Isaac Shelby was born in Maryland on December 11, 1750. A resident of Virginia, he commanded a Virginia unit during the American Revolution before becoming a colonel in the Sullivan County Regiment of the North Carolina Militia in 1779. He led men in several battles along the North Carolina frontier, most notably the Battle of King's Mountain. After the war he served at the Governor of Kentucky from 1792 to 1796 and from 1812 to 1816. He died in Lincoln County, Kentucky on July 18, 1826.