1A-E: Elisha Guthrie
ELISHA GUTHRIE
Parents: John Guthrie 1821 AL or TN – 1889 AR and Nancy Mahala 1846 MO – 1878 AR
Birth: 7 June 1857
Birth Location: Mountain, Washington County, Arkansas, USA
Occupation: Farmer
Marriage: Tennessee Ann Walker on 4 September 1879 in Washington County, Arkansas, USA
Death: 23 March 1926
Death Location: Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
Burial Location: Tahlequah Cemetery, Talequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
TENNESSEE ANN WALKER aka ‘TINNIE’
Parents: Josiah ‘Joe’ Thomas Walker 1838 TN-1882 AR and Mary Ann Billingsly 1836 IL-1889 OK
Birth: 4 April 1856
Birth Location: Salem Sebastian, Illinois, USA
Children: William Hosea (1880), Nilea (1885), Effie Lee (1887), Emma (1890), Sarah Elizabeth (1893), Robert Elisha (1896)
Death: 24 January 1936
Death Location: Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
Burial Location: Tahlequah Cemetery, Tahlequah, Cherokee County, Oklahoma, USA
NOTES:
Elisha Guthrie was a farmer. He married Tennessee Ann Walker in Washington County, Arkansas when he was 22 years old. They had two sons and four daughters. In 1909, their daughter Emma committed suicide after a public trial. It may have been this situation that prompted the family to move to Cherokee County, Oklahoma. Elisha, his wife, and several family members are buried at the Tahlequah Cemetery.
GUTHRIE CHILDREN: 6
Y-DNA Project Participants: Yes
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
CHILD 1: WILLIAM HOSEA GUTHRIE
1880 AR – 1939 OK
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No direct line male descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
William Hosea Guthrie was born on 5 October 1880 in Arkansas. The Guthries were living in Lees Creek, Washington County, Arkansas in 1900 when they were enumerated in the census. Listed as “Hosie”, he was a 19-year old young adult at the time, able to read and write, and working as a farmer, most likely on the home farm. Hosea was twice married, first to Myrtle May Harrison (1884-1924) with whom he had two daughters, Viola and Bessie. Sometime after 1910, the Hosea’s parents moved to Oklahoma. Hosea and his family moved with them. Daughter Bessie died there in 1918 in early childhood. His wife Myrtle died on 7 May 1924 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma, at only 21 years of age. On 1 June 1927, Hosea remarried to Ethel May (Cottrell) Wilson. She had been married two times prior. First to Calvin Elderton, with whom she had a daughter, Louise Marie Elterton. Secondly to Robert Wilson with whom she had two sons, George Charles Wilson and James Harold Wilson, and one daughter, Mary Faye Wilson. Hosea had been in poor health for two years prior to his death from a heart attack on 20 July 1939. His widow Ethel lived until 1976.
Guthrie Children
1) Viola Vida Guthrie: Born 2 April 1907 West Fork, Washington County, Arkansas – Died 3 September 1989 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma. Married 23 May 1925 to John Albert Myers (1904MO-1974OK). He was a farmer. They had 1 daughter, Elizabeth Ann Myers (1926OK-2010OK).
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
2) Bessie Guthrie: Born 9 Feb 1916, location unknown – Died 14 August 1918 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma at only 2 years of age. She is buried in Tahlequah Cemetery.
CHILD 2: NILEA GUTHRIE
1885 AR – 1916 OK
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants
Nilea Guthrie was born 10 Feb 1885 in Washington County, Arkansas. She moved with her parents and siblings to Cherokee County, Oklahoma where her father purchased a farm. She was still single and living at home with her parents and two younger siblings during the 1910 census. She was 24 that year. Nilea married on 6 April 1911 to JF White. I haven’t found any confirmed information on J F White. One tree lists him as Jim White. Nilea died on 2 April 1916 in Tahlequah and is buried at that local cemetery. There is a J. F. White (1875-1934) buried in nearby Hendricks Cemetery, Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK, plot 192. No known children for this couple.
