Son of Daniel Isbell (1790-1830), a War of 1812 soldier.
Grandson of Capt. Pendleton Isbell, Revolutionary War soldier and a member of George Washington's Guard.
Grandfather of the Hon. Claude M. Isbell, Texas Secretary of State.

William Franklin Isbell married Mary Emily ("Emma") Garner 20 Sep 1852 in Franklin Co., Georgia. They lived in Franklin County, Georgia, 1850-70, and in Floyd County in 1880. They moved to Texas in 1882-83.

Their 11 children were:
1. Mattie born 1853. Some family trees show her as Martha Elizabeth ("Aunt Matt") Isbell, born 6 July 1853 Franklin Co., GA., d. 18 Aug 1932 Grimes Co., Tx., who married on 1 June (or Jan) 1882 her father's first cousin William Levingston Isbell (1825-1894) following the death of his first wife Phoebe Creel.
2. Thomas D. Isbell b. June 1854 d. 20 Mar 1918 Dalls
3. Sarah Elizabeth 17 Dec 1855-20 Dec 1935 (m. Jesse Neal Payne)
4. Mathew Knox Isbell 1858-1934
5. Susan Texanna Isbell 1859-1884
6. Margaret McCulloch Isbell 1862-1885 (m. Joseph Marion Carmichael)
7. Rebecca Clark ("Clarkie") Isbell 1863-1899
8. William Franklin Isbell Jr. 1865-1941
9. Mary Alice Isbell 1868-1884
10. Georgia Frances Isbell 1872-1953
11. Paul Gordon Isbell 1875-1957





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 William Jr., Henry, & John
+ Mrs. Wm. Isbell; 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: William, James, Henry Jr., Zachariah
4 Henry Isbell Jr.
+ Hannah (Borton?)
5 Capt. Pendleton Isbell 1757-1829, member of George Washington's guard
+ Sarah Henderson
6 Daniel Isbell 1790-1830
+ Margaret Leathers
7 William Franklin Isbell 1818-1884
+ Mary Emily Garner


According to William A. Payne (1909 - 2009), great-grandson of William Franklin Isbell, in September 1997: "William Franklin Isbell (my great-grandfather) and his wife, Mary Emily Garner, also had twelve children. Here are their names: Thomas, Sarah Elizabeth (my grandmother), McCullough, Texas, Tennessee, Rebecca, Alice, Mathew Knox, William Franklin, Paul Gordon, Georgia, and Denny (an infant who died soon after birth). It is interesting to note the daughters named for southern states. Also, McCullough was named after a Confederate Army general under whom my great-grandfather served during the Civil War.

"We do not know where William F. Isbell served during the Civil War, but my grandmother, his second-born child, Sarah Elizabeth Isbell, remembered that he, too, walked home from wherever he was stationed when peace came. She said he walked up to the front door of the plantation house, knocked, and the door was opened by his wife, Mary. She did not recognize him and had a quizzical look on her face, to which he said, 'Don't you know me, Mary?'"


Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch (1811-1862) was killed early in the Civil War, March 7, 1862, the same month that Margaret was born. He had commanded Confederate troops raised primarily from Arkansas and Louisiana, but he had also participated in the War with Mexico in 1846.

One descendant suggested that William F. Isbell may have been a Union soldier from Kansas in the Civil War, but that was a different man, William Francis Isbell (1845-1929).

∼Served in the Co. E., 11th KS Cavalry of the Union Army during the War Between the States.