William Harvey Church was born in Wilkes County, North Carolina, on October 26, 1878. As a young adult he worked at his family’s business, A. M. Church & Sons, a dry goods store in North Wilkesboro. By 1917, Church was working as an office manager at Church Lumber Company, one of the other family businesses in town. He moved to Georgia around 1921, where he continued his work in the lumber business until his death in Shellman, Georgia, on February 9, 1931.