2A-D: Francis Guthery
Guthrie Family Group 2A · Branch D · Child Page
Francis Guthery
Born January 1778 · Died in infancy
Monongahela region · Present-day southwestern Pennsylvania
Francis was the fourth child of John Guthery and Lydia Baldwin. His name and birth are preserved in the family Bible, while the family history remembers his death in infancy.
Both reported birth dates—1 January and 11 January 1778—are retained below. His brief life belongs in the story of all twelve children, although he died before the family’s later move to Ohio.
Family at a Glance
- Parents
- John Guthery (1744–1823) & Lydia Baldwin (1755–1816).
- Family Place
- Fourth of twelve children; born after John Jr. and before George.
- Birth
- January 1778. The Bible’s literal numeral reading supports 1 January; the biography and Lydia Peters’s account give 11 January.
- Birthplace
- The family lived in the Monongahela region of present-day southwestern Pennsylvania, then within the disputed Pennsylvania–Virginia border region.
- Death
- In infancy, according to family-history accounts. An exact date is not established.
- Burial
- Unknown.
The tree’s approximate death year of 1778 should not be read as a documented date. The statement “died in infancy” does not establish that he died in the same calendar year as his birth, although it generally implies within the first year of life.
Historical Highlights
Remembered in the Pennsylvania household
Francis’s place in the family belongs to its Monongahela years, near Big Whiteley Creek. The later Ohio settlements and mill belong to the lives of his parents and surviving siblings.
His youngest sister, Lydia Guthery Peters, included him in her account of the family. Born in 1794, she could not have remembered his infancy herself; her account preserves family knowledge of the brother who died before she was born.
Family Timeline
| Date | Event & Evidence |
|---|---|
| January 1778 | Francis’s BirthThe family Bible records his birth with the unusual day wording “1th.” The biography and Lydia Peters’s account give the 11th.Both 1 January and 11 January are retained; neither is presented as settled. |
| In Infancy | Francis’s DeathFamily accounts describe his death in infancy. The exact date and burial place remain unknown.Lydia Peters’s account; the research profile also cites Leckey, p. 612. |
| About 1797–1798 | The Family Moves to OhioLydia’s later account says that all the children except Francis accompanied their parents. This is an event in the surviving family’s history, after his death.Lydia Guthery Peters’s account, April 1872, preserved in later typed copies. |
Explore the Records
The family Bible preserves Francis’s birth entry. Later family accounts supply the statement that he died in infancy and retain a different reading of his birth day.
The Bible Entry & the Two Birth Dates
The reviewed photograph of Bible Page 2 reads:
Francis Guthery was born January the 1th 1778
A single 1 appears before the superscript th. A literal reading therefore supports 1 January 1778. The unusual wording is preserved without changing it to “1st” or “11th.”
The supplied biography and Lydia Guthery Peters’s account instead give 11 January 1778. Both versions remain part of the record. The page heading uses January 1778 to avoid selecting an unresolved day.
The Bible is an Oxford edition printed in 1768. Its printing date does not establish when this family entry was written.
What “Died in Infancy” Establishes
Francis’s research profile quotes “Died in infancy” and cites Howard L. Leckey’s The Tenmile Country, p. 612. Lydia Peters’s account also remembers his early death and excludes him from the children who moved to Ohio.
These statements support his death as an infant. They do not provide an exact death date, cause of death, or burial location. A Pennsylvania burial may seem likely from the family’s residence, but no particular cemetery or family plot has been identified.
The Leckey citation is retained as supplied in the profile; the cited printed page was not independently inspected in this review.
DNA Participation
Not applicable to a descendant line through Francis. The family account places his death in infancy, so there is no descendant line through him for Y-DNA, Big-Y, or autosomal participation.
Testing through his siblings’ descendants is discussed in the Family Hub’s DNA section.
Sources & Further Reading
- John Guthery–Lydia Baldwin family Bible, Page 2: photograph examined during the branch evidence review; Francis’s entry reads “January the 1th 1778,” with the ordinal ending written as a superscript.
- Lydia Guthery Peters’s account, April 1872: reviewed typed copy, p. 80 for the family and migration, and p. 83 for Francis’s 11 January birth date. Later copies, including the Wyoming WPA compilation, WPA Bio 385, preserve this account; they are not the original newspaper.
- Compiled family biography supplied with the parent records: another version giving 11 January 1778. Repetition across compiled accounts is not necessarily independent confirmation.
- Howard L. Leckey, The Tenmile Country and Its Pioneer Families, p. 612: cited in Francis’s profile for his death in infancy; reference retained through that profile.
- Francis in the Guthrie Research Tree and the John Guthery & Lydia Baldwin Family Hub.
Most Wanted Documents
If additional family material comes to light, the most useful discoveries would be another early birth entry clarifying the day, or a death, burial, church, or family record identifying when and where Francis died.
These are opportunities for future research. The two birth dates remain visible without requiring the discrepancy to be settled before his story can be shared.
Remembering Francis
Francis left no descendants to carry his story forward. His place in the family survives through the Bible entry and the recollections preserved by his relatives.
If your family papers contain another reference to him, please share the record and its source.