When William M. McKee was born on 14 November 1801, in McKee, Jackson, Kentucky, United States, his father, Robert McKee, was 54 and his mother, Elizabeth Miller, was 46. He married Rhoda Phebe Butcher on 7 September 1826, in Putnam, Indiana, United States. They were the parents of at least 3 sons and 3 daughters. He died on 22 December 1846, in Mill Grove, Mercer, Missouri, United States, at the age of 45.