The first surviving son of Jackson and Nancy (Lemasters) Braden, Will was born 8 June 1831 according to family records, although his headstone records the date of 6 Aug 1831. He grew up on the family farm near the village of Milford.

Will married Mariah Davis, a daughter of Humphrey and Mary (Phair) Davis in Decatur Co., IN 18 Oct 1855. A prominent Clay Township farmer, Mr. Braden and his wife were members of the Milford Methodist church until a move in their later years took them into the town of Hartsville. A membership transfer was made to the Hartsville Methodist church at that time.

This Braden couple parented six daughters, including a set of twins, and four sons. One of the sons died in infancy.

Shelli Steedman provided the following obituary from the Greensburg Standard. "William Braden, aged about seventy-five, died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Thomas Garrison, in Hartsville, Monday night, after a long illness of cancer of the face. Funeral was held in the M.E. Church at Burney, yesterday at 10 a.m., Rev. Henry Morrow officiating. Burial at the Dutch Chapel Cemetery. The deceased was a son of Jackson Braden, one of the first settlers in Clay Township, and lived on his father's homestead, five miles west of this city for many years. He leaves one brother, James L., of Shelbyville, and four sisters, Mrs. John L. Miers, Mrs. W. A. Lawson, Mrs. Sarah Davis and Mrs. S. H. Ewing, all residents of this county and two sons, James of Hartsville, Ira of Colorado, and five daughters, Mrs. Jennie Williams, Mrs. Fannie Garrison, Mrs. Mary Lambert, Mrs. Delia Woodruff and Mrs. Viola Stewart, all living at or near Hartsville. The deceased was married some fifty-five years ago to Maria Davis, who died several years since. She was a sister of the late James Davis, who lived near St. Paul."