Surprise results help correct tree errors. Our participant for Kit 916898 struggled with the earliest generations of his Guthrie Family Tree initially linking his ancestors to lineages that were not genetically related. Prior to his YDNA results being posted, a cursory study of his family tree did not reveal a clear-cut path to the correct ancestors. Now we know that he is a genetic match for Guthrie Family Group 2A.

Ruled Out Ancestors:
Hugh Guthrie/Gottary & Margaret Dickie – GFG3A?
This family is currently unrepresented among the Guthrie DNA Project’s YDNA tests, however Hugh Guthrie lived in Craigie, Ayrshire. This location was the home of the GFG3A line that eventually moved to New Zealand.

Thomas Guthrie & Jean Duncan – GFG9
This is the family who immigrated as indentured servants from the Orkney Islands to Georgia and later settled in South Carolina. Descendants match Guthrie Family Group 9.

William Guthrie & Elizabeth Wingfield – GFG1A
This family belongs to GFG1A, so definitely did not belong to the previous family from a different genetic group.

Theorized Ancestors:
William Guthrie b.1803TN/GA & Martha Rogers (3xGGP – Theory)
Children: Hester, Wilson(?), Robert, Martha, William Pleasant, Henry
|
Actual Ancestors:
Wilson Guttry 1828AL-1911AR & Sarah Starritt (2xGGP)
Children: John Wilson, Mary Frances, Christopher Columbus, William Timothy, James, Demaris Isaphine
|
John Wilson Guttry & Murtilla Jane Sanders (GGP)
Children: Maude Mae, Oscar Guy, Cecil Emerie, Early Otto, Carlos Byron, Paul Iris, John Graydon

This YDNA 67-marker kit is a genetic match for Guthrie Family Group 2A. It is a 66/67 match with the group’s most common genetic results (Mode DNA).

There is only 1 genetic variance at marker DYS460, which is a significant finding. Results = 11 instead of the group mode = 12.

Due to the large size of GFG2A and the fact that most of its members have tested at the Y67 or Y111 levels, it is possible to see the results of inherited genetic change. We can tell which branches are more closely related within the group because they share inherited mutations.

Eight of the GFG2A participants share the genetic marker DYS460=11. Most of them descend from one of two lineages we associate with Branch G:

James Guthrie c1720-p1801PA & Jeanette Wilson
Children: Mary, James, William, Elizabeth

John Guthrie 1725Londonderry, IRE-1797PA & Jane Reed
Children: John ‘Jack’, Elizabeth, Jane, Sarah, James, Nancy, William

Those participants from Branch G who have also tested at the Y111 level also share a second genetic mutation at DYS533 = 20 instead of the group mode = 19. These two variances show up almost exclusively among the descendants of James Guthrie and John Guthrie. Based on their origin stories, residences, and other connections, these two are believed to be brothers.

There is one other participant with a Y67 test who also possesses the genetic mutation at DYS460 = 11 instead of 12. This man descends from Andrew Milton Guthrie c1830PA-a1889PA & Susan Frain. They had 1 known son, also named Andrew Milton Guthrie. The DNA mutation match, and the PA location make it highly likely that Andrew Milton Guthrie descends from either James or John Guthrie. Since he has not tested at the Y111 level, we don’t know if he also possesses the second genetic mutation.

Now we have participant 916898 whose earliest confirmed ancestors are Wilson Guttry & Sarah Starritt of Arkansas. This family continues to use the Guttry spelling today.

Wilson Guttry was born in Alabama on 26 Dec 1828. We first find him in 1850 at the age of 22 in Harrison, Ouachita, Arkansas and working as a laborer. He is living with the Murphy family, but it is unknown if there is any relation. There are no other Guthrie/Guttry families living in the area during 1850.

Sometimes between 1850-1853, Wilson Guttry married Sarah M Starritt, presumably in Arkansas.

On 17 Dec 1852, Columbia County was formed from parts of Ouachita, Hempstead, and Lafayette counties.

The 1860 census finds Wilson & Sarah Guttry and their children living in Harrison, Columbia, Arkansas next door to the Murphy family. Listed on the next page 6 households away is the family of William and Martha (Rogers) Guthrie. Although I haven’t yet found any documentation to prove it, this couple’s proximity to Wilson Guttry’s family suggests they could be family.

The census records for William Guthrie reveal that he and Martha moved around a lot between Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi. So much so that I have not conclusively identified all of the records that apply to them.

William Guthrie was born about 1803 in either Tennessee or Georgia. His wife Martha was born in Tennessee. The couple’s marriage took place in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama on 15 Dec 1823. Children Hester, Robert, and Martha are listed as being born in Alabama. Sons Pleasant William and Henry were born in Mississippi.

Wilson Guttry’s records claim he was born in Alabama, so that would fit the family profile if William Guthrie and Martha Rogers were his parents.

The known Guthrie-Rogers children were born between 1827-1842, and the children born in Alabama in the 1820s. There is one household listed in the 1830 census of Jackson, Alabama that fits the family profile:
William Guthrie: 1M and 1F 20-29, 2M and 1F under 5.

I could not find this family in the 1840 census for AL. Based on the birthplaces listed for sons William Pleasant and Henry, the family could already have been living in Mississippi.

In 1850, they are found in Pontotoc, Mississippi.
William Guthrie, 50, farmer, born TN
Martha Guthrie, 48, born TN
Hester Guthrie, 23, born AL
Robert Guthrie, 21, farmer, born AL
Martha Guthrie, 15, born AL
Pleasant Guthrie 10, born MS
Henry Guthrie 8, born MS
Note that Wilson Guttry was already in Arkansas in 1850.

Coming from either Georgia or Tennessee, William Guthrie is not easily connected to the Pennsylvania families from GFG2A-Branch G. I could not find any obvious spot in James or John’s family lines to place William Guthrie b1803. The genetic clues point in their direction, or at least to a family that is very closely connected because they would have to inherit those matching genetic pattern markers from a recent common ancestor.

Participant 916898 will be listed with the GFG2A-Branch G lineages for now, but some research is required to determine the veracity of William Guthrie and Martha Roger’s connection, if any, to Wilson Guttry.

Does anyone have any information on William Guthrie & Martha Rogers that might provide some clues?