1A-G: Lawrence Perry Guthrie
Guthrie Family Group 1A · Branch G · Child Page
Lawrence Perry Guthrie
Amherst County, Virginia · Sierra, Nevada & Yuba Counties, California
Lawrence Perry Guthrie, also recorded as Laurence P. Guthrie, was a son of William Guthrie and Elizabeth Wingfield. His childhood appears in Amherst County’s guardianship records; the family research follows his later life through California census entries and voter registers.
That western record trail describes a laborer, farm laborer, and miner, with entries extending from Sierra County in 1860 to Marysville in 1892. A proposed death in Nevada City on 28 March 1897 remains a possible match because the burial transcription names T. P. Guthrie.
Family at a Glance
Lawrence Perry Guthrie
- Parents
- William Guthrie & Elizabeth Wingfield.
- Birth
- About 1817, Amherst County, Virginia, in the family reconstruction. The California census ages generally support a birth around 1816–1817.
- Name Forms
- Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Laurence P. Guthrie; L. P. Guthrie. The retained 1880 extract reverses the given names as P. Lawrence Guthrie.
- Guardians
- His mother, Elizabeth Guthrie, in the childhood bond references; his brother, Nicholas Guthrie, under the 21 March 1832 bond.
- Occupation
- Laborer, farm laborer, and miner in the retained California extracts.
- Marriage & Children
- Recorded as single in 1880. No spouse or children have been identified.
- California Locations
- Sierra County; Bridgeport, Anthony House, and French Corral in Nevada County; Marysville in Yuba County.
- Last Retained Record
- 1892, Marysville, Yuba County: a voter-register entry for Lawrence P. Guthrie, age seventy-six.
- Death
- Not established. The proposed 28 March 1897 death in Nevada City belongs to a record transcribed as T. P. Guthrie and remains a candidate.
- Burial
- Not established. Nevada City County Hospital Cemetery is the proposed burial place associated with that same candidate record.
Connecting the Amherst Child with the California Man
The Amherst guardianship abstract names Laurence P. among William Guthrie’s children. The California records preserve the fuller name Lawrence Perry Guthrie, Virginia birthplaces, and ages broadly consistent with the family’s birth estimate.
These details support the working identification used in the family research. A letter, estate reference, obituary, or other record naming his Virginia relatives would strengthen the connection across the gap between the Amherst and California records.
The different spelling of Laurence/Lawrence and the reversed 1880 name are retained as recorded forms. The candidate burial’s T. initial requires separate verification; it has not been silently changed to L.
Historical Highlights
An Amherst childhood and a California working life
Lawrence was one of the younger Guthrie children whose care appears in the Amherst court records. After their mother’s death, Nicholas became guardian of Sally, Laurence P., Oliver, and Elizabeth. A Lynchburg postal list later names L. P. Guthrie alongside Nathan Guthrie among people with letters awaiting collection in October 1834.
The next substantial sequence in the family research is in California. In 1860, L. P. Guthrie appears as a Virginia-born laborer in a dwelling listing twenty-eight men. A decade later, he is a farm laborer in the Patterson household, while Nevada County voter-register extracts describe Lawrence Perry Guthrie as a miner.
These records place the working man among several northern California communities. The 1879 register gives Anthony House as his local residence; the 1880 census and 1886 register place him at French Corral. By 1892, the retained registration is in Marysville and includes a physical description: blue eyes, gray hair, and a height of five feet seven and a half inches.
The date and route of his journey west remain unknown. No 1850 census entry has been identified in the retained research, and the records do not establish that he arrived with the Gold Rush. His final years also remain open: the proposed 1897 hospital burial needs an original entry or another identifying record.
