0-1 Anthony Plymale I, thought to be the oldest child of the first family, and ancestor of the majority of the Plymales in America, is said to have been born in Botetourt County, Virginia (now Bedford County) sometime before 1765. He later moved with his parents to what is now Giles County, Virginia and was raised on the homestead discussed in more depth on the "Brief History of the First Plymale's in America" page.  

As an adult, Anthony I married Elizabeth (Bethia) Bowen of Botetourt County, Virginia on January 11, 1789. This marriage is recorded in the record room of the Courthouse in Fincastle, Virginia. Anthony I signed his marriage bond with an X mark. The clerk spelled his name Plymell and Plimeal. Later when Anthony I learned to write, he spelled his name Plimale. To this union thirteen children were born.

Shortly after their marriage and after the death of Anthony's parents, they took charge of the homestead in Giles County, where they were thought to have been modestly prosperous. About 1812 Elizabeth (Bethia) died, and is said to lie sleeping in the soil of the old homestead. There is a small cemetery at the top of a hill directly behind the house but no monument or stone marks her resting place. (Or any Plymales at all for that matter).

In 1816, Anthony I married a second time, a widow by the name of Ann Criner, from whom there were no children.

In the year of 1820, Anthony I became dissatisfied and disheartened, sold part of his 2,800 acres of land to a man named William Eagleston. This portion contained the best part of the farm including the old log house. (There is now a town just a few miles from this location named Eggleston after this man. The townspeople there know him as Eggleston, but the deed in the courthouse is clearly spelled Eagleston.) This land was resold in 1860 to John Cook and has remained in the hands of the Cook family until recently. A Portion, including the log house which has been remodeled and is still standing, was in the possession of a lady who used it for a summer retreat for many years throughout the 1960's-1990's. It has since been sold, and apparently for the first time in 150 years is now no longer in the Cook family.

Anthony I deserted the remaining 2,500 acres that were mountainous and unfit for agricultural purposes. Part of this land was in Montgomery County. The state sold 2,300 acres which was in Montgomery County to a man by the name of John Pepper, for delinquent taxes for 1832 and 1833 for the sum of fifty-three cents. This deed is recorded in Book N, Page 333 in the Montgomery County Courthouse in Christiansburg, Virginia.

After disposing of his personal property, Anthony I packed a few belongings in a two horse covered wagon, followed the trail of his six sons who had left Virginia a short time after their mother’s death. With him on this trip was his second wife, Ann Criner, his youngest son (0-1-13) Hugh I, his youngest daughter (0-1-12) Tabathia, and his grandson (0-1-1-1) James Isaac Plymale. They settled in Harrison Township, Gallia County, Ohio where he followed farming and blacksmithing. Anthony probably settled in Gallia County in order to be near his wife's family, which had also settled in Gallia County. After Anthony I had settled in Ohio, he sold two hundred acres of the old farm in Virginia for two hundred and fifteen dollars to Joseph Darr and William McCoy. Also once in Ohio, he changed the spelling of his name again to the most common spelling: Plymale.