The Story of ISABELLA DAVIS SCOTT JOHNSON

Isabella was born July 17, 1874 in Carlton, Alabama. She married Bob Scott. They had four sons, Theodore, Spurgeon, Felix, and Nathaniel and four daughters, Lillie, Estelle, Lula, and Fredonia. They lived “over the creek”.

Bob Scott preceded her in death. Isabella later married Ed Johnson with whom she moved to Choctaw Bluff, a few miles north of Carlton.

She and her husband Ed farmed there and also allowed sharecroppers to cultivate a portion of the land. Typically, sharecroppers would pay the landowners in cash and crops. Although the sharecropping system was sometimes abused, in this instance it allowed everyone an opportunity to make a living and provide for their families. Later in life when Isabella was no longer able to farm, she maintained a garden.

Isabella was a devout Christian who attended church regularly. Mt. Gillard Baptist Church was an important part of her life. Those who remember her, recall her as a person who was content with her life and never complained.

One of her granddaughters, who as a child lived with Isabella, recalls that she was easy to get along with – that she never asked her comings and goings because she knew she was somewhere looking for work to earn a dollar that would purchase a new dress or a pair of shoes. She recalls joyful times when they made music by beating on tine pans and dancing to the rhythms they created. They enjoyed telling jokes and stories to entertain themselves.

Isabella was preceded in death by her children Lillie, Fredonia, and Nathaniel.

In May 1948, she fell, fracturing bones in her hip and thigh. Complications from the fall led to her death in her beloved Carlton on August 20, 1950.

Sources:
Death Certificate
Della Ludgood, Niece
Ada Lowe, Granddaughter
1880 Census