2A-H: Marjory Guthrie
MARJORY GUTHRIE
Parents: John Guthrie 1708IRE – 1790PA and Ann Hill (or Emmons) 1715IRE -1814PA
Birth: Est. 1759
Birth Location: Chester County, Pennsylvania
Marriage: John Emmet about 1780 in Augusta County, Virginia, USA
Emmet Children: Anna (1782), Elizabeth (1783), Rebecca (1786), John (1787), Abraham (1791), William Yates (1799), Martha Love (1804), Mary
Death: 1807
Death Location: Wheeling, Marshall, Virginia (West Virginia), USA
Burial Location: Unknown
REV. JOHN EMMET
Parents:
Birth: 22 Oct 1759
Birth Location: Staunton, Augusta, Virginia or Elkton, Cecil, Maryland
Occupation: United Methodist Minister
Military Service: Revolutionary War Veteran
Marriage #2: Margaret Bates Rush on 12 May 1808 in Ross County, Ohio, USA
Additional Children: James (1809), Margaret B (1810)
Death: 1847
Death Location: Utica, Licking, Ohio, USA
Burial Location: North Lawn Cemetery, Utica, Licking, Ohio, USA
NOTES:
Marjory Guthrie is identified in the list of children of John & Ann Guthrie by author Lawrence R Guthrie in American Guthrie and Allied Families, p.160. However, the book does not provide any additional information about this daughter. The data found here was located in other online sources and requires verification.
Marjory’s DOB of 1759 is simply an estimated year based on her husband’s known birth year.
John Emmet was a Revolutionary War Veteran and became a Methodist minister. Licking County History notes the following: “In 1806, quite a number of preachers of different denominations made their appearance in Newark and vicinity. Among them was Rev. John Emmett, a Methodist, who preached a number of sermons under a tree which stood on the public square. Mr. Emmett officiated as chaplain on the Fourth of July, 1807, the first Fourth of July ever celebrated in Licking county. He spent the subsequent years of his life in the Scioto valley, and represented Pickaway county several sessions in the legislature.”
Marjory (Guthrie) Emmett had 8 children. She died in Utica, Ohio in 1807. Her husband remarried to Margaret B. Rush on 12 May 1808 in Ross County, Ohio, with whom he had 2 additional children. Rev John Emmet died in Utica in 1847.
CHILDREN: 8
ANNA EMMETT
1782VA – 1863IL
Anna Emmet was born about 1782 in Staunton, Augusta, Virginia. She married John Lee on 2 June 1803 in Augusta County. They moved to Licking County, Ohio in 1808 and built a log cabin in the vicinity of Utica. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. John Lee died in 1843. “Mother Lee” as she was identified in her obituary died at 81 years of age on 6 Nov 1863 in Hamilton County, Illinois at the home of her son-in-law. Online trees identify 9 children for the couple. No information found for children #6-9, so the birth order may be different.
CHILDREN:
1) Elizabeth Lee 1808OH-1843OH. Unmarried
2) Elisha Bowman Lee 1813OH-1882KS m. Ann Hill Shields +children
3) Margery Lee 1815OH-1882OH m. Abraham King +children
4) Mahala Lee 1817OH-1880OH m. Crawford Huford +children
5) Amelia Lee 1820OH-1905KS m. John H Elder +children
6) William Lee 18??VA/OH-???? – No details
7) Thomas Lee 18??VA/OH-???? – No details
8) Jane Lee 18??VA/OH-???? – No details
9) Rebeckah Lee 18??VA/OH-???? – No Details
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
ELIZABETH EMMETT
1783VA – aft.1860
Depending on the tree reviewed, this daughter may have married between 3 to 5 times including at least 1 time abandoning her husband. Some trees list a first marriage to Samuel Hoy Smith Sr (1776-1862) sometime prior to 1808, but if this was the case the marriage would have to have been dissolved because he was still alive during Elizabeth’s lifespan and he remarried to a Jane Victor 16 Mar 1821. I find no documentation of a Smith-Emmet marriage. The next potential husband on the list does have a documented connection to the woman identified in trees as being Elizabeth Emmett, daughter of Rev John Emmett, but no one has identified his given name. The surname was Ask / Aske, and it is found listed as Elizabeth surname on the marriage record to her next