Reuben Rickabaugh was born about 1786, and died in Jackson County, Ohio in 1844 He has many descendants, but it's not clear where he came from. He shows up in the 1812 Chattel tax list of Gallia County in Wilkes township, voted for the formation of Jackson County in 1816, and appears again on the tax list of Gallia County in 1819, this time in Raccoon township.
My speculation is that Reuben is the son of John Rickabaugh and Elizabeth Griffith, of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. He appears to be loosely associated with his cousins who settled in Gallia County, Ohio, and the given name Reuben is associated with the Griffith family from Virginia.
Click here for a report on his descendants.
Before he died he conveyed his land to his son Isaac. It took quite a while to process this conveyance after he died, and it was handled by Porter DuHadway , his son-in-law, who was to become an attorney of some note in that area. Here is the newspaper announcement that ran during the process, and below is my transcription of the agreement he made with his son Isaac.
Articles of Agreement made and entered into this seventeenth day of May in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty four, between Reuben Rickabaugh and Isaac Rickabaugh , Witnesseth. That the said Reuben Rickabaugh, by a good and sufficient deed of general warranty on or before certain, to wit, Being one year from the time of decease of Mary Rickabaugh, wife of the aforesaid Reuben Rickabaugh (upon the punctual payment by the said Isaac Rickabaugh of the consideration money hereafter mentioned) the following premises , situated in the County of Jackson, in the state of Ohio, and Bounded and described as follows, to wit. Being the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section Number Thirteen, in Township Number Eight of Range Number Eighteen containing forty acres, also the West half of the Southwest quarter of Section Thirteen in Township Eight of Range Eighteen with the exception of a strip of land eighteen rods wide extending from the north to south across said quarter section along the west side of the same. And the said Isaac Rickabaugh doth hereby agree to pay to the heirs of the said Reuben Rickabaugh the sum of six hundred dollars, and furnish Mary Rickabaugh Wide of the said Reuben Rickabaugh with a comfortable support and maintenance during her lifetime, the consideration money for said premises in the manner following One hundred Dollars to Be paid to George Rickabaugh, and one hundred Dollars to be paid to David Rickabaugh, and one hundred dollars to be paid to Mary Trusler, and one hundred dollars to be paid to Reuben Rickabaugh Jr, and one hundred dollars to be paid to Dudley Rickabaugh, and Elizabeth Jane Rickabaugh one hundred dollars also. The several sums are to be paid to the above named heirs of the said Reuben Rickabaugh upon a day certain, to wit being one year from decease of Mary Rickabaugh wife of the said Reuben Rickabaugh. The said Reuben Rickabaugh hereby agrees that the said Isaac Rickabaugh shall have possession of the premises on the first day of September next to use and improve as his own. In testimony where of the said Reuben Rickabaugh and Isaac Rickabaugh have hereunt their hands and seals.