Son of Levi Isbell and Sarah H. Birdwell, who are buried to the northwest of his plot, and husband of Jane who is buried to his immediate right side (or left as you face the marker). He and Eliza Jane Dowdy married 2 Jan 1862 in Marshall County, Alabama.

His uncle Zachariah Isbell is buried at their feet.

A soldier in the Union Army. Blond hair, blue eyes, medium height.
He had voted for the first time in a presidential election in 1861 at age 21, casting his vote for Abraham Lincoln.

He and his wife Jane Dowdy acquired the large farm at Asbury from her uncle John Findley who was the original patentee of the property after the Indians left. Most of it is still farmland today but sold out of the family after 1920. The last two parcels, a 40-acre tract and adjoining 120-acre tract on Marshall County Road 372 and Shoal Creek, were sold by their great-great-grandchildren in 1970 and 1995 respectively.

History of Marshall County (1969) by Katherine M. Duncan and Larry J. Smith, page 122: "Elijah Miller Isbell (1840-1920), who started the first school in the Asbury area. Isbell School, as it was called, was located in a log tenant house about a mile south of the present school, near the forks of Shoal Creek. Isbell employed a 'Major Buck,' a Union officer who he became acquainted with during the War Between the States, to teach at the school, which was set up primarily for the large Isbell family. Evidently the schooling was adequate, as all of the Isbell boys went on to lead successful careers: Dee Isbell was mayor of Guntersville longer than any other person; John Birdwell Isbell became a leading attorney in Alabama and Leander Isbell was postmaster in Albertville for many years. …One particular family by the name of Jenkins went to Isbell School and consisted of seven brothers. Six of them went on to make medical doctors, and the seventh became a pharmacist. Although some resented Isbell and Buck's political views (both had served with the North during the war), several other families sent their children to Isbell School before it was discontinued in the late 1890's."

From the "Old Bethel Cemetery Association," by Rev. Sherman Isbell: "Elijah Miller Isbell served as a scout in the Union army's First Alabama and Tennessee Independent Vidette Cavalry. After the war, Elijah was a long-time deacon at Old Bethel, known for his prayers which made one aware of the Lord's presence. Like a number of other men at Old Bethel Church, his political allegience was to the Republican Party. His wife Jane, who had three brothers in the same regiment as her husband, gave the land for the Asbury school which still serves a wide area of Marshall County. Elijah and Jane's children eventually settled in other communities; among them were Dr. Arthur L. Isbell, a physician at Albertville who delivered over five thousand babies on Sand Mountain, D. Isbell, who was an attorney and mayor at Guntersville, and John B. Isbell, an attorney at Fort Payne who was federal district attorney for North Alabama. Elijah and Jane have two children buried at Old Bethel, twins who died at birth, as well as four grandchildren."

From "First Tennessee and Alabama Independent Vidette Cavalry" : "Elijah Miller Isbell was born February 27, 1840. He joined Company H during November 1863.
He married Eliza Jane Dowdy January 2, 1862...the twin sister of William Joseph Dowdy....
Elijah Miller Isbell was ordained as a Deacon at Old Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in 1902."