Beautiful bicycle! Here is a reference to the company mentioning that one of the founders of Harley Davidson was an employee at the factory in North Milwaukee. Very interesting history.
"Old North Milwaukee has been known by several names. It started out as the Schwartzburg hamlet within Granville named after an early German settler, Christian Schwartzburg. This hamlet, with its own post office, was centered on Villard and 35th Street. The development of Schwartzburg was spurred by two railroad lines that intersected just west of the hamlet. In turn, the railroads attracted industry in the latter years of the 19th century, including Wisconsin Bridge & Iron Company and Meiselbach Bicycle Company (with one noted employee—William Harley, co-founder of Harley-Davidson). Gradually Schwarzburg became known as Northern Junction, but only until 1897 when hamlet leaders received a charter from the State of Wisconsin and incorporated as North Milwaukee."
And this from the Harley Davidson website.
MADISON, WI (August 22, 2018) — When three Milwaukee friends first put together a motorized bicycle, it needed a name. Since the motorbike was originally his idea,
William Harley got top billing. They called it a
Harley-Davidson.
Before they co-founded what would be the world’s largest motorcycle manufacturer, Harley and Arthur Davidson were next-door neighbors on 38th in Milwaukee, where they spent many childhood hours tinkering with bicycles and engines in the Davidson family basement.
Taking his interests to work at age 15, Harley began as a cycle-fitter and draftsman for a high-end bicycle maker, Meiselbach Manufacturing Company. Soon, he joined Davidson to work at metal-fabricator Barth Manufacturing Company.
Along with Davidson’s brother Walter, a mechanic, the three combined their industrial knowledge to sell their first motorcycle in 1903. That same year, seeking more engineering know-how, Harley enrolled at the University of Wisconsin.
Here is a thread about this company from a few years ago.
Last week everyone was so helpful with information about my 1891 Victor model C bicycle. Here are some photos of another interesting bike. The head badge is marked--"The Earl Model E, A.D.Meiselbach, Milwaukee, Wis." When I Google this, I find that Meiselbach had a bicycle factory in Milwaukee...
thecabe.com
Enjoy!