Local historian and author.
Son of Thomas Isbell Jr. and Lucinda Petty.
Grandson of Thomas Isbell (Revolutionary War soldier) and Discretion Howard Isbell (see Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong).
He married Sarah Louise Horton, daughter of David Eagles Horton and Sarah Jane (Dula) Horton; granddaughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Eagles) Horton, William S. Dula and Theodosia (Beasley) Dula. Sarah Louise Horton Isbell was a second cousin of Tom Dula (Dooley) who was tracked down and captured by Col. James Martin Isbell for the murder of Laura Foster. Col. Isbell had previously led the search which located the body of Laura Foster.
Tom Dula was a grand-nephew of the John Dula (1760-1846) who got into a brawl with Thomas Isbell (grandfather of Col. James M. Isbell) on Nov. 28, 1796, during which Dula bit off Tom Isbell's earlobe.
Col. James M. Isbell was a second cousin of Col. Thomas Charles Land (1828-1912), who wrote the Ballad of Tom Dula (also known as "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley"), and his brother Linville Land who made the coffins of both Laura Foster and Tom Dula.
Col. Isbell is cited as an authority in many local histories, pioneer North Carolina and Virginia accounts as well as several family histories, and he is cited throughout records and newspaper articles of the Tom Dula murder trial, consistently referred to as Col. James M. Isbell.
Ballad of Tom Dula by John Foster West: "Col. James M. Isbell, if we may believe the records, was more responsible for finding Laura Foster's body…and…the prosecution of Tom Dula than any other individual. Col. Isbell was one of the aristocrats of Happy Valley. He was the great-grandson of Benjamin Howard…."
There is more about the Tom Dula affair in the book "The World of My Childhood" by Rev. Robert Lee Isbell, son of Col. James M. Isbell.
Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur (1914), p.81: "Col. James M. Isbell's grandfather(sic), Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell's present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver Creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman's ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach—that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster, who owned the land, showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville."
Page 82: "COL. JAMES M. ISBELL. According to the statement made by this gentleman in May 1909, Benjamin Howard, his (great)grandfather, owned land near the village of Boone and used to range his stock in the mountains surrounding that picturesque village. He built a cabin of logs in front of what is now the Boys' Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School for the accommodation of himself and his herders whenever he or they should come from his home on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at Elkville. Among the herders was an African slave named Burrell. When Col. Isbell was a boy, say, about 1845, Burrell was still alive, but was said to have been over 100 years old. He told Col. Isbell that he had billoted Daniel Boone across the Blue Ridge to the Howard cabin in the first trip Boone ever took across the mountains."
Page 95: Footnote 5: Statement of James M. Isbell to J.P.A. in May, 1909, at latter's home.
Footnote 6. It "could still be seen, a few years ago, at the foot of a range of hills some seven and a half miles above Wilkesboro, in Wilkes county." Thwaites' "Daniel Boone," p.78.
Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness (1939), by John Bakeless, p. 438, footnote 32.2 gives a footnote citation:
John P. Arthur: "Trail of Daniel Boone," Skyland Magazine, 1:652 (S 1914). "Burrell, the old slave, told the story to Col. James Martin Isbell, of King's Creek, N. C. Col. Isbell's grandmother, Mrs. Jordan Councill, daughter of Burrell's owner, verified the story. She had herself known Daniel Boone."
Mrs. Jordan Councill was the former Sarah Howard, sister of James Martin Isbell's grandmother. So she actually was Col. Isbell's great-aunt.
1850 Census Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C.: Thomas Isbell / Lucinda Petty Isbell Family
The census shows the parents of James Isbell, age 13. According to the census, the parents were Thomas Isbell, b. circa 1800 in N.C. and Luncinda Isbell, b. circa 1811 in N.C.