husband, Seeley / Sele Simpkins on 24 Jan 1815 in Knox County, Ohio. He died on 14 April 1815. Now a widow, Elizabeth Simpkins remarried in Knox County, Ohio to Elihu S Webster on 22 Feb 1817, but in 1818 her husband filed a declaration that his wife had left him for no reason and that he claimed no responsibility for her debts. The trees next associate her with a Wood Glancy and a son John D Glancy, however the latter was born in New York about 1826, and living in New Orleans in 1850. By 1850, Elizabeth is presumably a widow as her name is now Elizabeth Wilson, wife of William Wilson, and John D Glancy is living with them in Louisiana.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
REBECCA EMMETT
1786VA – 1832OH
Rebecca’s birth is reported as being in 1786 Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia. She married James Smith there on 2 June 1803. He was the son of Col. Daniel and Jane (Harrison) Smith. “In 1807, having conscientious scruples on the question of slavery. . . moved to Ohio. He settled at Mt. Vernon, (now Knox County). A short time after his settlement he was appointed Clerk of the County Court, in which capacity he served for twenty years. Besides attending to his secular duties he filled the pulpit of the Christian Church, wherein he was an ardent worker. He was the author of several books on the Trinity. Whilst returning from court at Marion, Ohio, he was thrown from his horse and fatally injured. Rev. Smith married, in 1804, Rebecca Emmett, of Augusta County, Virginia.” (Harrison, p415-417)
CHILDREN:
1) Jane Harrison Smith 1805VA-1880IL m.1823 Adolph Christian Carl ‘Charles’ Sager (Tin Smith) +children
2) Diana Smith 1808OH – bet.1860-70OH – Unmarried
3) Benjamin F Smith 1811OH-1892MN (Soldier/Merchant/Legislator) m.1830 Julia Stilley +children
4) James Smith 1815OH-1882MN (Lawyer) m.1848 Elizabeth L Morton +children
5) Vespasian Smith 1818OH-1897MN (Physician) m.1846 Charlotte Neely +children
6) Adeline Theresa Smith 1821OH-1895OH m.1850 Rev. Asher Austin Davis (Clergyman) +children
7) Elizabeth Henrietta Clay Smith 1824OH-1847OH m.1843 Charles Lybrand +children
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
JOHN EMMETT JR
1787VA – 1837IN
John Emmett Jr was born in Virginia about 1787. He married Neitje Eleanor Wimmer, the daughter of a Dutch immigrant, Jacob Wimmer who had moved from New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Ohio, where presumably the couple met and married about 1804-1805. John Emmett was a soldier of the War of 1812 and received bounty land in Henry County, Indiana. They had eight children born in Ohio. John died in Henry County, Indiana in 1837 at the age of 50. His widow died three years later.
CHILDREN:
1) William Emmett 1805PA/OH-1841IN m.1831 INSarah Dukes +children
2) Jemima Emmett 1808PA/OH-aft.1880KS m.1828IN John D Buck (Hunter/Farmer) +children
3) George Emmett 1809PA/OH-1861IA (Farmer) m.1832IN Nancy Dukes Norton +children
4) Anna Emmett 1814PA/OH-1883MN m.1832IN George Washington Rose (Farmer) +children
5) Margaret Emmett 1814OH-1885IN m.1833IN John S Mullen (Farmer) +children
6) Isaac Emmett 1817OH-18?? m.1834IN Jane Pugh. No further details.
7) Sarah Emmett 1821OH-1904MO m.1839IA Reason Reese Penrod (Day Laborer) +children
8) Jane Emmett 1823OH-1924NM m. Charles Venable Maddox +children
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
ABRAHAM EMMETT
abt1789VA – 1863OH
Abraham Emmett was born about 1789VA. He served as a private during the War of 1812, and later was in charge of drilling a local company of militia in Knox County, Ohio. Abe married on 22 Jan 1814 to Sarah “Sally” Zurich. They had 3 known children, including son Daniel Decatur Emmett was the composer of the famed song “Dixie” aka “Dixie Land” or “I Wish I was in Dixie” written about the American South in 1859. Find-a-Grave lists Abe’s DOD as 1846, but census records and an obituary reveal that he lived another 17 years. He died on 6 Sep 1863 in St Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota at 74 years of age. Sally died three years later in 1866.
