James studied at Dickinson College and entered the Presbyterian ministry. The History of the Presbytery of Redstone describes his family and pastoral work, including recollections by a minister who knew him and performed his fourth marriage. It reports one son by the Torrence wife, five children by Miss Gallagher, and no issue by the widow Hunter.

1. Martha Torrence, daughter of Joseph Torrence and Mary Paull in the family research. Marriage is reported as 30 August 1803; her death as 7 May 1807, with 8 May in a conflicting account. Their son was Joseph Torrence Guthrie, born about 1807. His father’s will names Joseph T. and records earlier advances. A reported 1867 Pittsburgh identification still needs corroboration; marriage and descendants are not established here.
2. Sarah Gallaher/Gallagher of the Dunlap’s Creek family. The working identification makes her a daughter of Thomas and Ann Gallaher. Her dates are disputed: family research gives 3 March 1782–21 February 1826, while a burial index gives 24 February 1828. Their five working children are listed below.
3. Hannah, widow Hunter, identified in the research as Hannah Smith, daughter of William Smith and widow of David Hunter. That identity still needs direct corroboration. Her reported death is 6 May 1833, with 5 June as an alternative. No children of this marriage are reported by the Presbytery account.
4. Elizabeth Skiles, widow of Jesse Beeson, married James before the 1840 census according to the family chronology. She is the wife Elizabeth in his will. By September 1862 she had married Johnson Van Kirk, as the estate petition states. Reported dates are 16 March 1792–26 June 1886; the separate Allegheny Elizabeth VanKirk probate entry is not automatically hers.

Children attributed to Sarah:

• Martha/Maria T. Guthrie, reportedly 1 September 1812–23 November 1866; married Clark Davidson. The will and estate proceedings establish the Davidson relationship. The working descendant list names Audalena, Jeremiah, Lucretia, Sarah A., Clark Alexander, and Lewis G. Davidson.
• Ann B. Guthrie, about 1814–14 February 1833. Her placement remains a reasoned family identification supported by cemetery context and the reported child count.
• James Culbertson Guthrie, 26 November 1815–17 May 1879, reported; married Mary Rogers Work. The working marriage date is 21 September 1842, with a conflicting 1835 date still unresolved. He was his father’s son and executor. Children shown are John Work Guthrie, infant James C. Guthrie, and Nancy Rogers Guthrie, who married Isaac Taylor.
• George G. Guthrie, about 1819–15 September 1821, reported. His parentage is presumed in the earlier research; the middle initial is not expanded without evidence.
• Sarah Jane Guthrie, reportedly 10 September 1821–3 September 1853; married James Allen, with 1840 and 1842 marriage dates reported. The will establishes the marriage. Children shown are James Guthrie Allen, Walter Lowry Allen/Allan, William S. Allen, and Rebecca Ann Allen.

The paternal DNA route continues through James Culbertson → John Work Guthrie → the Guthrie sons of John Work and Eleanor Gilchrist. John Work’s reported birth is 20 June 1850; his November 1928 death day is disputed. Their sons are William G., James C., George T., Samuel Clyde, and John Taylor Guthrie.

Exact descendant dates and complete child lists remain research assertions unless a record is specifically identified. In the 1867 guardianship, Walter L. Allen is the minor grandson and William S. Allen is his chosen guardian; those roles must not be reversed.

Hettie and Paul’s marriage is reported on 23 March 1797, performed by Rev. Samuel Porter of Congruity Church; a copied family account gives the 25th. Her birth is variously given as about 1775, 26 May 1779, or 16 May 1780. Paul’s reported dates are 4 September 1774–1 March 1845.

James’s will supplies the strongest four-child grouping: Jean, Molly, Hetty, and James. Each was to receive $100 at the final settlement of his estate. The following identities and later families come from the descendant research:

• Jane/Jennie Morrow, 21 December 1797–26 March 1851; married David Maclean/McLean, reportedly 28 October 1819, with 1820 in a family account. Children shown: Mary, Lydia, Helen, Phoebe, Martha, and Matthew.
• Molly/Mary Morrow, 26 October 1799–30 January 1861, reported; associated with the Brackenridge burial record. No marriage is established here.
• Hettie Guthrie Morrow, 10 January 1802–30 June 1887; married Dr. James Ramsey Speer, reportedly 19 July 1821. Their working child list is William, Mary Jane, James Postlethwaite, Lydia Morrow, Alexander Morrow, Sarah Ramsey, Charles Edward, John Zantzinger, and Francis Speer. The later Speer account preserves family recollections alongside its date and generation problems.
• James Guthrie Morrow, reportedly 26 May 1804–5 June 1845, died at Muscatine, Iowa; married Harriet Maranda Olds, reportedly 21 September 1840. Daughter Mary I. Morrow is identified in the working research.

