On the 4th of July, Americans typically celebrate Independence Day with a family gathering at a picnic, a neighborhood barbecue, or watching a fireworks display. While Aunt Petunia’s potato salad may be delicious, some of us also enjoy our holiday with a side dish of genealogy.

Let’s bring you up to speed on a couple of passion projects involving one Revolutionary War Patriot’s gravesite and the discovery of a Guthrie cemetery.

POKE RUN CEMETERY
Washington Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania
Patriot: John Guthrie (1727 IRE – 1797 PA) – DAR Ancestor ID #A048609
Spouse 1: Jane Reed
Spouse 2: Mary (Simpson) Wallace
Guthrie Family Group 2A – Branch G

Twelve Revolutionary War soldiers are believed to be buried at Poke Run Cemetery. One of those is the grave of John Guthrie, born in Northern Ireland in 1725. He came from Londonderry in 1771 settling with his wife and children in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania within a year of their arrival in the Colony of Pennsylvania. The Revolutionary War period was a harrowing time for John Guthrie’s immediate and extended family members living in Pennsylvania. Already 51 years of age when America declared its Independence, John Guthrie served in the capacity of Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland County. He died in March of 1797 and was buried at Poke Run Cemetery.

Over two and a quarter centuries later, John Guthrie’s 5-times great-granddaughter, LuAnn (Kennedy) Cherry found the sandstone marker at his gravesite to be cracked, weathered, nearly illegible, and in a vulnerable state. Something needed to be done to preserve what remained of the original marker while also giving current and future generations a place to honor their ancestor. Concerned that John Guthrie’s marker would be “thrown over the hill” like so many other illegible stones that once marked some of the oldest graves, LuAnn decided to fund a granite replacement marker for the gravesite.

A photo from the early 1990s (left) showing the upright sandstone marker, which was still somewhat legible compared to a photo from October 2022 (right). The damaged stone marker had been on the ground, but was set upright again by cemetery staff.

As of January 2024, a new granite replacement monument was ordered to match the design of the original stone as much as possible. The only legible letters on the original stone are the ‘OH’ in John and the ‘U” and ‘E’ in Guthrie. The new stone was set on 27 June 2024 with the original stone placed horizontally on the top of the grave, set at ground level so the mowers can pass over it without causing further damage. A small pointed stone with the year 1797 was found against the old headstone and was placed at the base of the new marker.

Poke Run Cemetery
~ 2024 ~

The cost of the project was incurred entirely by LuAnn Cherry. If anyone is interested helping defray the cost of the new marker by donating to the project please contact LuAnn directly at mulhollandkennedy@gmail.com for information. The names of all project contributors will be forwarded to the Poke Run Presbyterian Church for their records.

GUTHRIE CEMETERY
Sonoma Ranch, Pershing County, Nevada
Descendants of Guthrie Family Group 2A – Branch E:
Robert Guthrie (1700 IRE – 1782 PA) and Bridget Dougherty

Meanwhile, far out west in Nevada, another branch of Guthrie Family Group 2A has its own champion. Kate W. contacted me to inquire about the Guthrie Cemetery found on their Sonoma Ranch property in Nevada. She is very curious about the people buried in this little worn down cemetery, hopeful to discover more about them, and excited to share information about what we might dig up… figuratively, of course!

The cemetery itself is listed at Find-a-Grave as Guthrie Cemetery, Pershing County, Nevada. Only 20 memorials and a few photos of its stone markers are included. Kate W. tells me there are more named mentioned on the site than headstones in the cemetery. She believes many markers may have originally been made of wood or graves were simply unmarked.

A few of the Guthries found there are linked to the Find-a-Grave Memorial and the Guthrie Research Tree:
[Memorial] [Tree] ~ John Baker Guthrie 29 Sep 1829 – 2 Nov 1890
[Memorial] [Tree] ~ Harriet Watt Guthrie 8 Dec 1832 – 27 Aug 1917
[Memorial] [Unidentified] ~ Arthur Guthrie 18 Mar 1834 – 4 Nov 1896
[Memorial] [Unidentified] ~ A. F. Guthrie 28 Jul 1838 – 14 July 1907
[Memorial] [Tree] ~ John Frank Guthrie 19 Feb 1866 – 9 Oct 1943
[Memorial] [Unidentified] ~ Melinda Louise Guthrie 12 Jul 1867 – 5 Jan 1871

Does anyone have details on the Unidentified Guthries on this list? John and Harriet had a son named Arthur Watt Guthrie born in 1871. As far as we know, John did not have a brother named Arthur. Or did he?

If you have information on these Guthries or the others buried at Guthrie Cemetery, please drop a note in the ‘Comment’ section. I’ll put you in touch with Kate W to help her uncover more about the burials at Sonoma Ranch.

READING and RESOURCES:

BOOK: Strom, M. A. (2001). Guthrie Stories Book I. United States: DEI. Note: Published for Clan Guthrie
Physical Location: Ohio Genealogical Society – Family History 929.2 GUTHRIE S87g v.1

Humboldt County 1905 by Allan C. Bragg
A compiled series of articles surveying individuals and locations throughout all corners of Humboldt County in 1905.  These articles were originally published in the 1905 Silver State newspapers and were written by Allan C. Bragg, the newspaper’s editor, as he recounted his visits across the vast county.   [Available at Humboldt Museum]

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE:
The Silver State, Winnemucca, Nevada, Wednesday, 19 April, 1905. Page 1
Digital Repository: Newspapers.com

E-BOOK: Hess, R. (2016) Preparing for Winter: An 1896 Western Adventure. Digital Repository: GooglePlay
Mentions the Guthrie Family and Sonoma Ranch