CHILDREN:
1) Daniel Decatur Emmett 1815OH-1904OH (Musician) m1.1853NY Catherine Rives, m2.1879IL Mary Bird -No Children
2) Lafayette Emmett 1822OH-1906NM (Lawyer/Judge) m.1850OH Elizabeth Bell +children
3) Martha Ellen Emmett 1825OH-1899OH (Music Teacher) m.1868 Levi S Lewis (his 2nd wife) – No Children.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
WILLIAM YATES EMMETT
1799VA – 1873OH
William Yates Emmett was born about 1799 in Virginia. He was a Methodist clergyman and a Universalist. He married Rachel Pomeroy (Cook) Converse on 8 Dec 1836 in Delaware County, OH. She was a widow with two children. He died 2 Jan 1873 at 73 or 74 years of age and is buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Springfield, Clark, Ohio. His wife Rachel died the following year on 1 Nov 1874 and is also buried there. The couple had no children.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
MARY EMMETT
Abt. 1802VA – 18??
Rev. John and Marjory (Guthrie) Emmett reportedly had a daughter named Mary Emmett born about 1802. She is listed in multiple online trees, but none of them have additional data on her life or death.
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No Known Descendants
MARTHA LOVE EMMETT
1804VA – 1853IL
Daughter Martha Love Emmett went by the nickname of Patsy. She was born about 1804 in Virginia. Her marriage to James Barker took place on 31 Oct 1825 in White, Illinois. They had 2 sons and 5 daughters. James died in Gallatin County, IL in Feb of 1847. Patsy died there in 1853.
CHILDREN:
1) Thomas Barker 1828IL-1916CA (Farmer/Laborer) – Unmarried
2) Rebecca Barker 1830IL-1903CA m.1854IL Ausborough H Rodgers +children
3) Margaret Barker 1831IL-1921IL m1. William H H Stone (Farmer), m2, Joseph Logsdon (Farmer) +children
4) Emmett Barker 1834IL-1893CA (Farmer) – Unmarried
5) Rachel Barker 1836IL-1924IL m.1852IL James A Coleman +children
6) Martha Love Barker 1840IL-1884CA m.1866CA Samuel Jackson Lewis +children
7) Mary Barker 1843IL-1918CA m.1876 Albert Eugene French +1 adopted child
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: No
Primary Sources
(Original records created near the events, such as probate, deeds, court orders, marriage registers, and burial markers; these provide direct or strong circumstantial evidence of relationships, residences, and timelines). These are scarce due to the era (pre-state vital registration), frontier migrations (PA → VA → OH/WV), and limited surviving Methodist church or early Ohio/WV records. No civil birth, marriage, or death certificates exist for Marjory or the 1780 marriage. No probate or will for Marjory (d. ~1807) or Rev. John Emmet (d. 1847) was located in digitized collections, nor a confirmed Revolutionary War pension file (service is claimed in secondary accounts but unverified here). Potential undigitized courthouse records (e.g., Ohio County, VA/WV probate ~1807 or Licking County, OH administration ~1847) may exist locally.
- Estate/Probate Records of John Guthrie (Marjory’s father), Oxford Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania (will ~1787; proved/administered 1790): The will abstract lists daughters including Marjory; the final estate administration explicitly names her husband as “John Emmet” (or variant spelling). This is the strongest primary link confirming the marriage and identity. Citation: Chester County, Pennsylvania, Probate Records, 1683–1994 (FamilySearch microfilm/images, Chester County section; also abstracted in secondary Guthrie compilations). Accessed via FamilySearch.org or Chester County Archives, West Chester, PA. Proves parentage, marriage by ~1784/1780, and PA origins.
- Augusta County, Virginia, Deed Books and Court Orders (1786–1801): Multiple entries name “John Emmett/Emmitt” (of Pennsylvania) as grantee, surety/consent on marriage bonds, estate appraiser, debtor, and will witness. Key example: 20 Sep 1786 deed from John Brooks Jr. & Ann to John Emmett (part of Brooks plantation; delivered 21 Jan 1790). Other: 1789 marriage bonds (e.g., Samuel Brooks/Mary Penrose—John Emmitt consent/surety; Isaac Hudson/Sarah Love—John Emmitt surety); 1800 John Mills estate appraisement; 1801 John Hall will (witnessed by John Emmitt). No direct record of the Guthrie-Emmet marriage bond appears, but these establish residence in Augusta County, VA, by 1786 (post-marriage), land ownership, community role, and timeline overlap with children’s births (1782–1804 in VA). Citation: Augusta County Deed Books/Court Orders (originals at Augusta County Courthouse, Staunton, VA, or microfilm). Abstracted in Lyman Chalkley, Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia (3 vols., 1912–1913; reprint Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1980 or online at archive.org/rootsweb). Specific pages: Vol. 2 (deeds p. 363; bonds p. ~various 1789; estates pp. 73, 239; will p. 196). Proves migration from PA, VA settlement, and presence during child-rearing years.