Paul married again after Hettie’s death. Later household members must be assigned through their own records rather than all being treated as Hettie’s children.

Samuel attended Dickinson College and is reported among the lawyers admitted at Armstrong County’s first bar in December 1805. His brother-in-law Paul Morrow served as court clerk. Samuel’s inheritance placed his house opposite the Greensburg courthouse.

Marriage indexes give 26 October 1807, First Presbyterian Church, Carlisle, to Jane/Jean Wilson; a compiled account gives the 27th. Jane’s reported dates are 9 March 1787–12 January 1835, with parents Hugh Wilson and Isabel/Sibby Holmes.

• James Guthrie, born 2 January 1809, reported; named in the January 1821 guardianship abstract. Later life remains unresolved.
• Sybilla Wilson “Sibby” Guthrie, 1 October 1810–11 May 1891; married Isaac Parr Henry, reportedly 5 October 1837. Their working child list is Thomas M., Jane G., Sarah L., Margaret L., William, James Guthrie, Henry, and John H. Henry. The two 1850 entries require checking. The reported Williamsport locality is in Washington County, Pennsylvania, not automatically Lycoming County.
• William Jack Guthrie, 11 May 1814–5 February 1834, reported. William Jack’s will is cited as identifying him as the son of friend Samuel Guthrie Esq.
• Hugh Guthrie, 3 March 1816–1818, reported; not included among the five surviving children in the 1821 abstract.
• Samuel Guthrie, born 28 May 1817, reported; named in the 1821 abstract. He is kept separate from the Braddock/Pittsburgh Samuel born about 1802 who died in 1889.
• Margaret Jack Guthrie, 23 May 1820–14 June 1850, reported; married John Irwin on 31 January 1844 according to the Sangamon County history. Their children are William, Hetty W., and Margaret Irwin; the younger Margaret married Cleveland J. Salter.

After Samuel’s December 1820 death, Jane’s reported petition of 8 January 1821 names James, Sibby, William Jack, Samuel, and Margaret, all under fourteen, and requests David Maclean as guardian. Administration followed on 10 January, with Joseph Wilson and William Johnson as administrators and Paul Morrow and Jacob Turney as securities. These details are retained from record abstracts; the full docket proceedings would strengthen the family reconstruction.

Jane and Elizabeth Scott were daughters of John and Martha Scott and stepdaughters of James Guthrie. His will calls them daughters, asks that they live under Martha’s care while single, and includes them with son James in a residue provision. The wording reflects their place in his family and does not make them biological Guthrie daughters.

John Scott’s will names wife Martha but does not name Jane or Elizabeth. That omission does not change their identification as John and Martha’s daughters. The will is not a complete enumeration of their children.

Later family narrative associates Jane with Hays and Elizabeth with Reed. A Westmoreland administration abstract dated 23 June 1819 identifies Elizabeth Reed, late Elizabeth Guthrie, with administrator John Reed Esq. This is a useful name-change and death-bound lead. The identification of this estate with Elizabeth Scott, James’s stepdaughter, still requires correlation; the abstract also does not state that administrator John Reed was her husband.

Westmoreland County Will Book 1, pp. 283–285, no. 443. Made 23 April 1812; proved and recorded 21 May 1812. James identifies himself as of Hempfield Township, Esquire.

• Samuel: the house and half lot opposite the Greensburg courthouse, with the corresponding Back Street half lot.
• Martha: her property from her former husband and the articles she brought to the marriage; further household provision and a $100 annuity for life. Additional interest income is directed if the residue exceeds the stated threshold.
• Jane and Elizabeth Scott, stepdaughters: daughters of John and Martha Scott, called daughters in James’s will, with provision to remain under Martha’s care while single and to share in the residue.
• Hettie’s children: Jean, Molly, Hetty, and James, each to receive $100 at final settlement.
• Son James: an advancement of $1,172.52 is to be deducted from his share.
• Conditional distributions: the residue provisions use a $9,600 threshold affecting Samuel’s participation. Elizabeth’s share is subject to a contingent return if she dies without lawful issue. The full clauses should be consulted for their terms.

Executors named are William Jack, Thomas (surname variously read Hope/Hoge), Isaac Parr, James Guthrie, and Samuel Guthrie. Witnesses are James Postlethwait and John Young. The residue names James, Jane, and Elizabeth; a typed “Jones” is a transcription error, not another child.