Family Timeline
| Date | Event & Evidence |
|---|---|
| About 1817 | Birth in VirginiaThe family research places Lawrence’s birth in Amherst County. The later California ages generally point to about 1816–1817.Sources: family profile, guardianship references, and retained census extracts. |
| 1825–1832 | Guardianship within the familyThe younger-child bond names Laurence with Sally, Oliver, and Elizabeth. Nicholas becomes their guardian on 21 March 1832.Sources: Amherst Will Book 6, p. 620; Will Book 7, pp. 145–146; Will Book 8, p. 187. |
| 1 Oct 1834 | Letters waiting at LynchburgThe retained newspaper reference lists Nathan Guthrie and L. P. Guthrie among addressees with unclaimed letters.Source: Lynchburg Virginian, 16 October 1834, p. 1, “A List of Letters.” |
| 5 Oct 1846 | Named in an Amherst chancery proceedingLawrence P. Guthrie appears among the defendants in a suit brought by William T. Campbell and Samuel H. Quarles.Source: notice captioned Lynchburg Virginian, 7 December 1846, vol. 25, issue 37, p. 5. |
| 1860 | Laborer in Sierra CountyL. P. Guthrie, forty-four and born in Virginia, appears in Township 7. The supplied profile identifies Forest as the post office.Source: retained 1860 U.S. census extract and supplied tree entry. |
| 1867–1873 | Mining and farm laborVoter extracts for 1867, 1871, and 1873 give Bridgeport in Nevada County and describe a miner. The 1870 census places L. P. Guthrie, fifty-four, with the Patterson household in Sierra County.Sources: California voter registers and 1870 U.S. census; details below. |
| 15 Mar 1879 | Anthony HouseThe retained voter-register entry gives age sixty-one, Virginia birth, and Anthony House as the local residence.Source: California voter-register extract, Nevada County. |
| 1880 | Single laborer at French CorralThe census extract names P. Lawrence Guthrie, sixty-three, single, and a laborer; he and both parents are recorded as born in Virginia.Source: 1880 U.S. census, French Corral, Nevada County; dwelling 7, family 7. |
| 29 Jul 1886 | French Corral voter registrationLawrence Perry Guthrie is recorded as seventy and Virginia-born in the retained extract.Source: California voter registers, Nevada County. |
| 1892 | Marysville, Yuba CountyLawrence P. Guthrie, seventy-six, appears in the First Ward registration with a physical description.Source: California voter-register extract; last retained entry in this sequence. |
| 28 Mar 1897 Possible match | A Nevada City death and burial leadThe proposed record is transcribed as T. P. Guthrie and associated with the county hospital cemetery. Its identification as Lawrence has not been established.Source lead: retained burial transcription and the supplied tree’s explicit “Possible match” note. |
Explore the Records
The Amherst bonds establish Lawrence’s place among the younger Guthrie children. The California extracts preserve a useful adult record sequence, including occupations, local residences, and a physical description. The transition between those records and the proposed 1897 burial are the main questions still to resolve.
1825–1832 · The Correct Guardianship References
19 September 1825: The younger-child guardianship abstract at Amherst Will Book 6, p. 620 names Sally, Laurence, Oliver, and Elizabeth under Elizabeth Guthrie’s guardianship.
The quotation attached to Lawrence’s supplied profile instead cites p. 619 and names Nicholas, Lucy, Nathan, and Susan. That is a related bond for other children, not the passage naming Lawrence. Both entries belong to the family’s records, but they should not be treated as the same list of wards.
17 March 1828: The retained abstract at Will Book 7, pp. 145–146 includes Laurence among seven children under Elizabeth’s guardianship.
21 March 1832: The supplied abstract reads:
8:187 GB — NICHL. GUTHRIE, Thos. Wingfield, and NATHAN GUTRIE, 21 Mar 1832, for NG as gdn of SALLY, LAURENCE P; OLIVER, and ELIZ. GUTHRIE, orphans of WM. GUTHRIE.
This is a transcription of the supplied abstract, not a new transcription of the court manuscript. Nicholas is the guardian; Nathan is a surety. The other surety’s surname appears as Wingfield here and as Dinglefield in the legacy resource list, a difference for the original bond to resolve.
Sources: Amherst County Will Book 6, pp. 619–621, particularly p. 620; Will Book 7, pp. 145–146; Will Book 8, p. 187; retained family abstracts.
1834 · Letters Waiting at the Lynchburg Post Office
The Lynchburg Virginian of Thursday, 16 October 1834, p. 1, published “A List of Letters” remaining in the Lynchburg post office on 1 October 1834. The retained reference names Nathan Guthrie and L. P. Guthrie.
The event belongs under 1834; the “1830” heading in the earlier notes was inconsistent with the cited newspaper date.
A postal list establishes that mail awaited an addressee. It does not by itself establish the person’s residence, show that the letter was collected, or identify its sender and contents.
Source lead: retained newspaper citation, GenealogyBank. The original newspaper image was not available for a fresh transcription in this update.
