Robert is the son of James Guthrie and Elizabeth (MNU) and brother of James Guthrie, husband of Jane Smith. His father’s will was written 1 November 1800 and proved at May Term 1801. The two grandsons named James and Robert in that will belong to James and Jane’s family.

The retained accounts agree on November 1770 for Robert’s birth but differ between the 3rd and 12th. Near Baltimore is the principal family and church account; conflicting later birthplace statements do not resolve the question. No source reviewed establishes Hodge as his middle name.

Keep three men separate: Rev. Robert Guthrie (1770–1843); his nephew Robert Guthrie (1793–1855), husband of Aseneth Motheral; and his son Robert Wesley Guthrie (1799–1872), husband of Nancy Foster. The Aseneth dower and 1858 estate decree belong with the nephew.

James Guthrie’s recorded will · Ending and court proof.

The 29 January 1791 Orange County bond names Robert Guthrie and Mary Smith, with Andrew Smith as surety and S. Benton as witness. Robert signs; Andrew makes his mark. The obligation is £500. The bond does not expressly identify Andrew as Mary’s father or separately record the ceremony.

Mary’s retained working parents are Andrew Smith and Elizabeth Kerr. The source chain includes inherited family history reproduced in Frank Kerr McDaniel’s Kerr Family History Project (1993), including John Whitfield Kerr’s 1924 typed history. This identification is retained with its source basis.

The extensive Smith litigation concerns John A. Smith’s estate. It supplies evidence about siblings, spouses, and descendants, but does not name Mary and Jane’s parents. Giles County/Pulaski is the court venue; Sumner County is a witness location.

Mary’s working birth is about 1773 in North Carolina, with an alternate 1772 date requiring its source. Her brother’s use of Polly is retained as a familiar form of Mary.

Read the Smith–Kerr family research →

Beard describes departure from North Carolina in 1792, a year near Jonesboro, and a move to Middle Tennessee in 1793. Other family accounts use Greenville or broader Holston-area wording. These should be compared without inventing additional moves or an exact travel route.

Robert’s 1820 census index contains nine free white people: males under 10, one; males 16–25, one; males 45 or older, one; females under 10, one; females 10–15, three; females 16–25, one; females 45 or older, one. The two agricultural workers are a subset. The unnamed occupants should not be forced into a complete child-by-child identification.

The family accounts place Robert and Mary’s move to Missouri in 1831, after some children had gone ahead. Jane’s December 1831 marriage and Robert’s April 1832 reception into McGee Presbytery help anchor the chronology.

The supplied 1840 Chariton index lists four people: a male and female aged 60–69, a female 15–19, and a female 5–9. It does not identify the younger occupants as particular Wills granddaughters. The full image is needed for further household analysis.

1820 census locator · 1840 census locator.

8 February 1802: Joseph Latimer of Robertson County conveys 150 acres on Red River for $200 to Robert Gutherie of Sumner County. Registration is 21 January 1803; citation: Sumner Deed Book 3, p. 312, with an older-book p. 309 notation. An abstracted proof date preceding execution requires comparison with the court original.

24 August 1805: Joseph Snodgrass’s power of attorney appoints Robert Guthry to obtain money or property due from James Guthry’s estate. Read with Martha’s marriages and her father’s will, it connects the Kentucky household to the North Carolina estate. Citation: Logan Circuit Court Book A, p. 354. A separate 28 October 1805 abstract records James and Robert conveying 200 North Carolina acres to Bailor Burch for £100.

30 November 1807: James Godfrey of Wilson County sells Robert 333 acres for $122 on the dividing ridge between Red River and Station Camp Creek. The land is part of a grant to Anthony Godfrey’s heirs. Michael Latimer and James Guthrie witness the deed. It is proved at March Term 1809 and registered 27 May 1809. Citation: Sumner Deed Book 4, pp. 354–355. James Guthrie is a witness, not the grantor; 1809 is not a second purchase.

24 October 1826: Robert conveys 333 acres to Eli Guthrie for $333, acknowledged in November and registered 28 January 1827. Allen W. Guthrie is among the witnesses. Citation: Sumner Deed Book 11, pp. 316–317. The deed does not itself call Eli his son; the established family relationship comes from the combined evidence. Equal acreages alone do not prove tract identity.

Robert’s resignation as justice of the peace is dated 13 August 1827 in the retained court material. Other Sumner transactions involving a Robert require comparison with the nephew and son before attribution, including the 1821 Beard purchase, 1828 Lacky purchase, and a later Tennessee grant.

