Mary Guthrie 1749-59 PA – ???? and William Parker
of Pennsylvania, USA

MARY GUTHRIE
Parents: James Guthrie 1720IRE – 1801PA and JEANETTE WILSON abt.1720 – aft. 1787PA
Birth: bet. 1749-1759
Birth Location: Pennsylvania
Marriage: William Parker before 1774
Parker Sons: George (1774), John (1776), William (17??), Samuel (17??)
Parker Daughters: Mary (1781)
Death: After 1808 (Named in husband’s will of 14 Dec 1808)
Death Location: Unknown, but probably Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA
Burial Location: Unknown, but probably Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA

WILLIAM PARKER
Parents: Unidentified (see notes)
Birth: Unknown (see notes)
Birth Location: Unknown (see notes)
Occupation: Unknown
Military Service: Revolutionary War Patriot Soldier, unverified rank of Capt > Col. > Gen., styled ‘Col’
Death: 1808
Death Location: Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA
Burial Location: Unknown, presumably in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, USA

NOTES:

Note that online trees have placed this William Parker as the son of English immigrants Richard Parker and wife Janet born in 1727. (See Family Histories on Parker and Denny), however that William is associated with different descendants. The 1808 Last Will & Testament of William Parker identifies his wife, Mary, to whom he leaves 200 acres of land adjoining John Beatty’s land, daughter Mary & son in law Thomas McKee, and sons John, William and Samuel Parker. A website on the Parker and Vanderford families cites the source of their information as extensive correspondence of Nellie Olive Parker Milford, a 2x-great-granddaughter of William Parker, and family researcher Rachel Long Misey (1924-2003). Proof of William Parker’s parentage or DOB was never found.

William Parker “came to America in 1754, fought in the Revolution, and about 1798 settled in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania close to what later became the town of Parker.” He was reportedly in the PA state militia, 5th Battalion, Washington County, in Western Pennsylvania, promoted from captain to colonel in 1778, and served in the Colonial Army from 1775 to December 1783. Nellie also reported that he had been promoted to brigadier general prior to the end of the war. There is a Col. William Parker listed as a commanding officer for the 1st Battalion in Bedford County, PA. (Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission). The documents on this person do start out with rank of Captain and later appear as Colonel.

Mary Guthrie’s exact DOB is unknown. It is estimated between 1749-1759 based on the estimated DOM of her parents, James Guthrie and Jeanette (Wilson) Moore. Her mother was the widow of William Moore, so the marriage and subsequently Mary’s birth would have occurred afterward. There is a very fuzzy timeframe for William Moore’s death and Jeanette’s marriage to James Guthrie, so there is a possibility that she was a Moore by birth and assumed the Guthrie surname as an infant. Autosomal DNA tests with or without Guthrie matches should provide important clues.

Online trees have erroneously placed a number of children within this family, but in addition to those 4 named within the will (see image below), there is only 1 other known to the family, George Parker, the eldest, who died in 1798 prior to his father.

CHILDREN: 5

GEORGE PARKER
1774PA – 1798PA

George Parker was born in or about 1774 in Pennsylvania. He was only about 24 at the time of his death by drowning accident in the Allegheny River in 1798. He had married Polly, whose maiden name is unknown within a year or two of his death. They had one son, William.

A pioneer settler named George Parker is mentioned as moving into Allegheny township in Butler County, PA about 1797, and in 1803 (presumably assessed via a tax record) had three cows, one horse, and 400 acres of land. However, 1803 is after the 1798 date given to us as a DOD. Is the DOD incorrect or was there another pioneer settler named George Parker in Butler County in 1803?
CHILDREN:
1) William Parker born about 1798PA – 1821PA married to unidentified spouse +children

