Are you sure that these men are brothers with the same first name (unusual)? On the 1850 census of Benton County (later re-named Calhoun County), Alabama, I find a 3 year old William W Wells in the household of Thomas and Margaret Wells. He again appears in 1860, age 13, in the same family. There is not another William in this family on either record. Also in 1850, Benton County, is a William Wells, age 4 in the household of Samuel & Martha Wells. A middle initial is shown, but is not clear. It very well may be an "H", as it is similar to another "H" written by the census taker on the same page.