Summer is at an end, vacation time is over, and yet when it comes to genealogy the fun never ends. October might still be weeks away, but Pumpkin Spice Season is upon us. It’s not just the coffee and desserts getting spiced up, but things are going on in some of our genealogy hotspots, too.

Ancestry has added their Pro-Tools Membership package. Whether it is worth the additional $10/month depends on how much time you spend researching, adding data to your trees, creating reports, or identifying and fixing errors. Since I interact with my Guthrie Research Tree on nearly a daily basis, I have actually found some of the tools useful. If you have a very large tree or have ever cut/pasted from census records, reports, or other trees into your own, you might have inadvertently created duplicate people. The tool helps identify, review, and merge them, or conversely verify that people with similar names and dates are in fact two individuals.

Another feature in Ancestry’s Pro-Tools is found when comparing DNA matches. Reviewing your shared matches is critical when triangulating relationships in Autosomal DNA tests like the one at AncestryDNA. When you review your Shared Matches, you currently see a list of people found to be on your list and the list of the person you are reviewing. The Pro-Tool adds an interesting feature by telling you what relationship that Shared Person is to both of you. Maybe Person X is your 3rd cousin once removed, but he’s the grandson of the third party you’re comparing. You might be able to determine how he fits into your tree, and which ancestor is the source of your shared DNA.

Meanwhile, back at Family Tree DNA…
As discussed in the last Guthrie Genealogy News issue, FTDNA has teamed up with MyHeritage with the goal of creating a more user-friendly family tree system. This brought up questions that FTDNA decided to put into writing. The most critical points:
– This collaboration DOES NOT mean that FamilyTreeDNA is merging with MyHeritage.
– This collaboration also does not mean that MyHeritage is merging with FamilyTreeDNA.
– MyHeritage does not get any DNA data.
– MyHeritage does not get any match information even when you link matches to the tree.
– If you don’t have a tree on FamilyTreeDNA now, you cannot create one. Clicking the family tree button will take you to the MyHeritage integration page.
– Each member may grant an administrator of a project permission to connect the member’s tree to MyHeritage. This is done from the Project Preferences page under Account Settings, right next to where they choose Access permission.
– Viewing the trees from the Member Information page depends on the tree settings.
– If they have it set to public, you do not need a MyHeritage Account to view their trees.
– If it’s set to site members only, you DO need a MyHeritage account.
– If it’s set to private, no one other than the member can see it.
– If you are linking to an existing MyHeritage tree, be sure to link a root person in your tree before linking any new matches or relinking previous ones. If you see a button on your FamilyTreeDNA Account Settings page under Tree Settings to do this, then you haven’t done it. If there is no button there, then it’s done.

The National Archives of Scotland website at Scotlands People has recently been given a facelift. The design may have been altered to be more user-friendly to phone browsers. This site is much better on a computer so that the scans of old documents can be opened up for viewing. The new format presents forms awkwardly large forms. Navigation is not as easy as it was before. In other words, I’m not a fan of the new look! The good news is that all of the vital data is still there to be found.

The PBS show Finding Your Roots with Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr received its very first Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Hosted Non-Fiction Series or Special. Love that show!

Guthrie DNA Project Updates

NEW MEMBER LINEAGES:

GFG1A – Branch B: Descendant of Mary ‘Polly’ Guthrie and Nathaniel Teagle (Autosomal DNA)
GFG1A – Branch B: Descendant of William Guthrie and Rebecca Lickliter (Autosomal DNA)
GFG2A – Branch B: Descendant of Adam Guthrie and Phoebe Mercer Jones (Y-DNA/Big-Y/Autosomal DNA)
GFG8 – Branch D: Descendant of Carter Guthrie and Barbara Beal (Autosomal DNA)
GFG16: Descendant of Robert Guthrie and Janet Andrew (Autosomal DNA)
Ungrouped Family Status: Descendant of Anslem Guthrie and Matilda Brock (Autosomal DNA
Plus 2 new members of other surnames with ‘suspected’ Guthrie ancestry.