Name: Thomas Isbell
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Birth Place: North Carolina
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Isbell 50 *
Lucinda Isbell 39 *
James Isbell 13 *
Louisa Isbell 9
Cornelia Isbell 1
- Marriage -
James M. Isbell married Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Horton on Mar 01, 1857 in Caldwell, N.C.
- CIVIL WAR -
James M. Isbell was Captain of Company A, 22nd N.C. Regiment.
Three sons of John and Frances Knight Land (James, Thomas, & John) served under him until he was wounded and discharged. He was also a witness in Tom Land's Confederate pension application, filed in east Tennessee.
Name: James M Isbell
Residence: Caldwell County, North Carolina
Age at Enlistment: 23
Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1861
Rank at enlistment: 2nd Lieut
State Served: North Carolina
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry Regiment on 30 Apr 1861.
Mustered out on 15 Jul 1861.
Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry
Regiment on 09 Aug 1861.
Promoted to Full Captain on 31 May 1862.
Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 01 May 1862.
Mustered out on 13 Oct 1862.
Birth Date: abt 1838
1864 - Member of the North Carolina Senate
for the 46th Senatorial District
1885: The LENOIR TOPIC, 1(?) October 1885, p.4, printed a letter from W.E. White about Daniel Boone's life in the Yadkin Valley area, which included, "Col. James Isbell, of King's Creek township(,) could perhaps say something concerning Godfrey Isbell and Pendleton Isbell who were pioneers and also soldiers of Col. Cleveland's command." Godfrey Isbell had been bondsman at the marriage of Col. James Isbell's grandfather Thomas Isbell (Sr.) to Discretion Howard.
- Death -
James M. Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell are still head of household in a 1910 Census, Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C. They also still have some children residing with them.
His wife, Sarah, died in Jan. 1919 and the death certificate stated she was a widow.
* Grandson: Hugh Benjamin Isbell
* Daughter: Sarah Louisa Isbell Setzer
Born in Caldwell Co., N.C., May 10, 1875, Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Isbell Setzer was the daughter of James Martin Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell.
Sarah Louise Isbell was a retired seamstress.
On August 18, 1955, Morganton, Burke County, N.C., Sarah Louise Isbell Setzer, still married, died at the age of 80 at a rest home.
Burial: Grandin Baptist Church, Caldwell Co., N.C.
The original memorial created by (FindAGrave contributor) Autum states:
Burial:
James Martin Isbell
Isbell Cemetery (uncertain as to the location)
* His wife's death certificate stated burial at Isbell Cemetery.
(Location of the Isbell Cemetery was probably at the site of the Isbell plantation.)
The joint tombstone of his and his wife's graves is at Grandin Baptist Church.
Col. Isbell was the seventh generation of the Isbells of Virginia.
LINEAGE:
1 John Isbell (England to Gloucester County, Virginia by 1664), presumptive father of
2 William Isbell of Isbell Spring, St. John's Parish, King William County; father of Henry, William Jr., John
+ wife unknown; next door to Enfield Plantation
3 Henry Isbell b.c1690 of Orange Co.; constable of Caroline Co., d. c1760
+ daughter of "James Cox, Gent.," d c1739 St. Mark's Parish, Orange Co. (July 25, 1733; Spots Orders, 7 Aug, p.240); sons: James (1720), William (1722), Henry Jr. (1724), Zachariah (c1726), possibly others
4 James Isbell
+Frances Tompkins Livingston
5 Thomas Isbell, Revolutionary War soldier
+Discretion Howard
6 Thomas Isbell 1800-1865
+Lucinda Petty
7 Col. James Martin Isbell 1837-1900
+Sarah Louise Horton
Son of Thomas Isbell Jr. and Lucinda Petty.
Grandson of Thomas Isbell (Revolutionary War soldier) and Discretion Howard Isbell (see Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong).
