William Treadwell was born around 1806 in Georgia. He married Lucinda Lewalling on March 8, 1835, and they had at least two children: Lucius, born around 1846; and David, born around 1848. They lived in Russell County, Alabama, and he worked as a physician. His wife probably died in the 1850s, and he married a woman named Cynthia. By 1860, he was living in Cherokee, Alabama, and he owned $18,000 of real estate and $800 of personal property. He moved to St. Clair County, Alabama, in the 1860s and then to Milam County, Texas, in the 1870s. He died sometime after 1880.