John Isham (1817-1892) was born in Manchester, Vermont on 31 January 1817. He was trained as a lawyer, and admitted to the New York Bar. In 1840 he moved to South Carolina where he began a teaching career and he later moved to Columbus, Georgia. For a short time, he taught in the public schools of Columbus, Georgia. In 1855 he opened his own private academy, Pine Grove, which he led until 1864. In the last year of the Civil War, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Army and he served in Capt. Chapman’s Company of the Georgia Defenders. He returned to Columbus in 1865 and continued teaching. He moved to Atlanta in 1868 where he was named principal of the Crew Street School in 1872. For a brief time, 4 months in 1883, he lived in Talladega, Alabama. He returned to Atlanta in January of 1884 and remained until his death on 1 August 1892. He was married twice, to Miss Elizabeth Sherwood in 1854 and Miss Maria Louisa “Lou” Wood in 1875 (b. 1850 d. 14 Sept. 1946). He had three daughters who reached maturity, Annie Angier (b 1857 d. 7 June 1938), Mary Graham ( b. 1879 d. 6 Dec. 1964), and Helen Wynne(b. 1889 d. 4 June 1984). At least three children, one son and two daughters died in infancy.