He married Sarah Louise Horton, daughter of David Eagles Horton and Sarah Jane (Dula) Horton; granddaughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Eagles) Horton, William S. Dula and Theodosia (Beasley) Dula. Sarah Louise Horton Isbell was a second cousin of Tom Dula (Dooley) who was tracked down and captured by Col. James Martin Isbell for the murder of Laura Foster. Col. Isbell had previously led the search which located the body of Laura Foster.
Tom Dula was a grand-nephew of the John Dula (1760-1846) who got into a brawl with Thomas Isbell (grandfather of Col. James M. Isbell) on Nov. 28, 1796, during which Dula bit off Tom Isbell's earlobe.
Col. James M. Isbell was a second cousin of Col. Thomas Charles Land (1828-1912), who wrote the Ballad of Tom Dula (also known as "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley"), and his brother Linville Land who made the coffins of both Laura Foster and Tom Dula.
Col. Isbell is cited as an authority in many local histories, pioneer North Carolina and Virginia accounts as well as several family histories, and he is cited throughout records and newspaper articles of the Tom Dula murder trial, consistently referred to as Col. James M. Isbell.
Ballad of Tom Dula by John Foster West: "Col. James M. Isbell, if we may believe the records, was more responsible for finding Laura Foster's body…and…the prosecution of Tom Dula than any other individual. Col. Isbell was one of the aristocrats of Happy Valley. He was the great-grandson of Benjamin Howard…."
There is more about the Tom Dula affair in the book "The World of My Childhood" by Rev. Robert Lee Isbell, son of Col. James M. Isbell.
Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur (1914), p.81: "Col. James M. Isbell's grandfather(sic), Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell's present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver Creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman's ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach—that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster, who owned the land, showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville."
Page 82: "COL. JAMES M. ISBELL. According to the statement made by this gentleman in May 1909, Benjamin Howard, his (great)grandfather, owned land near the village of Boone and used to range his stock in the mountains surrounding that picturesque village. He built a cabin of logs in front of what is now the Boys' Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School for the accommodation of himself and his herders whenever he or they should come from his home on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at Elkville. Among the herders was an African slave named Burrell. When Col. Isbell was a boy, say, about 1845, Burrell was still alive, but was said to have been over 100 years old. He told Col. Isbell that he had billoted Daniel Boone across the Blue Ridge to the Howard cabin in the first trip Boone ever took across the mountains."
Page 95: Footnote 5: Statement of James M. Isbell to J.P.A. in May, 1909, at latter's home.
Footnote 6. It "could still be seen, a few years ago, at the foot of a range of hills some seven and a half miles above Wilkesboro, in Wilkes county." Thwaites' "Daniel Boone," p.78.
Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness (1939), by John Bakeless, p. 438, footnote 32.2 gives a footnote citation:
John P. Arthur: "Trail of Daniel Boone," Skyland Magazine, 1:652 (S 1914). "Burrell, the old slave, told the story to Col. James Martin Isbell, of King's Creek, N. C. Col. Isbell's grandmother, Mrs. Jordan Councill, daughter of Burrell's owner, verified the story. She had herself known Daniel Boone."
Mrs. Jordan Councill was the former Sarah Howard, sister of James Martin Isbell's grandmother. So she actually was Col. Isbell's great-aunt.
1850 Census Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C.: Thomas Isbell / Lucinda Petty Isbell Family
The census shows the parents of James Isbell, age 13. According to the census, the parents were Thomas Isbell, b. circa 1800 in N.C. and Luncinda Isbell, b. circa 1811 in N.C.
Name: Thomas Isbell
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Birth Place: North Carolina
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Isbell 50 *
Lucinda Isbell 39 *
James Isbell 13 *
Louisa Isbell 9
Cornelia Isbell 1
- Marriage -
James M. Isbell married Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Horton on Mar 01, 1857 in Caldwell, N.C.
- CIVIL WAR -
James M. Isbell was Captain of Company A, 22nd N.C. Regiment.