CHILD 3: EFFIE LEE GUTHRIE
1887AR – 1968AR
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
Effie is usually a nickname for Ethel. Uncertain if that is the case as every document lists her as Effie. She was born on 8 November 1887 in Strickler, Arkansas, and married at 15 years of age on 27 August 1903 to John Henry Crawley. He was a farmer. This couple remained in Arkansas when Effie’s parents and extended family chose to move to Oklahoma. John died in June 1965 in Prairie Grove, Washington, Arkansas at 85 years old. Effie’s death came three years later on 20 February 1968 in Fayetteville, Washington, Arkansas. They are buried at Prairie Grove Cemetery.
Crawley Children
1) John Ralph Crawley: Born on 19 July 1910 Washington, Arkansas- Died 28 Feb 1959 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. John was an engine mechanic at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Tulsa. He was first employed there during World War II, left in 1945 for Prairie Grove, Arkansas, and returned to rejoin the company in 1952. Survivors included his widow, Clara, a son and three daughters, and grandchildren. He was buried back in Prairie Grove, Arkansas.
CHILD 4: EMMA GUTHRIE
1890AR – 1909AR
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Descendants
Emma Guthrie was born in February of 1890 or 1891 and grew up in Washington County, Arkansas. Her story is a tragic one, which was published in the papers of the day. It includes the letter written to her family. This from the Springfield News on Friday, 16 July 1909, page 3.
CHILD 5: SARAH ELIZABETH GUTHRIE
1893AR – 1986OK
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
Sarah was known as Sallie by her friends and loved ones. She was 19 at her marriage to German immigrant August John Carl Rueckert on 4 July 1912 in Vinita, Oklahoma. He owned a bakery. Gus had come to the United States with an aunt when he was 11 years old and worked for his uncles at a mill in Indiana for several years before apprenticing as a baker. After their marriage they settled in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma. Sallie was a homemaker. They had two sons and three daughters born between 1913 and 1924. Her husband Gus died at only 60 years of age on 2 March 1937. He had been in an accident suffering a broken leg and internal injuries, which led to 16 months of lingering illness. Sallie lived another fifty years. She died on 16 December 1986 in Tahlequah. She was 93. They are buried together at the Tahlequah Cemetery.
Rueckert Children
1) Marie Rueckert: Born 23 April 1913 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 10 January 2006 in Tulsa, OK. During the 1950 census, Marie was working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture as an office clerk. She was single and living in Okmulgee, Okmulgee County, Oklahoma. On 11 August the following year, 1951, she married William Harry Klink. She retired from the Farmers Home Administration after 30 years of service. She was a member of the First Baptist Church, where she sang in the choir, Order of the Eastern Star, and served on the Board of Directors for the Salvation Army. Marie died in Tulsa on 10 January 2006. She was buried on 13 January 2006 in Tahlequah Cemetery. Her husband preceded her in death back in 1971. No children.
2) Carl Rueckert: Born 6 August 1914 – Died 9 November 1914 in his infancy. Carl is buried at Tahlequah Cemetery.
3) Helen Rueckert: Born 23 April 1917 and Died 13 May 2000 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK.