1 October 1835: Two Missouri cash patents issued through the Fayette land office cover 160 acres and 40 acres for Robert Guthrie of Chariton County: patents 7331 and 7257, in township 54 north, range 18 west. The duplicated images represent two patents totaling 200 acres. These are cash purchases, not military-service awards.

The church-history material places Robert among exhorters in April 1803; Beard identifies him as an exhorter and candidate by 1805. These stages precede his 30 March 1814 licensure at New Hope and 6 April 1820 ordination at Stoner’s Creek. The distinct dates should be retained.

Beard knew the household personally. He describes Robert fitting study around farm labor and preaching obligations, and Mary assisting with the family’s religious instruction. He also mentions a North Carolina dismissal and recommendation letter for Robert and Mary, signed by Rev. James Bowman, then held by a son. Locating that letter could identify their North Carolina congregation more securely.

McGee Presbytery’s April 1832 minutes record Robert’s reception from Nashville Presbytery. Beard places his participation in organizing Ebenezer at Keytesville in 1836. The March 1840 minutes appoint a meeting at his Chariton County home; October 1843 minutes record his death and condolences to Mary.

Robert Wesley’s Dry Fork connection: a deed executed 10 October 1834 by James Johnson, Robert Stewart, and Robert W. Guthrie provides a meetinghouse tract for Cumberland Presbyterian use, with a return condition. It was registered 3 August 1836: Sumner Deed Book 15, pp. 100–101. Wesley’s elder and clerk roles are supported by church records, rather than inferred solely from that deed.

Robert’s biography and church-minute extracts · Richard Beard’s 1867 volume.

Robert died in September 1843 near Keytesville. Beard reproduces Allen’s account of the final illness, and McGee Presbytery’s October minutes acknowledge the death. A 1 July 1848 Brunswicker final-settlement notice belongs to the later estate process, not Robert’s death year.

Mary survived Robert. Allen’s 16 December 1869 letter, as quoted in the retained compilation, gives her death as 1845; the working tree and American Guthrie and Allied Families give 1846. The original letter and estate or church records should be compared before choosing between them.

Both are reported buried in Bennett Cemetery at Keytesville. Clear marker photographs, cemetery records, and probate documents would help settle the remaining vital-date questions.

Anna’s working dates are 2 June 1793–14 January 1834, with birth in North Carolina or East Tennessee and death at White House, Tennessee. She married William Burney on 7 July 1812 in Sumner County; Isaac Armfield was bondsman. A competing 1831 death conflicts with the listed 1832 child. The eight-child list follows the Burney family research.

1. Rev. Stanford Guthrie Burney (1814–1893); Susan Grey.
2. Rev. Harris Lacky Burney (1816–1898); first Mary Lucy Vick, then Ann C. Montague.
3. Mary Leviena / Levinea Burney (born 1818); further details unresolved.
4. James Harvey / Howard Burney (1821–1851); Sarah “Sally” E. Jernigan. The middle name needs comparison with original records.
5. John Franklin Burney (1824–1851); Nancy Ann Parks. No children are recorded.
6. Robert Washington Burney (born about 1829); further details unresolved.
7. Westley Monroe Burney (about 1829–1862); reported unmarried.
8. Eli Gunn Burney (1832–1904); Esther Dorothy Schillinger.

Stanford Guthrie Burney biography · Harris Lackey Burney biography.

The working tree gives James’s birth about 1795; Beard gives 12 May 1793, which conflicts with Anna’s reported June 1793 birth. Beard explains that James added Smith, his mother’s surname, to distinguish himself from a cousin. He became a ministerial candidate in 1818 and was licensed on 14 October 1819. He married Lethe Burns in fall 1827 at Elyton, Jefferson County, Alabama. After Alabama, the family appears in Rusk County, Texas, in 1850. Church records list him at Alton, Texas, in 1856 and report his death that year; the Alton county identification needs verification.

1. Aurelia Panthea Guthrie (1830–1908); Houston Jackson Gray.
2. Robert Burns Guthrie (1832–1908); Nancy A. Killain.
3. Mary Amanda Guthrie (1837–1883); John Hunter Gay.
4. Vienna Guthrie (born about 1840); present in the 1850 Rusk County household.

James Smith Guthrie’s biography and church records →

Andrew Harvey was born 27 August 1797 and reportedly died 9 October 1864 in Perry County, Tennessee. He is distinct from his cousin Andrew H. Guthrie, born in 1807 to James and Jane. His first marriage was to Margaret Stewart Kirkpatrick in April 1820, with the 6th and 11th both reported. After her 1835 death he married Jane Stewart Kirkpatrick on 7 March 1836 at Shackle Island. He was associated with Beech Creek church and is reported buried at Bethel Cemetery in Perry County. The 1864 death falls during the Civil War.