Three sons of John and Frances Knight Land (James, Thomas, & John) served under him until he was wounded and discharged. He was also a witness in Tom Land's Confederate pension application, filed in east Tennessee.
Name: James M Isbell
Residence: Caldwell County, North Carolina
Age at Enlistment: 23
Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1861
Rank at enlistment: 2nd Lieut
State Served: North Carolina
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry Regiment on 30 Apr 1861.
Mustered out on 15 Jul 1861.
Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry
Regiment on 09 Aug 1861.
Promoted to Full Captain on 31 May 1862.
Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 01 May 1862.
Mustered out on 13 Oct 1862.
Birth Date: abt 1838
1864 - Member of the North Carolina Senate
for the 46th Senatorial District
1885: The LENOIR TOPIC, 1(?) October 1885, p.4, printed a letter from W.E. White about Daniel Boone's life in the Yadkin Valley area, which included, "Col. James Isbell, of King's Creek township(,) could perhaps say something concerning Godfrey Isbell and Pendleton Isbell who were pioneers and also soldiers of Col. Cleveland's command." Godfrey Isbell had been bondsman at the marriage of Col. James Isbell's grandfather Thomas Isbell (Sr.) to Discretion Howard.
- Death -
James M. Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell are still head of household in a 1910 Census, Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C. They also still have some children residing with them.
His wife, Sarah, died in Jan. 1919 and the death certificate stated she was a widow.
* Grandson: Hugh Benjamin Isbell
* Daughter: Sarah Louisa Isbell Setzer
Born in Caldwell Co., N.C., May 10, 1875, Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Isbell Setzer was the daughter of James Martin Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell.
Sarah Louise Isbell was a retired seamstress.
On August 18, 1955, Morganton, Burke County, N.C., Sarah Louise Isbell Setzer, still married, died at the age of 80 at a rest home.
Burial: Grandin Baptist Church, Caldwell Co., N.C.
The original memorial created by (FindAGrave contributor) Autum states:
Burial:
James Martin Isbell
Isbell Cemetery (uncertain as to the location)
* His wife's death certificate stated burial at Isbell Cemetery.
(Location of the Isbell Cemetery was probably at the site of the Isbell plantation.)
The joint tombstone of his and his wife's graves is at Grandin Baptist Church.
Col. Isbell was the seventh generation of the Isbells of Virginia.
LINEAGE:
1 John Isbell (England to Gloucester County, Virginia by 1664), presumptive father of
2 William Isbell of Isbell Spring, St. John's Parish, King William County; father of Henry, William Jr., John
+ wife unknown; next door to Enfield Plantation
3 Henry Isbell b.c1690 of Orange Co.; constable of Caroline Co., d. c1760
+ daughter of "James Cox, Gent.," d c1739 St. Mark's Parish, Orange Co. (July 25, 1733; Spots Orders, 7 Aug, p.240); sons: James (1720), William (1722), Henry Jr. (1724), Zachariah (c1726), possibly others
4 James Isbell
+Frances Tompkins Livingston
5 Thomas Isbell, Revolutionary War soldier
+Discretion Howard
6 Thomas Isbell 1800-1865
+Lucinda Petty
7 Col. James Martin Isbell 1837-1900
+Sarah Louise Horton
Local historian and author.
Son of Thomas Isbell Jr. and Lucinda Petty.
Grandson of Thomas Isbell (Revolutionary War soldier) and Discretion Howard Isbell (see Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong).
He married Sarah Louise Horton, daughter of David Eagles Horton and Sarah Jane (Dula) Horton; granddaughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Eagles) Horton, William S. Dula and Theodosia (Beasley) Dula. Sarah Louise Horton Isbell was a second cousin of Tom Dula (Dooley) who was tracked down and captured by Col. James Martin Isbell for the murder of Laura Foster. Col. Isbell had previously led the search which located the body of Laura Foster.
