2A-G: James Guthrie
JAMES GUTHRIE
Parents: John Guthrie 1725IRE – 1797PA and Jane Reed 1726IRE – 1780PA
Birth: 1771
Birth Location: Beaver Run, Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, USA
Marriage: 15 Jan 1796 in Pennsylvania to Margaret Dixon
Occupation: Farmer
Military Service: War of 1812
Death: 16 Dec 1848
Death Location: Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, USA
Burial Location: Beulah Church Cemetery, Apollo, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, USA
MARGARET DIXON
Parents: Samuel Dixon and Agnes Simpson (allied family records)
Birth: 1779
Birth Location: Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, USA
Guthrie Sons: Samuel Dixon (1801), John (1804), James (1808), William (1810), Andrew Dixon (1812)
Guthrie Daughters: Jane (1796), Nancy (1798), Mary ‘Polly’ (1806)
Death: April 1849
Death Location: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA
Burial Location: Beulah Church Cemetery, Apollo, Armstrong, Pennsylvania, USA
NOTES:
James Guthrie was born on Beaver Run in Westmoreland County. This would have been within a year or so of the family’s arrival in Pennsylvania. James moved to Armstrong county about the time of his marriage to Margaret Dixon on 15 Jan 1796. He purchased a farm of 300 acres, cleaned a large portion of the land, and built a log cabin. James served during the War of 1812, and afterwards received a pension. The family attended Saltsburg Presbyterian Church, and James was at one time one of the elders. He died 16 Dec 1848, and Margaret in April the following year.
CHILDREN: 10
JANE GUTHRIE
1796 PA – ????
Little is known about Jane Guthrie except her birth on 9 Oct 1796 in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania. She married Joseph Henderson. Jane was not mentioned in her father’s will, and so is presumed to have died prior to 1848.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
AGNES ‘NANCY’ GUTHRIE
1798 PA – 1873 PA
Agnes Guthrie, nicknamed Nancy, was born on 15 Nov 1798 in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania. She married Samuel Marshall about 1819. They raised a large family. Samuel built a house and conducted a tannery. He farmed as well, and later became interested in the mercantile business. He was known as “Tanner Sam” to distinguish himself from others of the same name. In 1847 they moved to Cowanshannock, Armstrong, PA to a farm of 170 acres. Nancy died there on 11 May 1873. He died on 4 Jan 1881. Both are buried at Glade Run Church.
CHILDREN:
1) Jane Marshall 1819PA-1888PA – Unmarried.
2) James Guthrie Marshall 1821PA-1881PA m. Nancy Blair +children
3) John M Marshall 1824PA – 1886PA m. Matilda Catherine Findley +children
4) Margaret D Marshall 1828PA – 1886PA m. Robert Cathcart Latimer +children
5) Andrew Smith Marshall 1830PA – 1912PA m. Lavina E Gourley +children
6) Mary Marshall 1833PA – ???? m. William Wallace Caldwell +children
7) Anne Elizabeth Marshall 1835PA – 1875PA m. John C Russell +children
8) William C Marshall 1838PA – 1912PA – Unmarried.
9) Joseph McKee Marshall 1842PA – 1843PA died in his infancy.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
SAMUEL DIXON GUTHRIE
1801 PA – 1881
Samuel Dixon Guthrie, born 11 March 1801, son of James Guthrie and Margaret Dixon, should not be confused with his cousin of the same name born in 1805, the son of William Guthrie and Agnes ‘Nancy’ Dixon in Westmoreland County. This man lived in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania until the 1860s when he moved to Indiana County, Pennsylvania. He was a farmer. Twice married. His first wife and the mother of his children was Hannah Speer, also born about 1801. She died at about 45 years of age on 19 Jan 1846, and is buried at Beulah Church Cemetery in Apollo, Armstrong, PA. Samuel married a second time to Mary Russell, also born about 1801. Mary apparently died between 1870 and 1880. In 1880, Samuel Guthrie is found living in Gibson, Ford, Illinois in the household of his son William Guthrie and listed as a widower.