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants – No

JOHN PARKER

A biographical history of Judge John Parker identifies him as “one of the pioneer surveyors of Butler County, Pennsylvania. He was a son of General Parker, was born in 1776, and came here before his marriage, in 1794, in the employ of a Mr Moore, to survey the lands in what is now Parker township, adjacent to Parker City. He was from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and took up 600 acres, a portion of which is now within the limits of the town. He subsequently married, brought out his wife and settled in Parker township, Butler county. John Parker was one of the early associate judges of the county, a man of wide influence in the community, progressive, public-spirited and energetic, and one of the most useful citizens of his day. In 1815, he surveyed a part of his land into town lots and named the place Lawrenceburg, which is now a portion of Parker City. He married Jane Woods on December 7, 1797. She was born near Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1774, and became the mother of eight sons and one daughter, as follows: James, John; Juliet, who married John Gilchrist; William M; Fullerton W; Washington; George P; Thomas, and Wilson. Judge Parker died in 1842.”
CHILDREN:
1) James W. “Black Jim” Parker 14 Jun 1799 – 24 Aug 1833 m.Margaret Hamilton (source) children-?
2) John Woods Parker 20 Nov 1800 – 24 July 1861 m. Margaret Perry +children
3) Juliet Parker 29 Dec 1802 – 13 Feb 1876 m. John Gilchrest +children
4) William M Parker 24 Feb 1805 – 26 Dec 1848 – Unmarried?
5) Fullerton Parker 15 Dec 1806 – 26 Dec 1883 m. Amelia Harris +children
6) Washington Parker 11 Jul 1809 – 25 Jun 1844 m. Susan Clark +children
7) George Parker 8 Sep 1812 – 10 Dec 1887 m. Jane Pollock. No children.
8) Thomas McKee Parker 17 Dec 1815 – 17 Jun 1864 m. Margaret Woods +children
9) Wilson Parker 3 Jun 1821 – 17 Jan 1845. Unmarried.

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants – No

MARY PARKER
1781PA – 1867PA

According to Find-a-Grave Mary Parker’s middle name is Elizabeth. No original source found. She was born in January of 1781 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. Her marriage to Thomas Jefferson McKee took place in November of 1800 when Mary was 19 years old. They settled in Allegheny County in the northwestern part of PA, (now near Clintonville, Venango County) where Thomas had purchased 400 acres of wilderness. “He was a man of gentle, affable and kindly disposition and superior intelligence and business capabilities. He became widely and favorably known, and highly respected in that early settlement. He was chosen, in 1805, as the first associate judge of Venango County, and held this office of thirty years, with great credit and recognized ability. He also served as justice of the peace for many years. Both Thomas and Mary were of Scotch-Irish extraction. Mary was noted to be “a woman of sterling, matronly qualities.”
Children:
1) William Parker McKee (farmer) 1802PA-1892IA m. Frances Irwin +children
2) Mary Ann McKee 1805PA-1892IA m James Agnew Harris (farmer) +children
3) Susanna Nesbitt McKee 1806PA-1879PA m. James Finley Agnew (farmer) +children
4) Washington Parker McKee (farmer) 1808PA-1889MO m. Julia Ann Lee +children
5) Clarissa Ruhana McKee 1810PA-1854PA m. Perez Graves Hollister +children
6) Jane Woods McKee 1812PA-1901 m. James M. Russell (farmer) +children
7) James Madison McKee 1812PA-1851PA m. Mary Adeline Cochran +children
8) Barbara Cost McKee 1814PA-1814PA died in her infancy.
9) Juliet Parker McKee 1819PA-1848PA m. Joseph Alexander Allen (farmer) +child
10) Thomas Jefferson McKee Jr (cattle dealer) 1821PA-1896PA m. Elizabeth Jane Anderson +children
11) Dewitt Clinton McKee (farmer) 1825PA-1893PA m. Lucinda Anderson +children

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants – Yes

SAMUEL PARKER
17??PA – 18??

Very little is know about Samuel Parker. Some resources, such as The Parker Family Genealogy page on Rootsweb do not even acknowledge his existence. Samuel was named in his father’s will, written in 1808. He is clearly not the same person as the son named John Parker who is names separately.

“I give to my son Samuel Parker that is two hundred acres of land adjoining John Beaty’s land where he now lives.” – Will of William Parker, 1808.

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants – No

WILLIAM PARKER
17??PA – 18??

William Parker is another son left off the list of children in The Parker Family Genealogy, but he is clearly named in his father’s 1808 will.

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants – No

READING and RESOURCES

WEBSITE: The Parker and Vanderford Families – Includes information on the Parker Family Genealogy

WILL of WILLIAM PARKER:

BOOK: Babcock, Charles Almanzo. ‘Venango County, Pennsylvania: Her Pioneers and People, Embracing a General History of the County, and a Genealogical and Biographical Record of Representative Families‘, J.H. Beers, 1919, Venango County PA. (Repository: Google Books)

BOOK: Wiley, Samuel T. ‘Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Indiana and Armstrong counties, Pennsylvania‘, 1891, Indiana County, PA (Repository: Internet Archive) – Includes a biography of Fullerton Parker, p.500