Tom Dula was a grand-nephew of the John Dula (1760-1846) who got into a brawl with Thomas Isbell (grandfather of Col. James M. Isbell) on Nov. 28, 1796, during which Dula bit off Tom Isbell's earlobe.
Col. James M. Isbell was a second cousin of Col. Thomas Charles Land (1828-1912), who wrote the Ballad of Tom Dula (also known as "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley"), and his brother Linville Land who made the coffins of both Laura Foster and Tom Dula.
Col. Isbell is cited as an authority in many local histories, pioneer North Carolina and Virginia accounts as well as several family histories, and he is cited throughout records and newspaper articles of the Tom Dula murder trial, consistently referred to as Col. James M. Isbell.
Ballad of Tom Dula by John Foster West: "Col. James M. Isbell, if we may believe the records, was more responsible for finding Laura Foster's body…and…the prosecution of Tom Dula than any other individual. Col. Isbell was one of the aristocrats of Happy Valley. He was the great-grandson of Benjamin Howard…."
There is more about the Tom Dula affair in the book "The World of My Childhood" by Rev. Robert Lee Isbell, son of Col. James M. Isbell.
Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur (1914), p.81: "Col. James M. Isbell's grandfather(sic), Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell's present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver Creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman's ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach—that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster, who owned the land, showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville."
Page 82: "COL. JAMES M. ISBELL. According to the statement made by this gentleman in May 1909, Benjamin Howard, his (great)grandfather, owned land near the village of Boone and used to range his stock in the mountains surrounding that picturesque village. He built a cabin of logs in front of what is now the Boys' Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School for the accommodation of himself and his herders whenever he or they should come from his home on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at Elkville. Among the herders was an African slave named Burrell. When Col. Isbell was a boy, say, about 1845, Burrell was still alive, but was said to have been over 100 years old. He told Col. Isbell that he had billoted Daniel Boone across the Blue Ridge to the Howard cabin in the first trip Boone ever took across the mountains."
Page 95: Footnote 5: Statement of James M. Isbell to J.P.A. in May, 1909, at latter's home.
Footnote 6. It "could still be seen, a few years ago, at the foot of a range of hills some seven and a half miles above Wilkesboro, in Wilkes county." Thwaites' "Daniel Boone," p.78.
Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness (1939), by John Bakeless, p. 438, footnote 32.2 gives a footnote citation:
John P. Arthur: "Trail of Daniel Boone," Skyland Magazine, 1:652 (S 1914). "Burrell, the old slave, told the story to Col. James Martin Isbell, of King's Creek, N. C. Col. Isbell's grandmother, Mrs. Jordan Councill, daughter of Burrell's owner, verified the story. She had herself known Daniel Boone."
Mrs. Jordan Councill was the former Sarah Howard, sister of James Martin Isbell's grandmother. So she actually was Col. Isbell's great-aunt.
1850 Census Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C.: Thomas Isbell / Lucinda Petty Isbell Family
The census shows the parents of James Isbell, age 13. According to the census, the parents were Thomas Isbell, b. circa 1800 in N.C. and Luncinda Isbell, b. circa 1811 in N.C.
Name: Thomas Isbell
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Birth Place: North Carolina
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Isbell 50 *
Lucinda Isbell 39 *
James Isbell 13 *
Louisa Isbell 9
Cornelia Isbell 1
- Marriage -
James M. Isbell married Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Horton on Mar 01, 1857 in Caldwell, N.C.
- CIVIL WAR -
James M. Isbell was Captain of Company A, 22nd N.C. Regiment.
Three sons of John and Frances Knight Land (James, Thomas, & John) served under him until he was wounded and discharged. He was also a witness in Tom Land's Confederate pension application, filed in east Tennessee.
Name: James M Isbell
Residence: Caldwell County, North Carolina
Age at Enlistment: 23
Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1861
Rank at enlistment: 2nd Lieut
State Served: North Carolina
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry Regiment on 30 Apr 1861.