1. John Kirkpatrick Guthrie (1821–1899), by Margaret; Lucy Ann McDonald.
2. James Porter Guthrie (born 11 November 1824), by Margaret; later history unresolved.
3. Mary Isabella Guthrie (born 3 September 1827), by Margaret; reported to have died young, but reuse of the name alone does not establish a death date.
4. William Etherly Guthrie (born 27 September 1830), by Margaret; recorded with the family in 1850.
5. Hugh Kirkpatrick Guthrie (1833–1890), by Margaret; Martha Ann Norman.
6. Robert Alexander Guthrie (1839–1903), by Jane; first Nannie (MNU), then Hattie Eliza Sims.
7. James Stewart Guthrie (1844–1906), by Jane; Medora Frances Randel.
8. Mary Isabella Guthrie (1849–1923), by Jane; John McAnally Webb.

His 1824 land leads include 56 acres from Fortunatus Jones and 108 acres from Hugh Kirkpatrick. The 1860 Walnut Grove church gift is assigned in the current research to the younger cousin Andrew H., not automatically to Andrew Harvey.

Wesley was born 2 April 1799 in Sumner County and died 7 August 1872. A competing 1869 death is incompatible with the identified 1870 census and December 1870 affidavit. He married Nancy Foster, daughter of William and Agnes (Allen) Foster, on 7 October 1819; Rev. Hugh Kirkpatrick performed the ceremony and Andrew H. Guthrie was bondsman. Wesley farmed, worked as a carpenter and cabinetmaker, and served Dry Fork church as elder and clerk. His burial is reported at Bethpage.

1. Mary E. Guthrie (1820–1884); unmarried, with no children recorded.
2. William Foster Guthrie (1828–1853); died at age 24, unmarried.
3. Nancy Elizabeth Guthrie (1832–1904); James Irvin Guthrie, son of Robert Guthrie and Aseneth Motheral.

The 1834 Dry Fork deed is described above. Later land and estate records should remain attached to Wesley rather than to his father or same-named cousin.

Eli was born 6 February 1801 in Sumner County and married Eliza Coldwell on 23 February 1830 in Dickson County. A Cumberland Presbyterian minister, he preached in Tennessee before settling at DeWitt in Carroll County, Missouri. Beard recounts his death while attempting to rescue men trapped amid ice on the Missouri River in December 1837. Beard gives the 19th; the working tree gives the 17th. Probate is recorded on 26 February 1838.

1. Robert Coldwell Guthrie (1831–1843); died before adulthood.
2. William Montgomery Guthrie (about 1832–1853); died while attending college, unmarried.
3. Mary Jane Guthrie (1837–1865); Patrick Henry Perkins.

Read Eli Guthrie’s biography →

Elizabeth was born in 1803 in Sumner County and married George W. Wills on 9 April 1823, with Eli Guthrie as bondsman. They moved from Tennessee to Chariton County, Missouri, where she reportedly died 29 May 1836. George’s subsequent marriage to Abarilla Phillips on 27 January 1840 produced another family; those children should remain separate from Elizabeth’s.

1. James G. Wills (born about 1824); identified in Keytesville in 1870. A proposed 1877 Texas death needs verification.
2. Unidentified son Wills (estimated born 1825–1830); a census-based entry requiring further identification.
3. Margaret T. Wills (about 1826–1866); James Monroe Gardner.
4. Letha Parilee Wills (1829–1853); first John J. Cowell, then Lloyd Bentley Cash.
5. Jane Wills (reported born and deceased in the 1830s); the exact dates remain unresolved.

The younger women in Robert and Mary’s 1840 household have not been securely identified as these daughters.

Sarah was born in 1805 in Sumner County. She married Thomas Culbertson on 22 December 1825, with her brother Rev. James Smith Guthrie officiating. The family moved to Missouri around 1831. Thomas’s reported death is 1843; Sarah’s appearance as household head in 1840 does not itself establish earlier widowhood. She married Abraham Cash on 30 June 1844 and died 17 September 1853 in Chariton County.

1. Mary K. Culbertson (1826–1907, reported); first John William Fridley, then John H. Silvey.
2. James Ewing Culbertson (1828–1865); Elizabeth Stewart.

Abraham had children from his earlier marriage to Louelle Deborah Glover. Those Cash children should not be assigned to Sarah merely because they share a later household.

