The First Generation

As previously mentioned, the family can be first located in Baltimore, Maryland in the late 1760's. The period from 1770 to 1785 is quite unknown. We know that Wilmore Male, Jr. fought in the Revolutionary War and returned home. During this timeframe, the family was in Berkeley County, Virginia, though they would slowly move west to Randolph. Though the children would have reached marrying age during the 1770's, no records of children born during this timeframe exist. It is likely that the family was migrating West during this time period and had not yet joined up with the other families making similar migrations.

By the 1780's, much more is known, and we can begin to see the destinations of each of the children. By now, Wilmore, William, James and Richard all lived near each other in Hampshire County. As late as 1800, all four appear next to each other on personal property tax lists. In the 1810 Virginia census, Wilmore Male still appears in Hampshire County. By 1820, William, George and Richard are living near each other in Randolph County, which represents a significant westward movement; also included on this census is a Wilmore Male. Interestingly, Wilmore Male, Jr. shows up in Hampshire County in 1830 and 1840 enumerations; either this is a different Wilmore Male (perhaps the Wilmer Male that is the son of Richard), or Wilmore Jr. began the migration with the family and for some reason turned back.

By 1840, the picture is clearer. Wilmore Jr. remains in Hampshire County, while George appears in Harrison County (in present day Taylor County). By this time, George had settled on land along Pleasant Creek on the west side of the Tygart River. Many of George's descendants would remain on and near this land for generations, and some remains in the family to this day. Richard and William took up land on the east side of the Tygart River, and many of their descendants did exactly the same. It is not exactly known when Richard and William moved from Randolph to Barbour County; however, both of their wills (William in 1848 and Richard in 1845) were filed and probated in Barbour. Some of the children of these men (for example, Richard's Elizabeth and Richard, Jr. and William's William, Jr.) did not make the trip to Harrison and Barbour Counties and remained in Randolph.

James Male took a far different path. James appears to be a rover and was not content to stay put on his father's land like his brothers. Family history holds that James was a hunter and trapper who was peaceable with the Native Americans in the area. Much of what we know of James comes from Bernard Mayhle, told by his great-great-grandfather George Washington Wash Male to his father, Lawton Boyd Mayhle. From this family history, eight children are recorded. James appears to have traveled often, keeping with the family history told of him. He is last seen on the 1830 census in Frederick County, Virginia. Many of his children moved to Ohio.