Will, p. 283 → · p. 284 → · p. 285 and probate →

Jennet’s family: Lewis R. Culbertson’s genealogy, pp. 211–215, identifies Samuel Culbertson’s daughter Jennet Guthry and a £50 bequest. It gives his will as made 9 October and proved 15 October 1789; AGAF prints 1799. Franklin Will Book A:154–159 remains the original-record target for this discrepancy. Jennet’s father should not automatically receive the rank Colonel belonging to a different Samuel Culbertson.

Martha’s former marriage: John Scott’s Franklin will, B:118–119, is already available. It was made in September 1801, with the execution day read as the 22nd, and proved 2 December. Wife Martha and nephew Alexander are central beneficiaries; Jane and Elizabeth are not named. Jane and Elizabeth were daughters of John and Martha Scott and became James Guthrie’s stepdaughters. Their omission from John’s will does not change that family relationship.

The 1803 marriage: 30 August and 30 October are competing reported dates. A quoted “Thursday the 30th” agrees with neither in 1803. The original dated newspaper issue and David Denny’s register are needed; a calendar possibility is not a replacement marriage date. The Reverend’s reported 30 August 1803 Torrence marriage must remain separate.

Elizabeth Reed: Fischer’s administration extract, p. 169, cites estate 624, record p. 84, 23 June 1819, for Elizabeth Reed, late Elizabeth Guthrie, administrator John Reed Esq. The original estate file and marriage or release documents could establish whether this is the Elizabeth named in James’s will.

Correct sequence: elder James Guthrie and Jeanette Wilson → James Guthrie Esq. and Jennet Culbertson → Rev. James Guthrie. No extra James/Barr generation is inserted.

Guthrie’s Fortune: the 1787 deed B:380–382 identifies James of Greensburg as a tavernkeeper and names his wife Jean, with Jinnet in the signature form. The tract is 165¼ acres. Earlier title dates do not establish his purchase or adulthood in 1769.

The town property: 4:241–242 records William Jack and Margaret’s conveyance of Lot 40, dated 27 October 1788 and recorded 4 February 1799. James and Martha’s 1806 Morrow conveyance at 8:135–136 includes a two-story stone house and stables. Construction, conveyance, and recording dates are different events.

Two different transactions: the 12 April 1800 James/Jane-to-Daniel Turney deed belongs at 5:186–187. The 1817 Parr partition belongs at 12:350–352. The latter identifies the elder James’s issue as James, William, and Elizabeth, wife of Isaac Parr, and explains the boarding debt assumed by the younger James. It does not supply the elder’s exact death date.

Offices and military claims: the tax returns of 1783 and 1786 separately list James and James Sr. A 1789 notice schedules a militia-fine appeal at James’s Greensburgh house; it establishes a meeting place, not his rank. A Cumberland private named James Guthrie and the Derry census title Captain remain separate identity questions.

1790, Hempfield: the supplied index lists three males sixteen or older, three males under sixteen, four females, and two enslaved persons, twelve people in all.

1800, Hempfield: two males sixteen to twenty-five; one male and one female forty-five or older; two girls ten to fifteen; and one enslaved person, seven in all. The girls’ ages imply births approximately 1785–1790. Their identities are not established by the tally.

1810, Hempfield candidate: one male in each category under ten, ten to fifteen, sixteen to twenty-five, and forty-five or older; one female ten to fifteen and one forty-five or older; one other free person, seven in all.

1810, Derry candidate: Capt. James Guthrie’s household has one male sixteen to twenty-five, two twenty-six to forty-four, and one forty-five or older; one female sixteen to twenty-five and one forty-five or older, six in all.

Hempfield fits James Esq.’s known residence more closely, but remains a working identification pending comparison of original schedules, neighbors, and land records. Unnamed residents must not all be assigned as children. The people counted as enslaved and the other free person belong in the household history even though these summaries do not name them.

The Reverend died in 1850, not 1812. His will names wife Elizabeth, children Joseph T., Martha/Maria T. Davidson, James Culbertson, and Sarah Jane Allen. Its original probate endorsements are still needed to reconcile conflicting dates and citations in the transcriptions.

The original estate proceedings identify James C. Guthrie and Samuel A. Russell as executors. An account was confirmed in March 1854. Elizabeth’s 1855 petition alleged mismanagement; the supplied entry does not show a final finding or removal. Clark Davidson’s 1861 citation was dismissed; his later petition is headed September Court 1862 and states that Elizabeth had married Johnson Van Kirk. Allegations in these petitions are not findings of fact.

A final account was confirmed 6 March 1867. On that date, Walter L. Allen, a minor above fourteen, selected William S. Allen as guardian in connection with his grandfather’s estate. The order identifies Walter as the grandson; William is the guardian.