James Guthrie abt.1757PA – 1773PA and Sarah Love
of Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA

JAMES GUTHRIE
Parents: John Guthrie 1708IRE – 1790PA and Ann Hill (or Emmons) 1715IRE – 1814PA
Birth: Bef. 1746
Birth Location: Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA
Occupation: Unknown, probably farmer / farmer’s son
Marriage: About 1772
Death: 26 June 1773
Death Location: Oxford, Chester County, Pennsylvania
Burial Location: Unknown

SARAH LOVE
Parents: John Love and Elizabeth
Birth: 20 Aug 1752 (alt: 29 Aug 1752)
Birth Location: Chester County, Pennsylvania
Married 2nd: William Gilkeson in 1782 Greenbrier, Doddridge, Virginia (now West Virginia)
Guthrie Children: Ann (1773)
Gilkeson Children: David (1777), John (1781), Nancy (1787), William J (1789)
Death: 27 June 1826
Death Location: Virginia
Burial Location: Middlebrook, Augusta County, Virginia, USA

NOTES:

Trees currently list that James Guthrie was born about 1757 in Chester County, PA, an underestimation of his DOB. He was listed as a Freeman on the Oxford Twp Tax records in 1767 and 1771, which means that he was a single man of at least 21 years old and not living in his father’s household. This means his actual DOB was prior to 1746. He married about 1772 to Sarah Love, the daughter of John Love. A DOB of 1757 would indicate that he was only 15 at the time, yet another reason to suspect that his DOB in 1757 is wrong. His DOD is also given as 26 Jun 1773, which may be accurate based on a 20 Jun 1775 Orphan’s Court record in Oxford, Chester, PA petitioning the court for the appointment of John Stewart as the guardian of Ann Guthery, daughter of James, decd of Oxford. His widow Sarah (Love) Guthrie remarried in 1782 to William Gilkeson. She died 27 Jun 1826 at the age of 73.

GUTHRIE CHILDREN: 1

ANN GUTHRIE
1773PA – 1832VA

Ann Guthrie was born in 1773 a short time after her father’s death. Her mother remarried, but it is unknown if Ann was raised in the Gilkeson household or that of a Guthrie relative as was frequently the practice when one parent remarried. She was at least 47 years old and a spinster at the time of her marriage to her widowed cousin, John Guthrie, the son of William Guthrie and Esther McClelland. His first wife had been Margaret Gilkeson, who died in 1815. John and Ann married sometime after 1820. They resided in Augusta County, Virginia. John was a plantation and slave owner. The 1830 census lists their household as including 44 people: 16 whites and 28 slaves. Ann died two years later on 27 April 1832 in Fishersville, Augusta, Virginia. The age on her tombstone is incorrect as she was about 59 at the time of her death, and not 43 or 48. John died on 27 Jan 1845. They are both buried at the old Tinkling Spring Presbyterian Church Cemetery. There were no children by this marriage.

Y-DNA Project Particiapants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Descendants

Primary Sources

(original records from Chester County, Pennsylvania repositories; these form the core evidence for James Guthrie’s death, estate administration, and the existence of daughter Ann, with indirect support for his adult status and marriage timing via tax listings). These are limited, as James died intestate (no will) young, with no surviving birth, marriage, or burial records identified in public indexes for this era and location. Pennsylvania vital records were sparse pre-1800, and Chester County church records (e.g., Faggs Manor Presbyterian for Sarah Love’s family) do not appear to document this couple directly.