Mustered out on 15 Jul 1861.
Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry
Regiment on 09 Aug 1861.
Promoted to Full Captain on 31 May 1862.
Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 01 May 1862.
Mustered out on 13 Oct 1862.
Birth Date: abt 1838
1864 - Member of the North Carolina Senate
for the 46th Senatorial District
1885: The LENOIR TOPIC, 1(?) October 1885, p.4, printed a letter from W.E. White about Daniel Boone's life in the Yadkin Valley area, which included, "Col. James Isbell, of King's Creek township(,) could perhaps say something concerning Godfrey Isbell and Pendleton Isbell who were pioneers and also soldiers of Col. Cleveland's command." Godfrey Isbell had been bondsman at the marriage of Col. James Isbell's grandfather Thomas Isbell (Sr.) to Discretion Howard.
- Death -
James M. Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell are still head of household in a 1910 Census, Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C. They also still have some children residing with them.
His wife, Sarah, died in Jan. 1919 and the death certificate stated she was a widow.
* Grandson: Hugh Benjamin Isbell
* Daughter: Sarah Louisa Isbell Setzer
Born in Caldwell Co., N.C., May 10, 1875, Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Isbell Setzer was the daughter of James Martin Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell.
Sarah Louise Isbell was a retired seamstress.
On August 18, 1955, Morganton, Burke County, N.C., Sarah Louise Isbell Setzer, still married, died at the age of 80 at a rest home.
Burial: Grandin Baptist Church, Caldwell Co., N.C.
The original memorial created by (FindAGrave contributor) Autum states:
Burial:
James Martin Isbell
Isbell Cemetery (uncertain as to the location)
* His wife's death certificate stated burial at Isbell Cemetery.
(Location of the Isbell Cemetery was probably at the site of the Isbell plantation.)
The joint tombstone of his and his wife's graves is at Grandin Baptist Church.
Col. Isbell was the seventh generation of the Isbells of Virginia.
LINEAGE:
1 John Isbell (England to Gloucester County, Virginia by 1664), presumptive father of
2 William Isbell of Isbell Spring, St. John's Parish, King William County; father of Henry, William Jr., John
+ wife unknown; next door to Enfield Plantation
3 Henry Isbell b.c1690 of Orange Co.; constable of Caroline Co., d. c1760
+ daughter of "James Cox, Gent.," d c1739 St. Mark's Parish, Orange Co. (July 25, 1733; Spots Orders, 7 Aug, p.240); sons: James (1720), William (1722), Henry Jr. (1724), Zachariah (c1726), possibly others
4 James Isbell
+Frances Tompkins Livingston
5 Thomas Isbell, Revolutionary War soldier
+Discretion Howard
6 Thomas Isbell 1800-1865
+Lucinda Petty
7 Col. James Martin Isbell 1837-1900
+Sarah Louise Horton
Son of Thomas Isbell Jr. and Lucinda Petty.
Grandson of Thomas Isbell (Revolutionary War soldier) and Discretion Howard Isbell (see Notable Southern Families by Zella Armstrong).
He married Sarah Louise Horton, daughter of David Eagles Horton and Sarah Jane (Dula) Horton; granddaughter of Nathan and Elizabeth (Eagles) Horton, William S. Dula and Theodosia (Beasley) Dula. Sarah Louise Horton Isbell was a second cousin of Tom Dula (Dooley) who was tracked down and captured by Col. James Martin Isbell for the murder of Laura Foster. Col. Isbell had previously led the search which located the body of Laura Foster.
Tom Dula was a grand-nephew of the John Dula (1760-1846) who got into a brawl with Thomas Isbell (grandfather of Col. James M. Isbell) on Nov. 28, 1796, during which Dula bit off Tom Isbell's earlobe.
