Born near Greenwood on August 22, 1889, John Sudler Isaacs attended school until the sixth grade before beginning full-time work on the family farm. He started as a tenant farmer but showed a strong entrepreneurial spirit throughout his life, eventually acquiring more than 8,100 acres of property for a variety of business ventures. Among the state's first agribusinessmen, he broadened his leadership in the agricultural community through ownership of the Eagle Poultry Company and through innovative technologies in farming, timbering, and food processing. He died on July 29, 1950.