Son of James R. Isbell and Elizabeth Birdwell. Often referred to as James Isbell Jr., some family trees say James Richardson "Hugh" Isbell Jr. His father James R. Isbell's middle name was not Hugh, is believed by many descendants to have been Richardson, and James' Jr. was called Hugh and was listed as James H. in a family bible.
He was the first of five generations to own the Isbell Farms in Colbert County, Alabama, still owned by descendants of his son John Riley's son Alonzo.
Descendants qualify for:
First Families of Alabama
First Families of Tennessee (FFT #10.880, FFT #10.881 )
Daughters of the American Revolution (George Birdwell)
Daughters of the Republic of Texas (John Birdwell)
etc.

Some family researchers show his name as James Isbell "Jr.," others as James A. Isbell, James H. Isbell, James R. Isbell, James H.R. Isbell, and James Richard Isbell or James Richardson Isbell Jr. (aka James Richardson ("Hugh") Isbell Jr). The transcript of the Bible record of James Richardson Isbell and Elizabeth Birdwell in possession of Manervia Isbell Stanley, copied by her niece Indiana Isbell Stanley, lists their youngest son as James H. Isbell.

He was a son of James Isbell and Elizabeth Birdwell who married 4-24-1813 in Madison Co., AL.; grandson of William Isbell and Sarah Richardson Isbell, John Birdwell and Mary Allen Birdwell.

His daughter Manervia Isbell Stanley (1892-1979) later owned the family bible that had belonged to her parents. Her niece, Mrs. Indiana Isbell Stanley, visited her and copied it a few years before her death.

James Hugh Isbell married his first wife about 1854-56. She died by 1860 after giving birth to their first son, James Hugh Isbell "Jr."

Pat Brown said, "Clarissa, his second wife, was age 12 in 1860 and still living at home with her parents. She would have been 14 when she married James and just barely fifteen when her first child was born. The families were probably neighbors, but probably living on different sides of the county line. It appears that the Newburg P. O. served people in both Colbert and Franklin Counties. The little town of Newburg is a couple of miles from the Colbert-Franklin County line in Franklin County. Not sure, but I believe the Spring Valley Precinct in Colbert is just north of the Franklin County line."

James Hugh Isbell married Clarissa Elizabeth Crittenden, the daughter of his first cousin Martha Birdwell Crittenden of Crittenden's Crossroads. Martha's father John A Birdwell was a brother of Elizabeth Isbell Birdwell.

The children of James Hugh Isbell and Clarissa Crittenden were:
James H. Isbell (1857-1940)
Zachariah Elijah Isbell (1861-1943)
William Monroe Isbell (1862-1900)
John Riley Isbell (1864-1922)
Lucinda Isbell (1866-1888)
Charles Allen Isbell (1867-1934)
Clark Isbell (1869-1960)
Carroll Clifton Isbell (1873-1933)
Benjamin Birdwell Isbell (1875-1960)
George Victor Isbell (1876-1877)
Jesse Jerome Isbell (1878-1954)
Martha Elizabeth Isbell (1880-1883)
Stephen Agee Isbell (1883-1930)
Mary Adeline Isbell (1884-1913)
Annis Isbell (1888-1967)
Manervia Isbell (1892-1979)

Some family trees show him as a Confederate soldier and give the following record, but this was his second cousin James Redman Isbell, the son of William, son of Levi Isbell who was the great-uncle of James R. "Hugh" Isbell.

U.S. Confederate Soldiers
Compiled Service Records, 1861-1865:
Name: James R. Isbell
Age: 28
Birth Date: abt 1833
Enlistment Date: 1861
Military Unit: Ninth Infantry

"James R. Isbell (6 Dec 1839-30 Sept 1908) was POW at Camp Morton. James R. Isbell believed to have been in 9th Alabama Infantry Co H. May have been captured at Fort Donelson in TN."