CHILDREN:
1) William Henry Guthrie 1832PA-1923IL m.1869 Jennie Stewart +children
2) John Milton Guthrie 1833PA-1918IN m1. Jane Wallace, m2. Annie M. Donaldson +children
3) James Speer Guthrie 1835PA-1846PA died at about 11 years of age. Blair Cemetery.
4) Andrew S Guthrie 1836PA-1881IL m.1873IL Anna Robbins. No further details
Y-DNA Project Participants: No
Autosomal DNA Participants: Yes
JOHN GUTHRIE
1804 PA – 18??
John Guthrie was born in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania on 19 Sep 1804. He is not listed in his father’s will, so is presumed to have died prior to 1848.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
MARY ‘POLLY’ GUTHRIE
1806 PA – 1882OH
Mary ‘Polly’ Guthrie was born on 5 Feb 1806 in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania. She married Abraham Dally sometime around 1825 – 1827. They lived in Kiskiminetas until Abraham’s death in 1842. Letters of administration of his estate were issued there with his brother-in-law, Andrew Dixon Guthrie assigned as his executor. Polly moved to Ohio by 1880 where she is found living with with her daughter Hannah’s family in Center, Monroe, Ohio. Polly died there on 9 Dec 1882 and is buried at Laings Presbyterian Church Cemetery.
CHILDREN:
1) Charles D Dally, M.D. 1828PA – 1883PA m. Mary J McCurdy +children
2) Margaret J Dally 1830PA – 1830PA died in her infancy.
3) James Guthrie Dally 1831PA – 1909OH m. Anna Elizabeth Wetzel +children
4) Samuel Dally, M.D. 1834PA – 1907PA – Unmarried.
5) William Thomas Dally 1836PA – 1912CA m. Sarah Catherine Poole +children
6) Hannah Martha Dally 1838PA – 1901OH m. Charles Twinem +children
7) Nancy Jane Dally 1841PA – 1845PA died during early childhood.
8) Abram Dally 1842PA – 1842 died in his infancy
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
JAMES GUTHRIE
1808 PA – 1808 PA
James Guthrie was born in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania on 30 May 1808 and died in his infancy.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A
WILLIAM GUTHRIE
1810 PA – 1875PA
Born on 14 March 1810 in Kiskiminetas, William Guthrie remained in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania his entire life. He married Margaret Elizabeth Chambers around 1840 by whom he had a son and four daughters. Margaret died in 1856. William remarried on 8 Oct 1856 to Eliza Mary Robinson. They had two daughters and one son. William was a miller in the grain industry, and for a time served as a U.S. Postmaster. He died in Dayton, Armstrong, Pennsylvania on 3 March 1875 and is buried in Glade Run Cemetery.
CHILDREN:
1) James Dixon Guthrie 1842PA-1903KS (farmer) m. Anna Mary Goss +children
2) Mariah J Guthrie 1844PA – ???? – listed in the 1850 census with the family, but not 1860. No further info.
3) Margaret M Guthrie 1846PA – ???? – listed in 1850 and 1860 census with family. No further info.
4) Emma E Guthrie 1847PA – 1936KS m. Samuel Byars Flemming +children
5) Melissa Louisa Guthrie 1851PA-1936KS m. John Umpstead +children
6) Eva Lizzie Guthrie 1859PA-1926PA m. Adam James Weir Robinson +children
7) Sarah Olivia Guthrie 1862PA – 1935MO m.1918 William Benton Scott. No children.
8) Chambers Guthrie 1867PA-Bef. 1880Pa died during childhood.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No
Autosomal DNA Participants: Yes
ANDREW DIXON GUTHRIE
1812 PA – 1860
“A.D. Guthrie was born on the farm (purchased from William Penn’s heirs by James Guthrie), June 2, 1812. He was a farmer and a republican in politics, but never held any office. He was a hard-working, energetic man, continued to improve his farm until his death, which occurred September 24, 1860, at forty-eight years of age, and his remains are buried at Beaula church. He married Margaret Todd Cummins, who was born May 12, 1813, by whom he had five children.” Another bio on his wife indicates that she was the mother of six children, only three of which lived to maturity. Children Margaret Jane and John Calvin remained single and lived on the home farm with their brother and family.
