 community buildings that were used for National
Guard armories.
Key's only political venture came in 1938 when he sought the Democratice nomination for governor. He lost to Leon Chase "Red" Phillips, by 3,000 votes, which was the closest race for governor up to that time. Phillips became the 11th Governor of Oklahoma, serving from 1939 to 1943. Phillips was a rapib opponent of Roosevelts' New Deal.
He was listed in Who's Who in Oklahoma in 1935.
He was the commander of the Allied Forces in Iceland during World War II [1943 - 1944.]
Note: The "Key Gate" was named in his honor that leads into Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from Interstate 44.
It's appropriately named because it really is the key or main gate into the sprawling post in Commanche County, Oklahoma, the training ground for all field artillery soldiers, Marines, and many international students from allied nations.
William Shaffer Key was the son of Cullen R. Calloway "Callie" Key and Hadassah "Hassie" L. (Fargason) Key and grandson of William R. Wilburn Key and Elizabeth "Betsey" Ann (Henderson) Key and Thomas Benjamin Fargason and Laura W. (Dunson) Fargason.
At the age of 21, William Shaffer Key came from Alabama to Oklahoma with his family circa 1910. Before long, he started a hardware and undertaking business in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
To drum up business, he waged a campaign throughout Seminole County [Oklahoma] that would do any political campaign proud. He visited all parts of the county, shaking hands with as many people as possible to inform them that Key's Hardware was about the best hardware store this side of Kansas City.
He served in an Alabama National Guard unit a couple of years before coming to Oklahoma, joined a Wewoka Guard unit in 1912 as a private. Two years later, he was a second lieutenant and served on the Mexican border campaign against Pancho Villa.
He led the Wewoka Guard unit to France in World War I as a captain, returning 17 months later as a lieutenant colonel.
He married Irene Genevieve Davis on 05 MAY 1914 in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
They were the parents of 3 children:
1) William Shaffer Key, Jr.
2) Mary "Genevieve" Key, wife of William Harper.
3) Robert Carleton Key, husband of Mavis Parker.
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin, a member of the 45th Division when Key was the commanding general before and during World War II, once called Key "one of those rare commanders who refuse to order a subordinate to do anything they themselves wouldn't do."
As an example, Mauldin cited the time that an order was issued for every man in the division to take a series of conditioning hikes, starting at six miles and ending with a 25 mile hike. General Key took the "every man" order literally and made all the hikes.
"General Key has trained this outfit to the peak of perfection," Mauldin wrote after Key was assigned to General Dwight "Ike" David Eisenhower's staff as provost marshall for the U.S. Armed forces in Europe. "And you can bet that every one of us when going into action will automatically think, "Is this the way Bill would do it?"
For five days during World War II, Key was the commanding general of all American forces in Europe. The commanding general, Frank Maxwell Andrews, was killed in a plane crash and Key held that position until a successor was appointed.
Between wars, Key served twice as warden at the state penitentiary, the first time in 1924-1927 and agian in 1933-1934. After his first stint as warden, The Daily Oklahoman noted that his penitentiary operation had cost taxpayers $ 340,000 a year duting the four years before Key became warden. At the end of his first two years in the job, the cost had been wiped out and the prison was self-supporting.
The state's minimum-securty prison in Fort Supply [Oklahoma] is named in his honor and is known as William Shaffer Key Correctional Center. Key had started an industrial proigram among the improvements he made at the prison.
In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Key as state administrator of the Works Progress Administration. Under his administration, 550 new school buildings were built and additions were made to 478. The WPA under Key also built 129 other public buildings and 52 community buildings that were used for National
Guard armories.
Key's only political venture came in 1938 when he sought the Democratice nomination for governor. He lost to Leon Chase "Red" Phillips, by 3,000 votes, which was the closest race for governor up to that time. Phillips became the 11th Governor of Oklahoma, serving from 1939 to 1943. Phillips was a rapib opponent of Roosevelts' New Deal.
He was listed in Who's Who in Oklahoma in 1935.
He was the commander of the Allied Forces in Iceland during World War II [1943 - 1944.]
Note: The "Key Gate" was named in his honor that leads into Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from Interstate 44.
It's appropriately named because it really is the key or main gate into the sprawling post in Commanche County, Oklahoma, the training ground for all field artillery soldiers, Marines, and many international students from allied nations.
At the age of 21, William Shaffer Key came from Alabama to Oklahoma with his family circa 1910. Before long, he started a hardware and undertaking business in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
To drum up business, he waged a campaign throughout Seminole County [Oklahoma] that would do any political campaign proud. He visited all parts of the county, shaking hands with as many people as possible to inform them that Key's Hardware was about the best hardware store this side of Kansas City.
He served in an Alabama National Guard unit a couple of years before coming to Oklahoma, joined a Wewoka Guard unit in 1912 as a private. Two years later, he was a second lieutenant and served on the Mexican border campaign against Pancho Villa.
He led the Wewoka Guard unit to France in World War I as a captain, returning 17 months later as a lieutenant colonel.
He married Irene Genevieve Davis on 05 MAY 1914 in Wewoka, Seminole County, Oklahoma.
They were the parents of 3 children:
1) William Shaffer Key, Jr.
2) Mary "Genevieve" Key, wife of William Harper.
3) Robert Carleton Key, husband of Mavis Parker.
Cartoonist Bill Mauldin, a member of the 45th Division when Key was the commanding general before and during World War II, once called Key "one of those rare commanders who refuse to order a subordinate to do anything they themselves wouldn't do."
As an example, Mauldin cited the time that an order was issued for every man in the division to take a series of conditioning hikes, starting at six miles and ending with a 25 mile hike. General Key took the "every man" order literally and made all the hikes.
"General Key has trained this outfit to the peak of perfection," Mauldin wrote after Key was assigned to General Dwight "Ike" David Eisenhower's staff as provost marshall for the U.S. Armed forces in Europe. "And you can bet that every one of us when going into action will automatically think, "Is this the way Bill would do it?"
For five days during World War II, Key was the commanding general of all American forces in Europe. The commanding general, Frank Maxwell Andrews, was killed in a plane crash and Key held that position until a successor was appointed.
Between wars, Key served twice as warden at the state penitentiary, the first time in 1924-1927 and agian in 1933-1934. After his first stint as warden, The Daily Oklahoman noted that his penitentiary operation had cost taxpayers $ 340,000 a year duting the four years before Key became warden. At the end of his first two years in the job, the cost had been wiped out and the prison was self-supporting.
The state's minimum-securty prison in Fort Supply [Oklahoma] is named in his honor and is known as William Shaffer Key Correctional Center. Key had started an industrial proigram among the improvements he made at the prison.
In 1935, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt appointed Key as state administrator of the Works Progress Administration. Under his administration, 550 new school buildings were built and additions were made to 478. The WPA under Key also built 129 other public buildings and 52 community buildings that were used for National
Guard armories.
Key's only political venture came in 1938 when he sought the Democratice nomination for governor. He lost to Leon Chase "Red" Phillips, by 3,000 votes, which was the closest race for governor up to that time. Phillips became the 11th Governor of Oklahoma, serving from 1939 to 1943. Phillips was a rapib opponent of Roosevelts' New Deal.
He was listed in Who's Who in Oklahoma in 1935.
He was the commander of the Allied Forces in Iceland during World War II [1943 - 1944.]
Note: The "Key Gate" was named in his honor that leads into Fort Sill, Oklahoma, from Interstate 44.
It's appropriately named because it really is the key or main gate into the sprawling post in Commanche County, Oklahoma, the training ground for all field artillery soldiers, Marines, and many international students from allied nations.
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