1) James Rightmire, Sr. was born in Virginia in about 1779. He married Elizabeth Daugherty on July 27, 1802. The 1830 census notes that Elizabeth was 50/60 years old. That would give Elizabeth's birth date as somewhere between 1770 and 1780.
One of the first searches I did was the Virginia Marriage Index, 1740-1850 and I found the following:
Groom: James Rightmire Bride: Elizabeth Daugherty
Marriage Date: 27 July 1802 County: Monongalia, Virginia
Vernon Vinzant provided further confirmation in a reference in the book, "Early Marriages, Monongalia County, Virginia" by Helen Brodine, Weirton, West Virginia, Vol. XLII, March 1954, pg. 12:
"Elizabeth Daugherty married James Rightmire in Monongalia Co. Virginia on July 27, 1802 by a Reverend John Patterson."
James, Sr, and Elizabeth came to Union Township, Knox County, Ohio sometime around 1808 or earlier. We know they were in Ohio in 1809 from the book, "A History of Knox County, Ohio from 1779 to 1862". The author noted that on October 10th, 1809, James Rightmire, along with John Wood and Thomas Elwell, were named "Judges of Election".
At that time, Indians were the primary residents of Ohio. The first white people to settle in the area came to Union Township about 1806 or 1807. George Sapp, Sr. settled first in Union Township about 1806. Other settlers that became an important part of the Rightmire heritage are the Critchfields and the Welkers. Indeed, as we will see, three Critchfield women and three Rightmire men married during those early days. And I remember the Welkers as being very close friends of Grandma and Grandpa Rightmire (Mary Alice and Winfield Scott).
James, Sr. was a captain in the war of 1812. Capt. James Rightmire served from May 4, 1812 until May 19, 1813 and again from Sept 8, 1814 until March 5, 1815. He served in Russell's Battalion, Ohio Militia, and 6th Regiment, Ohio Militia
During 1812, President Madison granted James, Sr. and Elizabeth 160 acres in Union Township. It is not clear to me whether this was a reward for serving in the war or just a routine land grant. For some reason, James and Elizabeth sold that land to Isaac and Margaret Draper of Coshocton County in 1821, but bought it back several years later, in 1838.
Elizabeth Daugherty Rightmire probably died sometime between 1839 and 1849. Land sales documents show that she was alive in 1838, but in a later land sale in 1849, she was no longer listed on the sales document. We interpret that as indicating she was not alive at the time of the second sale. James, Sr. probably died in 1863.
http://rightmirefamily.tripod.com/id18.html