1. Chester County, Pennsylvania Administration Records (Register of Wills / Orphans’ Court): Administration granted for the estate of James Guthry/Guthery/Guthrie of Oxford Township. Letters of Administration issued 8 December 1773 to widow Sarah Guthry. Bond: £550. Sureties: Jas. Guthry (likely a close relative, e.g., father or brother) and Thomas Love (likely Sarah’s brother or relative). Inventory dated 8 December 1773. Final account filed 12 October 1774. Docket: Administration Book 2, p. 238. File/Number of Papers: #3808. Microfilm reference: Family History Library microfilm #0020840 (Will Index, Chester County). This confirms death by late 1773 (administration granted shortly after) and ties Sarah Love as widow. Sureties provide indirect evidence of family networks linking Guthrie and Love families.
2. Chester County, Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court Records: 20 June 1775 session (Oxford Township): On petition of Sarah Guthery (widow), the court appointed John Stewart as guardian for minor daughter Ann Guthery (born ~1773, posthumously), “daughter of James, deceased, of Oxford.” Abstracted in published volumes (see secondary below) but originals/images referenced via Chester County archives or linked transcriptions. This is the key record proving Ann’s existence, parentage, and James’s death timing (estate unresolved until at least 1775). It also implies Sarah was still in Pennsylvania in 1775 before her 1782 remarriage.
3. Chester County, Pennsylvania Tax Assessment Lists (Oxford Township): 1767 and 1771 lists record James Guthrie as a “Freeman” (single taxable male, typically age 21+; not living in father’s household). These are original county tax duplicates/assessments (available at Pennsylvania State Archives, Chester County Archives, or microfilm). Used to establish he was an adult by 1767 (born before ~1746, contradicting some trees listing ~1757). No direct marriage or occupation details, but confirms residence in Oxford Township alongside family. No equivalent listings found for Sarah pre-marriage in surviving indexes.

Additional primaries for Sarah Love (post-James): No direct 1782 marriage record to William Gilkeson located in quick indexes (Greenbrier County, Virginia formed 1778; possible bond or minister return in county courthouse or Virginia State Library). Her later Virginia residence and death are corroborated indirectly via husband’s records and family secondary sources (see below). No known birth/baptism record for Sarah (claimed 20/29 Aug 1752, Chester County) or James beyond tax inferences.

Secondary Sources

1. Guthrie, Laurence R. American Guthrie and Allied Families. Kerr Printing Company, Chambersburg, PA, 1933 (also known as LRG). Page 160 (entry under John Guthrie of Oxford Township line). States: James (son of John Guthrie and Ann ______) married ~1772 Sarah Love (daughter of John Love); James died 1773; “one account” gives Sarah born 20 Aug 1752, died 27 Jun 1826. Explicitly identifies the couple and daughter Ann. This is the foundational secondary reference cited by later sites; it appears to draw from family tradition or early abstracts rather than direct primaries. Full PDF available on Internet Archive.
2. Martin, Jacob (compiler). Abstract of Wills of Chester County, Pennsylvania, 1758–1777. Indexed by Gilbert Cope, 1900 (Vol. II). Entry #3808. Abstracts the 1773 administration and 1775 Orphans’ Court guardianship exactly as above. Widely available in libraries and digitized; cross-referenced with original dockets. Essential for verifying estate details without microfilm.
3. Anderson, Bart; Lapp, Dorothy B.; and Darlington, Marwood (compilers). Index to Chester County Pennsylvania Wills and Intestate Records, 1713–1850. Lists the intestate file for James (confirming administration details). Complements Martin’s abstracts and points to original file #2808.
4. Guthrie Genealogy Blog (primary researcher site):
   • Main entry: “2A-H: James Guthrie”. Synthesizes tax freeman status (pre-1746 birth adjustment), Orphan’s Court guardianship, estate admin, Sarah’s parents (John Love & Elizabeth), 1772 marriage estimate, Ann’s birth ~1773, and Sarah’s 1782 remarriage to William Gilkeson (Greenbrier/Doddridge area, VA/WV) plus her death 27 Jun 1826 in Virginia. Notes DOB discrepancy and Ann’s later marriage to cousin John Guthrie.
   • Supporting page: “Chester, PA” quotes full admin docket, microfilm #0020840, and Orphans’ Court verbatim; links to estate images (https://guthrie-genealogy.com/chester-wills/ and orphans court scans). This is the most comprehensive modern secondary treatment, drawing directly from Chester County archives. It also ties to broader Guthrie family group (John Guthrie & Ann Hill line).