CHILDREN:
1) (Twin A) Guthrie 1844PA-1844PA
2) (Twin B) Guthrie 1844PA-1844PA
3) Margaret Jane Guthrie 1845PA-1926. Unmarried.
4) John Calvin Guthrie 1846PA-1905. Unmarried
5) William Cummins Guthrie 1848PA-1907PA m. Margaret ‘Maggie’ McAdoo +children
6) (FNU) Guthrie – gender and birth order unknown.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
JOSEPH R GUTHRIE
1816 PA – 1845PA
Joseph R Guthrie was born 22 July 1816 in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, PA. Both he and his horse died by drowning on 29 March 1845.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No Known Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
JAMES S GUTHRIE
1819 PA – 1868
James S Guthrie was born 10 March 1818 in Kiskiminetas, Armstrong, Pennsylvania. He was listed in his brother Andrew D Guthrie’s household in 1850 as an “idiotic” single man of 31 years of age. James was still living there in 1860, listed as 33, and with the occupation of laborer. Listed just beneath him in the 1860 census is a Sarah L B Guthrie, aged 16, who attended school that year. Was she simply another Guthrie family member, or the young wife of James Guthrie? He died on 4 July 1868 and is buried at Beulah Church Cemetery in Apollo, Armstrong, PA.
Y-DNA Project Participants: No Known Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
Primary Sources
(Original records created contemporaneously or near the events, often held in government archives, courthouses, churches, or national repositories; many digitized on platforms like FamilySearch, Ancestry, or Fold3, with originals at county courthouses or the National Archives):
- U.S. Federal Census Records (household enumerations confirming residence, occupation as farmer, family composition including wife Margaret Dixon, and children in Kiskiminetas Township and surrounding areas). Examples: 1800 U.S. Census, Westmoreland County, PA (early settlement post-marriage); 1810–1840 U.S. Censuses, Armstrong County, PA (consistent placement in Kiskiminetas Township, with household sizes matching known children). These are available via FamilySearch and Ancestry; they provide indirect evidence of migration from Westmoreland to Armstrong County around 1796–1798 and economic status as landowners. Edge case: Pre-1850 censuses name only heads of household, so Margaret and children are inferred from counts and ages.
- War of 1812 Service and Pension Records (Pennsylvania militia rolls and pension applications filed by James Guthrie or widow Margaret). James served in active duty (likely local PA militia companies); he later received a pension, with Margaret eligible as widow after his 1848 death. Original files at National Archives (Washington, DC) or digitized on Fold3/Ancestry. Context: Service aligns with his farmer-pioneer life in frontier Armstrong County; pension provides affidavits on residence, marriage date (15 Jan 1796), and family details. Nuances: Exact company/regiment may vary by compiled service records (possible overlap with other Guthries in PA units); widow applications often include marriage proofs or neighbor testimonies.
- Armstrong County, Pennsylvania Probate and Estate Records (will, letters of administration, or inventory for James Guthrie, d. 16 Dec 1848, Kiskiminetas Township). Held at Armstrong County Courthouse (Kittanning, PA) or microfilmed at Pennsylvania State Archives. Likely includes estate valuation of the patented 336-acre farm, distribution to heirs (e.g., sons Andrew Dixon Guthrie, etc.), and possible mention of widow Margaret (d. ~April 1849). Implications: Confirms death date/location and land ownership; no fully digitized version located online, but indexes exist in county archives. Related: Possible administration for Margaret shortly after.
- Armstrong County and Westmoreland County Deed and Land Patent Records (original patents, deeds, and surveys for ~336 acres of “heavy timbered land” in Kiskiminetas Township, seated/patented ~1798). Armstrong County Deed Books and Westmoreland County records (pre-1800 split). Includes patent details for the family farm cleared by James. Available at county recorder’s offices or Pennsylvania State Archives. Context: Documents pioneer settlement from Irish immigrant roots; patents often cite “seated by James Guthrie.” Edge case: Early records may reference Westmoreland County before Armstrong’s formation (1800).
