Editing William Harley

{{About|the co-founder of Harley-Davidson Motor Company|the children's entertainer|Bill Harley}}
{{Infobox person
| name        = William S. Harley
| image       = William Sylvester Harley.jpg
| caption     = William S. Harley
| birth_name   = William Sylvester Harley
| birth_date  = December 29, 1880
| birth_place = [[Milwaukee, Wisconsin]]
| death_date  = {{dda|1943|9|18|1880|12|29}}
| death_place = 
| other_names = 
| known_for   = Co-founder of [[Harley-Davidson|Harley-Davidson Motor Company]]
| occupation  = [[Mechanical engineering|Mechanical engineer]], businessman
| spouse      = Anna Jachthuber
| parents     = William Harley Sr and Mary Smith
| years_active = 1901–1943
| signature          = William S. Harley signature.svg
| signature_size     = 
| signature_alt      = 
}}
'''William Sylvester Harley''' (December 29, 1880 – September 18, 1943) was an American mechanical engineer and businessman. He was one of the co-founders of the [[Harley-Davidson|Harley-Davidson Motor Company]].

==Early life==
Harley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1880 to William Harley Sr., a railway engineer, and Mary Smith from Littleport, Cambridgeshire, England who emigrated to the United States in 1860.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l5cas9C1d-YC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Arthur+Davidson&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMI_umb0YmDxwIVRVYUCh2fAAGC#v=onepage&q=Arthur%20Davidson&f=false Jean Davidson - Harley-Davidson.]</ref><ref>{{citation|last=Goulden|first=Glenda|title=Foul deeds and suspicious deaths in & around The Fens|chapter=2|year=2008|publisher=Wharncliffe Books|location=Barnsley, York |page=35|isbn=978-1-84563-072-0}}</ref>

==Career==
After moving to Milwaukee's north side on Burleigh Avenue, Harley first worked at the Meiselbach bicycle factory at the age of 15. In 1901, Harley drew up plans for an engine to be mounted on an ordinary bicycle, while working as an apprentice draftsman at the Barth Mfg. Co. Over the next few years, Harley and his childhood friend [[Arthur Davidson (motorcycling)|Arthur Davidson]] worked on their motor-bicycle with the help of Henry Melk, who owned a machine shop in northside Milwaukee. They later received help from [[Ole Evinrude]], who was then building gas engines of his own design for automotive use on Milwaukee's Lake Street.<ref name="Wagner">{{cite web|url=http://atthecreation.com/HARLEY.BIO/wm.harley.bio.html|title=William S. Harley Biography|last=Wagner|first=Herbert|accessdate=February 9, 2017}}</ref>

Harley received a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1907.<ref name=mhof>{{mhof|45}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.engr.wisc.edu/engage/alumni-relations/notable-alumni/ |title=Notable Alumni |publisher=UW–Madison College of Engineering|accessdate=March 7, 2018}}</ref> He co-founded Harley-Davidson with Arthur Davidson in 1903 and served as chief engineer and treasurer until his death in 1943.<ref name=mhof/><ref name=hdhistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/H-D_History/history_1900s.jsp?locale=en_US|title=Company history|publisher=Harley-Davidson Corp.|accessdate=December 2, 2007|deadurl=yes|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209074416/http://www.harley-davidson.com/wcm/Content/Pages/H-D_History/history_1900s.jsp?locale=en_US|archivedate=February 9, 2012|df=}}</ref> While in college he worked at a Madison architect's office and as a waiter for the Kappa Sigma fraternity house.

==Personal life==
In 1910 he married Anna Jachthuber, with whom he had two sons and a daughter. In his spare time, Harley took up hunting, fishing and golf, and was also noted for his affinity for sketching and wildlife photography.<ref name="AMAHoF">{{cite web|url=http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/halloffame/detail.aspx?RacerID=45|title=AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame: William S. Harley|work=[[American Motorcyclist Association]]|accessdate=September 15, 2016}}</ref> Harley died of heart failure on September 18, 1943 at the age of 62.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/people/william-s-harley-20903181 |title=William S. Harley Biography, |publisher=A&E Television Networks "The Biography.com Website". Last Updated October 14, 2016|accessdate=August 1, 2018}}</ref>

==Legacy==
He was inducted into the [[Motorcycle Hall of Fame]] in 1998.<ref name=mhof/>
[[File:Harley-Davidson monument, Littleport - geograph.org.uk - 112545.jpg|thumb|right|Monument in [[Littleport, Cambridgeshire|Littleport]], England. The birthplace of his father William Harley Sr.]]
In 2003, a Harley-Davidson statue was unveiled in Littleport, Cambridgeshire, to commemorate the centenary of the famous motorcycle company. William Harley, the father of the company's co-founder William Sylvester Harley, had been born in Victoria Street, Littleport, in 1835, before emigrating to the United States in 1859.<ref>{{cite web | title=Littleport Harley Davidson statue | url=http://visitely.eastcambs.gov.uk/walking/littleport-trail }}</ref>

===Labor Hall of Honor===
Because Harley, [[Arthur Davidson (motorcycling)|Arthur Davidson]], [[William A. Davidson]], and [[Walter Davidson, Sr.|Walter Davidson]] "used and believed in its products and relied on the dedication of its employees to produce quality motorcycles", the four men were inducted into the [[Labor Hall of Honor]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dol.gov/general/aboutdol/hallofhonor/2004_davidson  |title=Hall of Honor Inductee: Harley Davidson |publisher=United States Department of Labor |accessdate=March 7, 2018 }}</ref>

==References==
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[[Category:Harley-Davidson designers]]
[[Category:Harley-Davidson executives]]
[[Category:Motorcycle Hall of Fame inductees]]