James W. McDaniel was born in Halifax, Virginia on Dec. 26, 1755. During the Revolutionary War he served as a bodyguard to General Washington. He married Rebecca Lewis in 1789 and they had four children: James Jr., Nancy, Levi and Enoch. He served as an Indian Spy from 1790-1792 and as a private in Captain Isaac Butler's Company of Ohio Militia in the War of 1812. He came to Ohio and settled half a mile below Oak Hill in 1819. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace in Jefferson Township and his knowledge of books caused his neighbors to ask him to start a school. For many years after, he taught school in a log hut. He died in Oak Hill, Ohio in August 1847. His grave is in the eastern part of Oak Hill.