Mary’s working birth is 13 October 1806, while another account gives 1809. Her death is variously reported in 1863, 1867, and 1868. She married Matthew T. Wills on 10 September 1825; their family moved to Missouri around 1830–1831. She married Frank Moss on 3 June 1849, then Abraham Cash on 5 March 1854, after her sister Sarah’s death. The sisters’ marriages to Abraham were successive. No children are recorded from Mary’s later marriages.

1. Martha Jane Wills (born about 1825–1830; died 1854); Joshua Marion Cash. No children recorded.
2. Sarah Fanata Wills (1827–1908); William Edmund Chrane.
3. Robert Hoop Wills (1829–1889); Sarah Frances Breeze.
4. Eliza Caldwell Wills (1831–1921); James Chambers Cash.

Mary’s reported Bennett Cemetery burial and the several death dates need comparison with the original marker and estate records. The current project notes place kit B252532 in this family line.

Jane was born in 1811 in Sumner County and married James Capper on 22 December 1831 in Chariton County. Both are reported deceased before 1869. Their family remains lightly documented; the two unnamed entries should not be treated as fully identified people.

1. Sallie Capper; reported born about or after 1831, presumably in Missouri.
2. Unidentified daughter Capper; supporting records needed.
3. Unidentified son Capper; supporting records needed.

Allen was born 26 November 1813 in Sumner County and died 13 April 1891 at Macon, Missouri, with burial at Oakwood Cemetery. He moved to Missouri about 1830, was ordained in 1838, and married Elizabeth Ann Young on 16 September 1838 in Callaway County. After her 7 April 1855 death, he became curator of her minor heirs on 8 January 1856. He married Margaret A. Smith on 17 April 1856 in Buchanan County.

1. Benjamin Eli Guthrie (1839–1918); Susan Ann Middleton Mitchell.
2. Robert James Guthrie (reported 1843–1883); Anna Buntin. His birth year needs comparison with the 1850 census age.
3. Virginia A. Guthrie (1846–1877); John M. Mitchell.
4. Barnet M. Guthrie (born about 1849); the reported infant death requires comparison with the 1850 household entry.
5. Elizabeth Luvenia Guthrie (1851–1937); John Abner Fox.
6. Five unidentified child entries appear in the family account. Their names, dates, and the basis for an infancy-death conclusion need documentation.

Allen’s 16 December 1869 letter and 22 June 1870 deposition are important family-history sources. A March 1850 marriage of Susannah Snodgrass and Benjamin R. Holt records Allen as officiant; it is not another marriage of Allen himself.

Nancy was born 27 April 1816 in Sumner County and died 11 August 1879 in Chariton County. She married Daniel Benton Culbertson in 1833. Daniel died in 1891; both are reported buried in Bennett Cemetery. The eight entries below preserve the family list without deciding whether repeated names are separate children.

1. Mary Frances Culbertson (1835–1922); William Bland Owens.
2. Frances Guthrie Culbertson (born about 1836); may be a separate child or a duplicate of Mary Frances.
3. Robert Guthrie Culbertson (1839–1870s); Sarah Catherine Cash, daughter of James and Eliza (Wills) Cash.
4. Ann Jane Culbertson (1843–1902); Jasper Newton Cash.
5. Nancy Elizabeth Culbertson (1845–1945); James Dudley Mooreman.
6. James Benton Culbertson (1847–1920); Emma G. Davis.
7. Benton Culbertson (about 1847–1848); possible duplicate of James Benton, requiring verification.
8. Eli Culbertson (born about 1850, reportedly died before 1860).

The retained Robert Wesley research includes an 1857 bill of sale from James N. McLin, dated 16 February, naming Anderson, aged 52, for $600. A male aged 55 in a later schedule may be the same man, but age alone does not identify him. The 1850 and 1860 schedules require comparison with named transactions and later records.

Research notes for James Smith Guthrie’s family also preserve the history of Sylvania Guthrie and her sons in connection with enslavement. The Burns estate and subsequent records are needed to establish their individual histories and relationships. A shared surname alone does not establish a biological relationship.

These records concern the children’s households. They should not be transferred to Rev. Robert solely because the family shares the Guthrie surname.

Richard Beard, Brief Biographical Sketches of Some of the Early Ministers of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church (1867), especially Robert’s sketch on pp. 120–134 and the separate sketches of James Smith and Eli. Beard’s personal recollections and his quotations from church records should be distinguished from later compiled additions.

Other retained sources include Allen Washington Guthrie’s family letters and testimony, N. F. Gill’s 1903 account, American Guthrie and Allied Families, the Smith estate litigation, marriage bonds, census material, and the land records summarized above.

Church biography and minutes · State Historical Society of Missouri collection guide · General History of Macon County, Missouri.