James McCarthy Guthrie 1869TN-1899TN & Margaret C Johnson
of Meigs County, Tennessee, USA

JAMES MCCARTHY GUTHRIE
Parents: Joseph Guthrie 1825IRE – 1909TN and Julia J McCarthy 841IRE – 1924TN
Birth: 13 March 1869
Birth Location: Tennessee, USA
Occupation: Farmer
Marriage: 4 February 1892 in Meigs County, Tennessee, USA
Death: 18 July 1899
Death Location: Tennessee, USA, probably in Meigs County
Burial Location: Baldwin Cemetery (also known as Ragland-Baldwin Cemetery, Ten Mile Cemetery) in Meigs County, Tennessee, USA
Notes:
James was the eldest son of Joseph Guthrie and Julia McCarthy. He married Maggie Johnson when he was about 22 years old. His occupation as a farmer is inferred from the 1900 census listing his widow in that occupation. He was only 30 at the time of his death. No obituary found.

MARGARET ‘MAGGIE’ C JOHNSON
Parents: Feral L Bratcher Johnson 1836TN-1896TN and Elizabeth McPherson 1844TN-1886TN
Birth: October 1872 or 1872 (Memorial Stone lists 1871)
Birth Location: Ten Mile, Meigs, Tennessee, USA
Occupation (After Death of Husband): Farmer
Guthrie Children: Willie McCarthy (1893), Elizabeth Julia (1894), Mattie T (1897), James Barton (1898), Farris Lacey (1900)
Married 2nd: Joseph Harmon Abbott on 21 August 1902 in McMinn County, Tennessee, USA
Abbott Children: Samuel C (1903), Charlie Hubert (1906), Gordon Thelmer (1909), John H (1912/13)
Death: Aft. August 1913 (Memorial Stone lists 1912)
Death Location: Konawa, Seminole, Oklahoma, USA
Burial Location: Violet Springs Cemetery, Asher, Pottawatomie, Oklahoma, USA
Notes:
The 1900 census reveals that Maggie had given birth to 4 children, but that only 1, her daughter Elizabeth, survived, which means that she was pregnant at the time of the census with her 5th child, Farris Lacey. Two of her brothers were living with her at the time of the census, presumably to help run the family farm. Maggie remarried two years later to Joseph Abbott. They moved to Oklahoma. There is a discrepancy regarding Maggie’s DOD as being either in 1912, according to her headstone, or in 1913. Her youngest son, John H Abbott’s DOB is reported as being on 2 August 1913, but it could be that his guardians got the year wrong and he continued using that year the rest of his life. Trees report the death of Joseph Abbott as “after 1912” or in 1930 New Mexico. No documentation found. Their sons are found living in the homes of relatives during the 1920 census.

GUTHRIE CHILDREN: 5

WILLIAM MCCARTHY GUTHRIE
1893TN-1898TN

William ‘Willie’ McCarthy Guthrie was born 11 March 1893 in Meigs County, Tennessee. He was 5 years old at his death on 27 August 1898. He is buried at Baldwin Cemetery (incorporated in 1960 as Ten Mile Cemetery) with other family members.

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

ELIZABETH ‘LIZZIE’ JULIA GUTHRIE
1894TN – 1997MD

Lizzie was born on 9 December 1894 in Meigs County, Tennessee. Her father, J. M. Guthrie, died in 1899 and mother Maggie remarried in August 1902 to Joseph Harmon Abbott. They moved to Oklahoma soon afterward. Only 14 at the time of her marriage on 14 Apr 1909, Lizzie married Charles Lafayette Abbott, the younger brother of her stepfather Joseph. They had 1 daughter and 4 sons. Sometime between 1922 and 1930, Lizzie and Charles divorced. The 1930 census still lists Lizzie as married, probably because it was socially stigmatized to be a divorced woman. She ran a boarding house. In the meantime, Charles was working as a blacksmith for the Railroad in Oklahoma City, lodging at the same place as Lizzie’s younger brother, Farris L Guthrie, working as a carpenter in the oil industry. He died about 1937 per the SSDI, location unknown. Between 1930-1940, Lizzie remarried to Harry S Smyth (Smith), younger than her by 6 years. He rented a Machinist Shop and they made their home in Cumberland, Allegany, Maryland. He died in 1956. Lizzie lived to be 103 years of age. She died on 14 December 1997. They are buried at Hillcrest Burial Park in Cumberland, MD.
CHILDREN:
1) Emma Laura Abbott 1910OK-1997MD m1. 1925WV Julian Clyde Bazell, m2. Bruce M Mackey +children
2) William McCarthy Abbott 1911OK-1995WV m.Lula Blanche Myers +children
3) Vaughn C Abbott 1914OK-1936MD. Died at 22 years of age, unmarried.
4) Timothy Carl Abbott 1916OK – 1980FL m.1950FL Gretchen Marie Edwards
5) Wayne Stanley Abbott 1922IA-2001MD m. Eleanor R (MNU)

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

MATTIE T GUTHRIE
1897TN-1898TN

Mattie was born on 5 January 1897 in Decatur, Meigs, Tennessee. She was about 20 months of age at her death on 20 September 1898. She is buried with the family at Baldwin Cemetery.

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

JAMES BARTON GUTHRIE
1898TN-1899TN

Another child died in his infancy. James Barton Guthrie was born on 31 August 1898 and died at 11 months of age on 9 July 1899 in Decatur, Meigs County, Tennessee.