BIG-Y TESTING and ANALYSIS:

Guthrie Family Group 1A Big-Y Participants: 3

R-FT13875 – Represents the Most Recent Common Ancestor of all three GFG1A Big-Y participants. He is estimated to have been born about 1346.

This shows that Branch G’s William Guthrie, born bef. 1752 in Virginia – died abt. 1824 Amherst, VA did not likely share a common Guthrie ancestor with the historical line of the Guthries of Guthrie. The MRCA is estimated to be two or more generations prior to the establishment of the known line beginning with David Guthrie, 1st of Guthrie, 2nd Kincaldrum. His father Alexander Guthrie, 1st of Kincaldrum was reportedly born about 1410.

Note that the GFG1A lineage has the best claim to the family line of the Guthries of Guthrie, but there is still no definitive genetic evidence prior to the generation of James Guthrie and Christian Scott, who were parents to James Guthrie, 1st Baron Guthrie of Craigie, and to Patrick Guthrie who m. Agnes Foord. Project participants include descendants of both sons James and Patrick.

Needed: Big-Y testing for GFG1A Branches B, C, D, E, and F, but especially the Branch B Middlesex VA line.

Guthrie Family Group 2A Big-Y Participants: 5 with a 6th Pending

GFG2A is the largest of all genetic family groups with Branches A thru O.
Branches A, E, and H are closely related descending from James Guthrie and Jane Stuart. SCT > IRE.
Branches B, F, and I are clustered as part of the Three Brothers Origin Story. SCT > IRE?
Branch C – Unclear if SCT > IRE or direct from SCT.
Branch D – Unclear if SCT > IRE or direct from SCT
Branch G – SCT > IRE – Origin story includes descent from the Guthries of Pitforthie
Branch J – SCT > IRE – Left Ireland during the Potato Famine
Branch K – Either SCT > SC or emigrated from one of the northern branches of the family.
Branch L – IRE > CAN/USA
Branch M – IRE to SCT to CAN/USA
Branch N – Unclear, but theorized to descend from one of the northern family branches.
Branch O – Earliest ancestor adopted out of a Guthrie family. Clues lead to Branch F.

The pending results are from another Branch B descendant of Adam Guthrie and Mercy Irwin, so they should be attached to R-FTD48772 like the other Branch B participant. STR results show some commonality with our Branch G folks. That branch has some unique genetic marker, and this Guthrie has one of them. While a random mutation is possible, it could also be an important clue. We’ll have to see how his Big-Y results shake out. It also means that we really need a Branch G participant to upgrade to Big-Y for a better comparison of where that branch sits in the bigger picture.

The Most Recent Common Ancestor for the 4 branches above is estimated to have been born about 1608, with the early end of the range extending back to the 1400s. Branches C and D have a MRCA born more recently than the one shared with Branch B.

Guthrie Family Group 2C Big Y Participants: 1

Descendants of Robert Guthrie and Elizabeth Jane Caldwell had once been believed to belong to the GFG2A-Branch I “hypothetical family” gathered together by author Lawrence R. Guthrie. Y-DNA testing of two direct line Guthrie men as well as Autosomal DNA testing of many descendants tells us that Robert Guthrie (1752PA-1815OH) was the earliest known Guthrie with the GFG2C genetic profile. Unlike many situation where a ‘causal event’ is suspected, neither of these Guthries had a significant number of YDNA matches. Their YDNA is rare not only in colonial Pennsylvania, but in the FTDNA database as a whole. The closest match at the Y111 and Big-Y levels is a man named Smith whose family is still in the Netherlands. I believe GFG2C is the result of an NPE or adoption linked to a family of Dutch origin.

Guthrie Family Group 3A Big-Y Participants: 6

GFG3A’s Francis Guthrie was originally grouped as one of 7 potential brothers who arrived in America over a twenty year period, but YDNA has disproved their family connections. Instead, Francis Guthrie was genetically unrelated to either one of the groups with a big presence in the north-eastern colonies, GFG2A and GFG6.