At the age of 17, Helen Rueckert married Floyd Halfacre (1910-1997). They lived in Tahlequah. They had one son, Michael Carl Halfacre and a daughter Bobbie Marie Halfacre. This marriage appears to have ended in divorce as both Flord and Helen remarried. Her second marriage was to Paul Edmond Rech (1915-1971) with whom she had one son.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
4) Johnye Louise Rueckert: Born 7 August 1920 and Died 29 Nov 1997 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK. After finishing her 4 years of high school, Johnye married Benjamin Barton George on 3 September 1938. They moved from Oklahoma to Stockton, San Joaquin, California. Ben served in the US Army during WWII. He was working as a Service Station Attendant in 1950. They had one son and three daughters born between 1940 and 1950. At some point they returned to Oklahoma. Ben died in Tulsa on 7 Nov 1989 and Joynye in Tahlequah on 29 Nov 1997.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
5) Robert Lee Rueckert: Born 4 Sep 1923 Oklahoma and died 12 Oct 2012. He was married to Vera Mae Gillmartin in the mid 1950s. They had one daughter and two sons born between 1954 and 1958 in San Bernardino and San Diego, California. The couple divorced in March 1969. Vera died in Wichita, Kanas in 2001. Robert remarried on 22 Mar 1982 in California. He died 12 Oct 2012.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
CHILD 6: ROBERT ELISHA GUTHRIE
1896 AR – 1990 OK
Y-DNA Project Participants: Yes
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
Robert Elisha Guthrie was born on 3 June 1896 in Viney Grove, Washington, Arkansas. He was enumerated in family census records in 1900 Lees Creek and 1910 Cove Creek before they moved to Cherokee County, Oklahoma. Bob was 21 at the time of the World War I Draft Registration and described as being of medium height and build, with light hair and grey eyes. He married on 31 March 1919 in Wagoner, Wagoner County, Oklahoma to Myrtle Louise Kelly by whom he had five sons and a daughter. Bob was a bakery proprietor and Myrtle the bakery manager. Bob was of the right age to be eligible for the World War II Draft in 1942. Myrtle passed away on 20 January 1988 at 91 years old. Bob outlived her by two years. He was 93 at his death on 6 May 1990 in Park Hill, Cherokee, Oklahoma.
Guthrie Children
1) Fred Graham Guthrie: Born 2 October 1919 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 29 October 2001 Tulsa, Tulsa, OK. Fred or Freddie was born and raised in Tahlequah. He attended college and worked as a Public Welfare Case Worker. When he was 21 he married Mildred Mae Jarvis. He was eligible for the WWII Draft in 1942 being 27 at the time and described as 5’11”, 165 lbs, with a light complexion, blond hair and blue eyes. He served for nearly four years enlisting on 15 July 1942 and being discharged on 11 March 1946. The 1950 census does not list any children in the household. Mildred died 4 November 1994 and Fred on 29 Oct 2001 in Tulsa.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants
2) Bennett Marion Guthrie: Born 4 January 1923 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 16 September 2006 in Nacogdoches, Texas. Bennett grew up in Tahlequah and attended Central High School where he discovered a love of acting.
The Talhlequah Citizen’s Town-Talk section by “Scoop” Upton, published 4 April 1940, issued a complaint on behalf of Bennett Guthrie, whom the reporter felt was robbed of an acting honor. Students from area high schools had presented plays. Bennett Guthrie had taken on the character of an old Civil War veteran with a “remarkable performance” while the judges had awarded the best actor title in a “lackadaisical manner” to another boy whose portrayal of a boy his own age was only mediocre.
After graduation, on 16 Sep 1940, Bennett enlisted in the National Guard citing his occupation as an Actor. He received training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and Camp Barkley, Texas. Afterward, he was transferred to Fort Benning, Georgia for further training as a paratrooper before being sent to the South Pacific.
13 Sep 1945
On 16 January 1947, Bennett Marion Guthrie, 24, married Virginia Bennett McWhirter, 25. She was a daughter of George B and Jessie V (Nichols) McWhirter. They had one son born in September 1947 in Tahlequah. The 1950 census lists Bennett with “other” work while Virginia was employed as a Registered Nurse at the Government Indian Hospital. Virginia had also served in the capacity of a nurse during WWII ranked as a US Navy lieutenant. Their son was a Cub Scout. Bennett Guthrie served as the “den daddy” and Mrs Bennett Guthrie served as the “den mother”. Den 3 met every Thursday and included activities like hiking. (Tahlequah Times, 15 Nov 1956).
