[p. 981] a veteran of the Civil War and a well-known farmer of Slippery Rock Township, has a farm of fifty-six acres lying one and a quarter miles east of Princeton. He was born near Harlansburg, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania November 8, 1837, and is a son of James and Rachel (Cotton) Braden.
James Braden, grandfather of Josiah, was born in Ireland, and came to America shortly after the birth of his oldest child. They located near Coatesville, Pa., and later crossed the mountains to Mercer County, Pennsylvania. He died in that county and his widow in Lawrence County.
James Braden was born in Mercer County, and attended the early schools of his home locality. After leaving school he worked on his father's farm and also learned the trade of a shoemaker, which he followed some years. He moved to a farm which he purchased in Butler County, near Slippery Rock, and there passed several years. In 1837 he purchased a farm in Slippery Rock Township, Mercer County, but which is now Scott Township, Lawrence County, where he thereafter lived until his death in 1846. He married Elizabeth Maxwell, of Butler County, and they had two children, John and James, both now deceased. Mrs. Braden lived but a few years after her marriage, and he formed a second union with Rachel Cotton, a daughter of William Cotton, of near Pulaski. Both are now deceased and lie buried in Plain Grove Cemetery. They had the following offspring: Elizabeth, deceased; Mary, who lives with her brother, Josiah; Violet Amelda, deceased; Joseph P.; Eleanor S., deceased; Lorena, deceased; Josiah; William D.; Alexander C., and Rachel Elizabeth, deceased.
Josiah Braden received his early education in Lawrence County public schools, and worked on the home farm until he was eighteen years of age. He then learned carpentering, which he followed some fifteen years, after which he worked in Philadelphia and the oil country for twenty-seven years. In 1878 he purchased the farm on which he now lives, made many desirable and needed improvements, and engaged in general farming, which he has since followed with uninterrupted success. In August, 1862, he enlisted, for nine mouths in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, and served until May, 1863, during which time he participated in the battle of Chancellorsville and numerous skirmishes.
Mr. Braden was united in marriage with Catherine Emery, a daughter of Isaac Emery, of Harlansburg, and they reared four children, as follows: William Harry, deceased; Frank E., who married Mary Linton, she being now deceased; John Wesley, deceased; James L., of New Castle, who married Margaret Zonna Taylor and has two children, Harold Clayton and Maurice Russell. Mrs. Braden died in 1876. Mr. Braden was a member of the local G.A.R. post until it was discontinued. Religiously he is a member of the Presbyterian Church.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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