Col. James M. Isbell was a second cousin of Col. Thomas Charles Land (1828-1912), who wrote the Ballad of Tom Dula (also known as "Hang Down Your Head, Tom Dooley"), and his brother Linville Land who made the coffins of both Laura Foster and Tom Dula.
Col. Isbell is cited as an authority in many local histories, pioneer North Carolina and Virginia accounts as well as several family histories, and he is cited throughout records and newspaper articles of the Tom Dula murder trial, consistently referred to as Col. James M. Isbell.
Ballad of Tom Dula by John Foster West: "Col. James M. Isbell, if we may believe the records, was more responsible for finding Laura Foster's body…and…the prosecution of Tom Dula than any other individual. Col. Isbell was one of the aristocrats of Happy Valley. He was the great-grandson of Benjamin Howard…."
There is more about the Tom Dula affair in the book "The World of My Childhood" by Rev. Robert Lee Isbell, son of Col. James M. Isbell.
Western North Carolina: A History (1730-1913) By John Preston Arthur (1914), p.81: "Col. James M. Isbell's grandfather(sic), Martin, told him that Daniel Boone used to live six miles below James M. Isbell's present home near the bank of the Yadkin river, on a little creek now known as Beaver Creek, one mile from where it flows into the Yadkin river, near Holman's ford. The Boone house was in a little swamp and canebrake surrounding the point of a ridge, with but one approach—that by the ridge. The swamp was in the shape of a horse-shoe, with the point of the ridge projecting into it. The foundations of the chimney are still there, and the cabin itself has not been gone more than 52 years. Alfred Foster, who owned the land, showed Col. Isbell the cabin, which was still there during his boyhood, and he remembered how it looked. His grandmother, the wife of Benjamin Howard, knew Boone well as he often stayed with her father, Benjamin Howard, at the mouth of Elk creek, now Elkville."
Page 82: "COL. JAMES M. ISBELL. According to the statement made by this gentleman in May 1909, Benjamin Howard, his (great)grandfather, owned land near the village of Boone and used to range his stock in the mountains surrounding that picturesque village. He built a cabin of logs in front of what is now the Boys' Dormitory of the Appalachian Training School for the accommodation of himself and his herders whenever he or they should come from his home on the headwaters of the Yadkin, at Elkville. Among the herders was an African slave named Burrell. When Col. Isbell was a boy, say, about 1845, Burrell was still alive, but was said to have been over 100 years old. He told Col. Isbell that he had billoted Daniel Boone across the Blue Ridge to the Howard cabin in the first trip Boone ever took across the mountains."
Page 95: Footnote 5: Statement of James M. Isbell to J.P.A. in May, 1909, at latter's home.
Footnote 6. It "could still be seen, a few years ago, at the foot of a range of hills some seven and a half miles above Wilkesboro, in Wilkes county." Thwaites' "Daniel Boone," p.78.
Daniel Boone: Master of the Wilderness (1939), by John Bakeless, p. 438, footnote 32.2 gives a footnote citation:
John P. Arthur: "Trail of Daniel Boone," Skyland Magazine, 1:652 (S 1914). "Burrell, the old slave, told the story to Col. James Martin Isbell, of King's Creek, N. C. Col. Isbell's grandmother, Mrs. Jordan Councill, daughter of Burrell's owner, verified the story. She had herself known Daniel Boone."
Mrs. Jordan Councill was the former Sarah Howard, sister of James Martin Isbell's grandmother. So she actually was Col. Isbell's great-aunt.
1850 Census Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C.: Thomas Isbell / Lucinda Petty Isbell Family
The census shows the parents of James Isbell, age 13. According to the census, the parents were Thomas Isbell, b. circa 1800 in N.C. and Luncinda Isbell, b. circa 1811 in N.C.
