William Franklin Langley was born on March 9, 1896, in Pitt County, North Carolina. Langley was a farmer in Pitt County, North Carolina, upon the outbreak of World War I. The Eastern District Exemption Board overturned a ruling by the county board to exempt this young man. He was subsequently enlisted for service in August 1918 and served overseas with the 330th Infantry from September 1918 to January 1919. He was honorably discharged in February 1919. Langley died in Oteen (Buncombe County) on May 26, 1953.