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

FARRIS LACEY GUTHRIE
1900TN-1970OK

Farris Lacey Guthrie was the only son of the Guthrie half of the family to survive to adulthood. He was born on 20 August 1900 in Meigs, Tennessee, USA. Initially a farmer, he found work in construction for the oil industry and later at Tinker Air Force Base. One Christmas Eve in 1927 he married Victoria Louise Holt in Konawa, Seminole, Oklahoma. They had 3 daughters. Farris died on 14 October 1970 in Shawnee, Pottawatomie, OK. His widow died 27 August 1987 at 86 years of age. They are buried at Resthaven Memorial Park in Rock Creek, Pottawatomie, OK.
CHILDREN:
1) Edalene Bodie Guthrie 1929OK-2007OK m1. 949 Melvin Carter, m2.Billy Hodge +children
2) Billie Doris Guthrie 1931OK-1995OK m.1950TX John Lawton Biffle +children
3) (Living) Guthrie b.abt.1936OK m.1954OK Bernard B Lewis Jr +children

Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No Male Children
Autosomal DNA Participants: No

Primary Sources

(original records created contemporaneously or near the time of events by officials, participants, or eyewitnesses; these form the foundational evidence for dates, relationships, residences, and vital events):

• U.S. Federal Census Records (primary for household composition, ages, occupations, birthplaces, and widowhood status at enumeration time; Tennessee had no statewide vital registration until the 20th century, so censuses are key for this era). 1900 U.S. Census, Meigs County, Tennessee, population schedule (Margaret C. Guthrie listed as head of household/widow/farmer; notes 4 children born with only 1 living at the time, plus pregnancy with Farris Lacey Guthrie; brothers residing with her to assist on the farm). Earlier enumerations (1870 and/or 1880) place young James McCarthy Guthrie in the household of parents Joseph Guthrie and Julia J. McCarthy in Tennessee (typically Meigs or adjacent counties). These are accessible via FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, or National Archives microfilm. Nuances: The 1900 census confirms James’s death prior to June 1900 and Margaret’s remarriage timeline; age reporting can vary slightly due to informant memory.
• County Marriage Registers/Licenses (official civil records created at the time of the event; primary proof of legal union and names/ages/residences). Meigs County, Tennessee, Marriage Records (Volume/Register for 1882–1899 or equivalent), entry dated 4 February 1892: James McCarthy (or J.M.) Guthrie to Margaret C. (or Maggie) Johnson. McMinn County, Tennessee, Marriage Records, entry dated 21 August 1902: widow Margaret C. Guthrie to Joseph Harmon Abbott (confirms her widowed status and second marriage). These are held at the respective county courthouses or on microfilm at the Tennessee State Library & Archives; many are digitized/indexed on FamilySearch.org. Edge case: Affidavits or bonds may list parents or consent (e.g., from Margaret’s father Feral L. Bratcher Johnson).
• Gravestone Inscriptions and Cemetery Records (contemporary physical evidence of death/birth dates and burial; primary when the stone was erected soon after death by family). Baldwin Cemetery (also known as Ragland-Baldwin Cemetery or Ten Mile Cemetery), Meigs County, Tennessee: Gravestone of James McCarthy “J.M.” Guthrie, inscribed with birth 13 March 1869 and death 18 July 1899 (aged 30). Memorial photo available on Find A Grave (Memorial ID 90838914, created/maintained by Marvin & Samme Templin; one photo by Liz Roberts Harris). Violet Springs Cemetery (east of Asher, west of Konawa, Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma): Gravestone of Margaret Abbott (née Guthrie), inscribed 1871–1912 (R14-4 per transcription). See Oklahoma Cemeteries transcription project (okcemeteries.net/pott/violet/violet.htm). Related child burials in Baldwin Cemetery: Willie McCarthy Guthrie (1893–1898), Mattie T. Guthrie (1897–1898), James Barton Guthrie (1898–1899). Implications: Stones provide exact dates where civil death records are sparse; however, birth years on Margaret’s stone (1871) conflict slightly with census estimates (~October 1872) and blog analysis—common in pre-1900 rural records due to memory or engraving errors. No Find A Grave memorial located for Margaret in searches, but the cemetery transcription serves as a reliable secondary proxy for the primary stone.
• Death and Probate Records (county-level; primary when extant). Meigs County, Tennessee, death registers or coroner/inquest records circa 18 July 1899 (James McCarthy Guthrie; no statewide Tennessee death certificates until 1908–1914). No formal obituary located in newspapers (as noted in the referenced blog). Probate/wills for James (died young at age 30) or Margaret (died ~1912/1913) may exist in Meigs County or Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, courthouses if an estate was settled—none prominently indexed online, but worth checking original docket books. SSDI (Social Security Death Index) applies only to later descendants (e.g., some Abbott children). Nuance: Infant child deaths (1898–1899) likely inferred from cemetery + 1900 census survivorship data rather than separate certificates.

Secondary Sources

(compiled, interpretive, or published works that synthesize or transcribe primary records; useful for context, family connections, and leads but require verification against primaries):

Cemetery transcriptions and indexes: Oklahoma Cemeteries Project, Violet Springs Cemetery listing (http://www.okcemeteries.net/pott/violet/violet.htm; Margaret Abbott entry 1871–1912). Find A Grave database (Memorial #90838914 for James). These are user-transcribed or photographed primaries but classified secondary due to potential transcription errors.Local and county histories (contextual secondary; no dedicated Guthrie/Johnson book found for this specific Meigs County line, but useful for broader setting): Meigs County, Tennessee, court, land, or church records (e.g., via Tennessee State Library & Archives or Rhea/Meigs historical societies) for supporting deeds/tax lists showing the Guthrie farm. Broader works like Rhea & Meigs County, Tennessee History compilations (various dates) or Oklahoma pioneer indexes may reference the Abbott move/relocation. No direct published genealogy book (e.g., no “Guthrie of Meigs County” volume) appears in searches; the blog fills that role.