The American contingent of this group all descend from Francis Guthrie Sr who settled in Coleraine Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania before 1751. The collaborative research on his descendants has recovered data on the family connections and placed several ungrouped family lineages under the GFG3A banner. Four participants represent the GFG3A-Branch A descendants of Francis Guthrie Sr. As expected, sons Robert Guthrie and John Guthrie are depicted as branching off from their father. We do not have a Big-Y representative for any son of Francis Guthrie Jr, nor Y-DNA testing at any level to verify those lineages as belonging to GFG3A.

Branch B places the group’s likely ancestry firmly in Ayrshire, Scotland. William Guthrie was born in Ayrshire between 1750-1770 or 1771. He was a farmer at Harperland and twice married. Firstly to Ann Hunter by whom he had six children, the eldest of whom was George Guthrie. Secondly, he married Jacobina McClure, adding five more children to the family. In 1803, they also named their first son George Guthrie as the first had died in 1800. Were they merely honoring the other son, or was George the name of their grandfather? There are 3 Old Parish Records listing the birth/baptism of a son William Guthrie to a father named George Guthrie in Ayrshire during the estimated 20-year span. More clues required.

Guthrie Family Group 4 Big Y Participants: 1 (Sort Of)

The descendants of Thomas Guthrey and Sarah Oakes of colonial Virginia do not have any Guthrie participants representing them with Big-Y testing. We do have one of their “Other Surname” matches who has tested at that level, but we’ll need some GFG4 Big-Y testers to see what can be revealed about their group origins.

Guthrie Family Group 5 Big Y Participants: 3

I suspect there is far more going on with GFG5 than what shows up in these results. We need some basic YDNA tests from some of our GFG5-theorized lineages to expand the big picture for the group. Big-Y testing will definitely be a goal at some point, but we need some participation from Guthrie men descending from the Carteret, NC families known to be linked to Daniel Guthrie and Mary Little’s line, the families of Thickety Creek like Frederick Guthrie and Mollie Louallen, and anyone out there with a traceable lineage going back to the Guthries of King and Queen, VA.

Branches C and H’s Most Recent Common Ancestor was estimated to have been born about 1696 plus or minus about 100 years.

The ‘other surname’ match does not have documented evidence of the GFG5 branch from which his YDNA originates., but this timeline appears to place his MRCA with the other two branches nearly two hundred years before theirs.

Guthrie Family Group 6 Big Y Participants: 2

GFG6 is one of the oldest Guthrie Family Groups in the project with 12 major branches with roots in Scotland, Ireland, and England. There are now 18 Guthrie men representing these branches, but only two of them are participating at the Big-Y level. The Most Recent Common Ancestor for these two branches is estimated to have been born during the Middle Ages around the year 1254. Where do the other 10 branches fit into this very old family tree? Those answers are still out there. Don’t forget that multiple people can pool resources to sponsor a test or upgrade with permission of the tester.

Guthrie Family Group 7 Big-Y Participants: 2

This group has 5 major branches. These include two lineages with roots in Ayrshire, Scotland. One of these belonging to Branch E is represented with a Big-Y test. The other represented Branch is D who are the descendants of Adam Guthrie and Mary Anderson. Adam was born in Ireland, but the only published story of his origins is tangled up in Irish myth and a family from the Gaelic Middle Ages. Note that the Most Recent Common Ancestor between branches D and E was estimated to be born about 1523.

Guthrie Family Group 8 Big-Y Participants: 1 with 2 Pending plus 2 Other Surname Matches

This group has jut recently expanded to include Branch D: Carter Guthrie 1771-80NC – p1850AR / Barbara Beal. The earliest known Guthrie in the group is Branch A’s Thomas Guthrie 1711-1786VA / Mary Cason. It is possible that Carter is a descendant of Thomas, but there are few clues to go by much less documentation. Both of our Branch D participants have upgraded to the Big-Y level. Those results are pending. Will they show that Carter descends from Thomas, or does Carter belong to a collateral Guthrie line sharing a more distant common ancestor? Eagerly awaiting those results!