- Ross County, Ohio, Marriage Records (12 May 1808): John Emmett to Margaret Rush (or Bates variant; second wife after Marjory’s death). This confirms widowhood by 1808 and move to Ohio. Citation: Ross County, Ohio, Marriage Registers (county clerk or FamilySearch/Ancestry digitized collections). Widely cited in compiled trees but verifiable in original ledgers.
- Knox County, Ohio (and related counties), Marriage Records for Children (e.g., 1815 onward): Examples include Elizabeth Emmett to Seeley/Seli Simpkins (24 Jan 1815, listed as Elizabeth Ask/Aske in some indexes); Elizabeth Simpkins to Elihu S. Webster (22 Feb 1817, with 1818 separation declaration). Similar records exist for Rebecca Emmett (to James Smith, Augusta Co. VA pre-move), Anna, Martha Love (to Barker), etc., in Knox, White (IL), Delaware, and Henry (IN) counties. These indirectly prove parentage via naming and timing. Citation: Knox County, Ohio, Marriage Records (FamilySearch or county archives); cross-referenced in White County, IL, and Illinois county records.
- Burial/Monument Record for Rev. John Emmet: North Lawn Cemetery, Utica, Licking County, Ohio (no detailed tombstone inscription transcribed, but memorial confirms death 1847). Marjory has no known marker (death ~1807 in Wheeling, Ohio Co., VA/WV; possible unmarked or lost). Citation: North Lawn Cemetery records or sexton books (Licking County, OH); memorial #33536241.
- Census, Tax, and Militia Records (indirect): U.S. Federal Censuses (1810+ OH/IN/IL for surviving children/widower John); early VA/OH tax lists; War of 1812 service for sons (John Jr., Abraham—bounty land in Henry Co., IN). These support timelines and migrations but do not name Marjory directly.
Secondary Sources
(compiled histories, genealogies, and modern indexes that synthesize primaries; useful for context but require verification against originals). These often repeat unproven claims (e.g., exact marriage year 1780/1784; John’s birth Elkton, MD vs. Staunton, VA; Marjory’s death Wheeling vs. possible Utica move). DNA evidence is absent (female-line Guthrie descendant).
- Lawrence R. Guthrie, American Guthrie and Allied Families (1933?), p. 160: Identifies Marjory as daughter of John Guthrie (1708 IRE–1790 PA) and Ann Hill/Emmons (1715–1814 PA). No further details on her marriage/children. Citation: Full book digitized on Internet Archive or Ancestry; key excerpt confirms parentage link.
- A. Banning Norton, A History of Knox County, Ohio from 1779 to 1862 (Columbus: Richard Nevins, 1862; Internet Archive), p. 806 (biographical sketch of James Smith, husband of daughter Rebecca Emmett). Provides migration context (Rebecca & James to OH 1807 over slavery concerns). Citation: Digitized on Internet Archive.
- John Houston Harrison, Settlers by the Long Grey Trail: Some Pioneers to Old Augusta County, Virginia, and Their Descendants of the Family of Harrison and Allied Lines (Dayton, VA: J.K. Ruebush Co., 1935; Ancestry.com), pp. 415–417 and p. 191 (James Smith/Rebecca Emmett family). Expands on Augusta Co. VA roots and descendants. Citation: Ancestry digitized copy.
- Licking County History (or Centennial History of Licking County, Ohio, ~1900s editions): Details Rev. John Emmet’s ministry (preaching under tree in Newark 1806; chaplain 4 July 1807—first in county; Scioto Valley later; Pickaway Co. legislator). Quoted extensively on Find A Grave and WeRelate. Citation: Various Licking County histories (Internet Archive or local libraries); bio on Find A Grave memorial #33536241.
- Find A Grave Memorial #33536241 (Rev. John Emmett) and related child memorials (e.g., Abraham Emmett linking to composer Daniel Decatur “Dixie” Emmett). Includes bio excerpts but no primary photos/inscriptions for Marjory. Citation: findagrave.com (user-contributed; cross-check with primaries).