Virginia passed away on 26 December 1998 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, Oklahoma. She is buried with military honors at Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. Bennett remarried at the age of 77 to widow Lois Jean (Willard) Dewitt on 16 Dec 2000 in Lamar, Texas. He died on 16 September 2006 in Nacogdoches, Texas, and Lois on 3 January 2007. She is buried with her first husband in Texas. Bennett is buried at Fort Gibson, Muskogee, OK with Virginia, his military headstone reading Bennett M Guthrie PVT US Army Worl War II Jan 4 1923 Sep 16 2006 Old Paratrooper Gone Fishin’.
Y-DNA Project Participants: Yes
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
3) Dorothy Nell Guthrie: Born 21 April 1925 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 25 April 2015 in Tulsa, Tulsa, OK. The 1950 census shows Dorothy living with her parents and siblings, but her surname at the time is Jetton and marital status married. The Tahlequah Star-Citizen on Thursday, 8 Dec 1955 listed a marriage license issued to Calvin Jetton, 31, Tulsa, and Dorothy Jetton, 30, Tulsa. Both Dorothy and Cal were teachers. They had twin sons, one of whom died at two days of age, and two daughters. Dorothy and Cal divorced prior to 1974 when he remarried.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
4) Kenneth Guthrie: Twin born 10 February 1930 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 17 November 2000. Kenneth served during the Korean War as a sergeant in the USA Army. He married Joyce Ruth Webb in Muskogee in 1959. They had 2 sons. Joyce was employed for a time with Brockway Glass, but worked primarily as a beautician. Kenneth Guthrie died 17 Nov 2000 and Joyce on 7 May 2011. They are buried at Fort Gibson National Cemetery in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
5) Kelly Guthrie: Twin born 10 February 1930 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 13 May 2006 in Tulsa, Tulsa, OK. His obituary reads:
Kelly received his education in the Tahlequah school system and graduated from Northeastern State College with a B.S. and a Masters degree in Education. He taught history and coached tennis and golf in Arkansas, Kansas & California. He retired from teaching at Tempe High School in Arizona.
During his early years, Kelly’s parents owned a bakery in Tahlequah and he told the story many times that he and his twin brother hated more than anything the times that they had to make doughnuts and ice them as they always burned their fingers. He would always laugh as he recalled the many tasks they had to perform in the bakery.
Kelly loved sports. Saturdays and Sundays always meant that he would be watching golf or an O.U. ball game. He liked to fish when the weather would permit it and even bought a boat so he and Kenneth could catch the “Big Ones”. One day the big ones nearly caught them as someone had removed the plug from the boat and as they were about to reach the perfect spot, the boat began to sink. When they were finally able to reach the shore, their wives heard a lot of laughing and went to investigate. What they found, were the twins sopping wet as they had to bale water from the sinking boat after Kenneth had stuffed a sock in the plughole. The boat was hauled home and sold immediately! Kelly later bought a canoe. To this day, it has never been in water, but has been a home to several litters of kittens. He was a very tenderhearted man that loved animals. Many times he has made a home for strays and displaced dogs and cats.
He was a member of St. James Presbyterian Church in Jenks, Oklahoma. He enjoyed the fellowship of the members and would participate in the activities when his health would allow it.
Kelly is survived by his wife Catherine, (Katie) of the home, a daughter, (living), two step-daughters, (living) of Bixby, (living) of Broken Arrow, and a step-son, (living) of Bixby. He is also survived by one grandson, (living), 11 step-grandchildren & 12 step-great-grandchildren. He also leaves behind two brothers and their families, Bennett Kelly of Texas & Bobby Kelly of California, one sister, Dorothy Nell of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Kelly was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Fred and his twin Kenneth.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No Known Direct Line Male Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
6) Robert Elisha Guthrie Jr: Born 6 August 1933 in Tahlequah, Cherokee, OK – Died 9 December 2019 in Collinsville, Tulsa, Oklahoma. He married Mildred Gwendolyn Brown about 1957. They had one daughter. They were living in Pittsburg, California when his wife passed away on 9 August 2014. Robert died in Oklahoma on 9 Dec 2019.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No Known Direct Line Male Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
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