We don’t know at this time whether Branch A is the progenitor of the remaining group, or if this Guthrie group is part of a larger cluster of Guthrie lineages that extend back across the Atlantic. There are two other surnames frequently found amongst the results for this group: Carter and Vaughn/Vaughan. Descendants who have been studying these branches and genetic matches find that Carter may be a subset of the Guthrie line, but Vaughan may actually be the biological progenitor of this Guthrie group. More study is definitely required before drawing a conclusion. This family journey may lead back to Ireland.

Currently, the two Vaughan matches show a common Ancestor born about 1673. Their MRCA with GFG8A’s Branch A is way back in the Middle Ages with an estimated birth in the year 1343. Could this have been a man of the Guthrie surname and the Vaughan line developed later? Could it be the other way around? We don’t yet know, but future Y-DNA and Big-Y matches could help to determine the truth in this Chicken vs Egg scenario.

Other Guthrie Family Groups with Big Y Participants
These groups have 1 participant each with a Big-Y test:
GFG11, GFG14, GFG15, GFG16

GENETIC MISMATCHES:

A YDNA 37-marker test for a descendant of David Guthrie and Isabella Wood matches surnames Patrick and Valentine. This kit remains in an Ungrouped Family Status pending additional YDNA testing to either match this kit’s results or provide an alternate genetic profile.

A YDNA test for a descendant of Hugh Guthrie and Lizzie Jane Rogers did not match GFG7 as anticipated. This kit was placed into a new sub-group designated as GFG7B.

Guthrie Genealogy Blog/Website

Guthrie Family Group 2A:

David Linscott, one of our Branch B descendants of Adam Guthrie and Mercy Irwin, has been digging into the Three Brothers Origin Story. He upgraded his uncle’s YDNA test to a Big-Y test, and has been chatting with other Guthrie descendants he connected with at one of the Guthrieville Reunions about what they know of their Guthrie origins. Many of them draw a blank or quote one of the published versions of the family story. He found another descendant of Adam Guthrie Jr and Mary Elton whose YDNA matches the GFG2A profile. He has also ordered a Big-Y test, but we’re waiting on those results.

Guthrie Family Group 5:

The Guthrie Family Group 5 data expansion continues.

Completed data for GFG5 Branches A, B, C and D.

Added data for additional generations, reading and resources.

Currently gathering info on James C Guthrie and Caroline Guthrie of Carteret County, North Carolina.

Also added all Guthrie land entries for Craven and Carteret Counties, NC from the Grantor and Grantee indexes. Still working on providing links to individual deeds. You can find these linked to the GFG5 pages or in the Research & Resources list under the USA heading. See North Carolina – Craven County and Carteret County. If any of you want to do something similar for another State/County let me know.

Reminder that GFG5-Branch H: Thomas Guthrie and Mildred Howell is now proven to belong to GFG5 rather than GFG2.

Guthrie Family Group 8:
The primary page for Carter Guthrie and Barbara Beal has been created and is designated as GFG8 – Branch D.

The records of Lincoln County, North Carolina provide some heaving hints as to how some of these branches tie together.

See the linked records in the Reading and Resources section on their page.

Guthrie Family Group 16:

A new Autosomal DNA participant traces his lineage back to Robert Guthrie and Janet Andrew of Dunbartonshire & Lanarkshire, Scotland. Previously, we had two YDNA participants whose lineage we traced back to this couple, both men descending via different sons. Currently reviewing this kit for any hints. So far there are multiple matches to known GFG16 lineages.

Guthrie Family Group 17:

Expanded the Origin Theories section for GFG17.

All branches lead back to David Guthrie in Cookston & Balbirnie Mill and Janet Stewart.

Added a new page for GFG17 – Branch C: Descendants of Charles Guthrie & Isabella Lyall.

Everyone of Guthrie ancestry is welcome to join us at Guthrie Genealogy whether or not you have a DNA test. If you’re just here to build your family tree, that’s okay. but consider sharing something about your family line. Start a discussion thread. Post a theory. Feel free to argue a case if you have ideas about how your Guthrie Family Group fits together, especially if you have a family story or documentation to back it up. Contribute links to our Research & Resources sections. Spice up your genealogy research with a little bit of extra fun. Unlike the Pumpkin Spice brownies and lattes of the season, genealogy comes without calories and it’s great to share.