0-1-13 Hugh Plymale I , the youngest of
thirteen children, was born on a farm about 25 miles from the Giles County seat of
Pearisburg, Virginia on December 6, 1807. Here he lived with his father 0-1
Anthony, and stepmother, Ann Criner. About 182O, his
parents sold a part of their farm for $500.00 and in a two horse covered wagon, they
emigrated to Gallia County, Ohio, deserting the old homestead in Virginia, which was
approximately 2300 acres of mountain land. (This land was
later sold by the State of Virginia for delinquent 1832 and 1833 taxes to a man by the
name of John Pepper for 53¢.)
On their arrival in Gallia County, they purchased a small farm on
Raccoon Creek, near Yellowtown (now Thivener), Ohio, some five miles from
Gallipolis. At this time 0-1-13 Hugh Plymale was still only about 13 years old, and
what little education he received was from a one room log school house at Mercerville some
five miles from his home. The lack of an education did not keep him from being
prosperous, as the records show he owned some 3,000 acres of land at his death.
On May 5, 1827, Hugh Plymale I was united in marriage with Catherine
Cottrell. They were the parents of eleven children. Catherine Cottrell was
born August 16, 1810 and died September 3rd, 1852.
On September 21, 1854, Hugh Plymale married Rebecca Stevers (Steber),
daughter of George Stevers of Harrison township, Gallia County, Ohio. Rebecca
Stevers was born 1818 and died in 1915. They were the parents of five children. Hugh
Plymale I went into the milling business about 1856 with a small grist mill powered by
water from a dam across Raccoon Creek. He later enlarged the mill into a roller
process mill and with the help of two of his sons, 0-1-13-10 Hugh (II) Jr. and 0-1-13-7 Junius Plymale, operated it until he
bought the old Pirate Farm which was located on the Ohio River some three miles below
Gallipolis.
Click HERE to see the mill.
He eventually turned the mill over to Hugh (II) Jr. and Junius, and
spent the remainder of his life as a farmer on the Ohio River farm.
In the fall of 1878, the tugboat "John Porter"
from the south had an epidemic of yellow fever, and tied up to the shore at Hugh (I)'s
farm. During this tie up, Hugh Plymale I, his daughter 0-1-13-11 Lourana and her husband,
Claudis Brothers, caught the fever. On September 18, 1878 Hugh Plymale I died, and
is buried on the old farm on a hill overlooking the Ohio River. His daughter and
son-in-law died the same month and are buried close to him. There were 35 people who died
from this epidemic, and are recorded in the "French Five Hundred"