1846 · Lawrence P. Guthrie Named in Chancery
The Amherst notice concerns rules held 5 October 1846 in the Circuit Superior Court of Law and Chancery. William T. Campbell and Samuel H. Quarles were plaintiffs; Lawrence P. Guthrie appears among the Guthrie, Stockton, Wingfield, and Taylor defendants.
The notice specifically identifies Oliver Guthrie, Alfred Guthrie, John G. Wingfield, and Elizabeth his wife as nonresidents of Virginia. It does not make that statement about Lawrence.
The complete bill and exhibits are needed to explain the dispute and Lawrence’s interest. The notice alone does not establish that it concerned his parents’ estates, financed his move west, or caused that move.
Source: archived clipping captioned Lynchburg Virginian, 7 December 1846, vol. 25, issue 37, p. 5; order attested by Robert Tinsley, clerk.
1860–1880 · The California Census Sequence
| Year | Entry & Locality | Recorded Details |
|---|---|---|
| 1860 | L. P. Guthrie Township 7, Sierra County; Forest post office in the supplied profile. | Age 44; male; laborer; born Virginia. The retained notes describe a dwelling listing twenty-eight men. |
| 1870 | L. P. Guthrie Sierra, Sierra County; Loyalton post office. Household of D. B. Patterson. | Age 54; male; farm laborer; born Virginia. No real or personal estate value is listed for him in the extract. |
| 1880 | P. Lawrence Guthrie French Corral, Nevada County; dwelling 7, family 7. | Age 63; male; single; laborer. Birthplaces of himself and both parents recorded as Virginia. The supplied indexed entry identifies him as the household head. |
The ages broadly support a birth about 1816–1817. The 1880 reversal of the given names should be preserved while the manuscript and neighboring entries are checked. Virginia birthplaces for both parents do not identify them by name.
Complete page, enumeration district, and household citations should be added from the originals. The dwelling of twenty-eight men in 1860 should not be labeled a particular mine, boardinghouse, or employer without further evidence.
Sources: retained 1860, 1870, and 1880 U.S. census extracts and the supplied research-tree references.
1870 · The Patterson Household
The earlier research preserves the following household in Sierra County, California, with Loyalton as the post office:
| Name | Age | Recorded Details |
|---|---|---|
| D. B. Patterson | 41 | Farmer; real estate $2,000; personal estate $8,000; born New York. |
| A. Patterson | 20 | Keeping house; born New York. |
| J. Patterson | 3 | Born California. |
| C. Patterson | 1 | Born California. |
| L. P. Guthrie | 54 | Farm laborer; no estate values listed; born Virginia. |
| D. Miller | 27 | Farm laborer; real estate $1,000; personal estate $100; born Canada. |
| J. McMackin | 43 | Farm laborer; personal estate $600; no real estate value listed; born Indiana. |
The 1870 census did not specify each resident’s relationship to the household head. The Patterson children should not be assigned to Lawrence, and no kinship between him and the other residents has been established.
Source: retained 1870 U.S. census extract, Patterson household. Initials have not been expanded; the original schedule is needed for the complete citation and verification of all columns.
1867–1892 · California Voter Registers
| Entry | Age | Locality & Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1867 | 51 | Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Nevada County; Bridgeport; born Virginia; miner. |
| 1871 | 51 | Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Nevada County; Bridgeport; born Virginia; miner. |
| 1873 | 51 | Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Nevada County; Bridgeport; born Virginia; miner. |
| 15 Mar 1879 | 61 | Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Nevada County; Anthony House; born Virginia. |
| 29 Jul 1886 | 70 | Lawrence Perry Guthrie; Nevada County; French Corral; born Virginia. |
| 1892 | 76 | Lawrence P. Guthrie; Marysville, Yuba County; First Ward. Height 5 feet 7½ inches; light complexion; blue eyes; gray hair; no visible marks or scars. |
The repeated age of fifty-one: It appears in the retained extracts for 1867, 1871, and 1873. The original registers should be compared to determine whether these repeat an earlier registration, retain an earlier age, or reflect a transcription problem. The three ages have not been recalculated or silently “corrected.”
Dates and residence: The year of a compiled register and an individual registration date may differ. The March 1879 and July 1886 dates are retained as extracted, pending confirmation of their column headings. The entries should not be used alone to infer continuous residence or exact moving dates.
Source collection: California, U.S., Voter Registers, 1866–1898; Nevada and Yuba County references retained in the research tree. Original volume, page, and entry numbers remain to be added.