Name: Thomas Isbell
Age: 50
Estimated birth year: abt 1800
Birth Place: North Carolina
Gender: Male
Home in 1850 (City,County,State): Kings Creek, Caldwell, North Carolina
Household Members: Name Age
Thomas Isbell 50 *
Lucinda Isbell 39 *
James Isbell 13 *
Louisa Isbell 9
Cornelia Isbell 1
- Marriage -
James M. Isbell married Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Horton on Mar 01, 1857 in Caldwell, N.C.
- CIVIL WAR -
James M. Isbell was Captain of Company A, 22nd N.C. Regiment.
Three sons of John and Frances Knight Land (James, Thomas, & John) served under him until he was wounded and discharged. He was also a witness in Tom Land's Confederate pension application, filed in east Tennessee.
Name: James M Isbell
Residence: Caldwell County, North Carolina
Age at Enlistment: 23
Enlistment Date: 30 Apr 1861
Rank at enlistment: 2nd Lieut
State Served: North Carolina
Survived the War?: Yes
Service Record: Commissioned an officer in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry Regiment on 30 Apr 1861.
Mustered out on 15 Jul 1861.
Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 22nd Infantry
Regiment on 09 Aug 1861.
Promoted to Full Captain on 31 May 1862.
Promoted to Full 1st Lieutenant on 01 May 1862.
Mustered out on 13 Oct 1862.
Birth Date: abt 1838
1864 - Member of the North Carolina Senate
for the 46th Senatorial District
1885: The LENOIR TOPIC, 1(?) October 1885, p.4, printed a letter from W.E. White about Daniel Boone's life in the Yadkin Valley area, which included, "Col. James Isbell, of King's Creek township(,) could perhaps say something concerning Godfrey Isbell and Pendleton Isbell who were pioneers and also soldiers of Col. Cleveland's command." Godfrey Isbell had been bondsman at the marriage of Col. James Isbell's grandfather Thomas Isbell (Sr.) to Discretion Howard.
- Death -
James M. Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell are still head of household in a 1910 Census, Kings Creek, Caldwell Co., N.C. They also still have some children residing with them.
His wife, Sarah, died in Jan. 1919 and the death certificate stated she was a widow.
* Grandson: Hugh Benjamin Isbell
* Daughter: Sarah Louisa Isbell Setzer
Born in Caldwell Co., N.C., May 10, 1875, Sarah Louise (or Louisa) Isbell Setzer was the daughter of James Martin Isbell and Sarah Louise Horton Isbell.
Sarah Louise Isbell was a retired seamstress.
On August 18, 1955, Morganton, Burke County, N.C., Sarah Louise Isbell Setzer, still married, died at the age of 80 at a rest home.
Burial: Grandin Baptist Church, Caldwell Co., N.C.
The original memorial created by (FindAGrave contributor) Autum states:
Burial:
James Martin Isbell
Isbell Cemetery (uncertain as to the location)
* His wife's death certificate stated burial at Isbell Cemetery.
(Location of the Isbell Cemetery was probably at the site of the Isbell plantation.)
The joint tombstone of his and his wife's graves is at Grandin Baptist Church.
Col. Isbell was the seventh generation of the Isbells of Virginia.
LINEAGE:
1 John Isbell (England to Gloucester County, Virginia by 1664), presumptive father of
2 William Isbell of Isbell Spring, St. John's Parish, King William County; father of Henry, William Jr., John
+ wife unknown; next door to Enfield Plantation
3 Henry Isbell b.c1690 of Orange Co.; constable of Caroline Co., d. c1760
+ daughter of "James Cox, Gent.," d c1739 St. Mark's Parish, Orange Co. (July 25, 1733; Spots Orders, 7 Aug, p.240); sons: James (1720), William (1722), Henry Jr. (1724), Zachariah (c1726), possibly others
4 James Isbell
+Frances Tompkins Livingston
5 Thomas Isbell, Revolutionary War soldier
+Discretion Howard
6 Thomas Isbell 1800-1865
+Lucinda Petty
7 Col. James Martin Isbell 1837-1900
+Sarah Louise Horton
Family Members
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