- Beulah Church Cemetery (or Beulah Presbyterian Church) Burial Records/Tombstones, Apollo, Armstrong County, PA. James buried here (per family tradition and descendant memorials); possible inscribed stone or church sexton records for death date. Linked memorials for children (e.g., Andrew Dixon Guthrie, Joseph R. Guthrie) on Find A Grave confirm family plot. Church records may include burial entries. Nuances: Some stones unmarked or eroded; FamilySearch cemetery index lists associated Guthries.
- Saltsburg Presbyterian Church Session/Membership Records (Westmoreland/Armstrong County area). James listed as ruling elder/influential member; family attended (baptisms, marriages, or communion rolls possibly for children). Originals at church or Presbyterian Historical Society (Philadelphia) or microfilmed. Context: Reflects Scottish-Irish Presbyterian heritage; elder status indicates community standing. Related records may tie to nearby Poke Run Presbyterian Church (father John Guthrie’s affiliation).
- Pennsylvania State Archives / County Tax and Militia Assessment Records (Westmoreland/Armstrong Counties, 1790s–1840s). Tax lists confirm land ownership and residency; militia assessments support War of 1812 service. Provides economic and civic context for the farming family.
No digitized Irish primary birth record (1771, County Derry/Londonderry) or exact marriage certificate (15 Jan 1796, PA) was located in public searches—common for pre-1800 immigrants—but family tradition and secondary affidavits consistently cite these details. Margaret Dixon’s origins tie to parents Samuel Dixon and Agnes Simpson (per allied family records).
Secondary Sources
(Published histories, compiled genealogies, and interpretive works)
- Wiley, Samuel T., ed. Biographical and Historical Cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong Counties, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: J.M. Gresham & Co., 1891. Digital: Archive.org. Covers the Guthrie family in Armstrong County context, including pioneer settlement and descendants. (Directly cited on the blog.)
- Smith, Robert Walter. History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. Chicago: Waterman, Watkins & Co., 1883. Digital: Archive.org. Detailed entries on James Guthrie as early pioneer (arr. ~1798 from Ireland with wife Margaret Dixon), 336-acre farm patent, clearing, and life until 1848 death. Includes illustrations of descendants (e.g., Mrs. Margaret Todd Guthrie, W.C. Guthrie residence, James Guthrie portrait reference on pp. 280–282). Excerpted on PA-Roots.com. (Directly cited on the blog.)
- Guthrie Genealogy Blog: “2A-G: James Guthrie”. Compiled family overview drawing on the above histories plus church/land traditions; includes birth (1771 IRE), marriage, War of 1812 service/pension, death/burial, and children. Serves as modern synthesis but relies on primaries above.
- PA-Roots.com, “Guthrie Family” entry. Direct transcription from Smith’s 1883 history, detailing Irish origins, settlement, and land. Useful cross-reference.
- Rootsweb/Ancestry user-compiled pages (e.g., “John Guthrie & Jane Reed” tree at freepages.rootsweb.com/~blcartwright). Cites pension, Saltsburg Church eldership, and Whig politics; draws from county histories and family Bibles/tradition. Note: User-generated, so verify against primaries.
- FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com compiled records/trees (e.g., entries for James Guthrie KNR3-… IDs and children’s memorials). Attach digitized census images, Find A Grave links for descendants, and extracted probate indexes. Valuable for visual records but secondary interpretations.
- Allied references in broader Guthrie compilations (e.g., American Guthrie and Allied Families or Dunn’s Records of the Guthrie Family on Archive.org), though these primarily cover unrelated PA lines; cross-check for Westmoreland/Armstrong mentions of John Guthrie (father) as Revolutionary War patriot. Limited direct coverage of this couple but provides migration context from Ireland ~1771.