Anthony House · A Place in the Record
The local residence Anthony House refers to a historic place in Nevada County, California. The historical marker account describes a stage stop that served as a hotel, restaurant, livery stable, and post office along the Marysville–Henness Pass–Virginia City trade route.
This context helps explain the locality in the voter extract. It does not establish that Lawrence owned the property, operated the business, or lived inside the hotel itself.
Context source: Anthony House and Ranch historical marker, documented in the Historical Marker Database.
1897 · The T. P. Guthrie Death and Burial Candidate
The proposed identification is a man recorded as T. P. Guthrie, associated in the retained research with a death on 28 March 1897 in Nevada City and burial at the Nevada City County Hospital Cemetery.
The supplied tree explicitly labels this a “Possible match” and notes the T. P. transcription. That qualification is more informative than the exact date displayed in the profile heading.
The date and general location make the record worth pursuing, but they do not resolve the different first initial. A county hospital register, original burial entry, death notice, or probate record giving age, birthplace, occupation, previous residence, or relatives could distinguish a misreading from a different man.
No original image of this burial entry or obituary for Lawrence was included among the materials reviewed. His death and burial therefore remain unconfirmed; the California sequence is retained through 1892.
Source lead: supplied research-tree note and the earlier family discussion of a transcribed hospital-cemetery record. A Find a Grave index is listed in the tree, but its underlying memorial and source image have not been verified here.
Family Estate References & Research Locations
- Amherst Will Book 6, pp. 619–621: The September 1825 family bonds, including the younger-child guardianship at p. 620.
- Amherst Will Book 7, pp. 145–146: Elizabeth’s 17 March 1828 guardianship reference.
- Amherst Will Book 7, pp. 187–190: November 1828 bonds concerning William’s unadministered estate and Elizabeth’s estate. These references should not be described as completed distributions without examining the records.
- Amherst Will Book 8, p. 187: Nicholas’s 21 March 1832 guardianship of Sally, Laurence P., Oliver, and Elizabeth.
- Franklin County Will Book 5, p. 178: January 1840 division of John Wingfield’s estate, including heirs of Elizabeth Guthrie. Consult the complete entry for Laurence’s name, representation, and any allocation; no use of an inheritance to finance migration has been established.
- California originals: Census schedules and voter registers for Sierra, Nevada, and Yuba Counties; hospital, cemetery, and probate records for the proposed Nevada City death.
The Library of Virginia’s Amherst County guide lists Will Book 6 on reel 19, Will Books 7 and 8 on reel 20, and Chancery Orders No. 2, 1841–1849, on reel 35. These are Library of Virginia reel numbers, not FamilySearch film numbers.
DNA & the Wider Guthrie Family
The family’s GFG1A connection is supported by John William Guthrie’s line, with its GFG1A modal Y-DNA and matching Augusta County, Virginia locations.
No children or descendant line through Lawrence have been identified in the present research. There are therefore no identified child lines to list separately and no established DNA participation through him.
| Descendant Line | Guthrie Y-DNA | Big-Y | Autosomal DNA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lawrence Perry Guthrie No descendants identified | — | — | — |
A dash means participation has not been established for this page. The wider branch’s evidence is not a test result from Lawrence’s descendants and does not independently identify the California census or burial entries.
Most Wanted Documents
- A Virginia–California connection: Correspondence, an estate paper, obituary, or other record naming Lawrence’s Amherst relatives.
- The original voter-register pages: Confirm the full name, repeated age of fifty-one, registration dates, residences, and 1892 physical description.
- The complete census households: Original 1860, 1870, and 1880 schedules with full citations and a check of the reversed 1880 name.
- The 1897 hospital and burial entries: Resolve T. P. versus L. P. Guthrie using the manuscript and additional identifying details.
- The missing years before 1860: Tax lists, land records, directories, state census records, travel accounts, or letters that establish when and how Lawrence reached California.
- Family and estate records: Documents identifying any spouse, children, siblings, beneficiaries, or next of kin.
Keep the Story Growing
Help Build the Family Story
The Amherst records preserve Lawrence’s family beginnings, while the California extracts describe decades of work and changing local residences. A record naming relatives could join those parts of his story more firmly and help resolve his final years.
If your Guthrie research includes Lawrence, Laurence, or L. P. Guthrie in Virginia or northern California, please share the documents you have found. Full register pages, cemetery entries, letters, and newspaper images are especially useful. Questions and corrections are welcome.
Researched and curated by Ann Guthrie · Guthrie Genealogy