3A: Anne Guthrie
Anne Guthrie & Elijah Fowler
Guthrie Family Group 3 · Branch A
John Guthrie’s daughter Anne · Botetourt County, Virginia
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On 4 November 1794, Anne Guthrie and Elijah Fowler appear together in the marriage records of Botetourt County. Three other Guthries appear on the same line. Beside John’s name, the register gives one word that establishes Anne’s place in this family. It calls him her “father.” James and Robert appear farther across the page, under security and witnesses.
Anne’s marriage is easier to trace than her household. An assessor listed Elijah and William Fowler in Botetourt the following spring. In 1801 a Kanawha County tax roll placed Elijah just below William and Joshua Fowler. Neither entry names Anne. In 1809 John Lee recorded Elijah’s marriage to Jane Bogins in Kanawha.
Years later, an Ohio recorder set down the names of Elijah’s heirs and their spouses. Those names let us follow the Fowlers into several Gallia County families. To find a child of Anne herself, we still need a record that names her as the mother.
The Family at a Glance
Anne Guthrie
- Birth and parents
- Probably Virginia, about 1778–1779, an estimate in the family study. The marriage register names John Guthrie as her father. Her mother’s name remains unknown.
- Marriage
- Elijah Fowler. Botetourt County recorded the bond on 4 November 1794. The minister column is blank for this entry.
- Death and burial
- Presumed to have died before Elijah’s 1809 marriage to Jane in Kanawha County. Anne’s place of death and burial remain unknown.
Elijah Fowler
- Birth
- 25 March 1770 according to his son Harrison’s published biography. The Good Hope cemetery index and an earlier family profile give 1772. His birthplace and parents remain uncertain.
- Households and work
- First married Anne Guthrie, then Jane Bogins, also called Bogan. Gallia County remembered him as a farmer, schoolteacher, and justice of the peace.
- Death and burial
- 10 September 1841, Guyan Township, Gallia County, Ohio. Buried at Good Hope Cemetery. Jane died on 13 September and was buried there too.
Did Anne and Elijah have children?
No child has yet been identified by a record naming Anne as the mother. The best household clue is a young woman aged 16–25 in Elijah’s 1820 census entry. She was old enough to have been born during his first marriage. The census gives neither her name nor her relationship to him. A child of Anne could also have been living elsewhere by 1820.
Elijah’s second family with Jane Bogins or Bogan
The family study gives Jane’s birth as 15 March 1787 in Virginia and places the following eleven children in her marriage to Elijah. Harrison’s and Jane Sheets’s biographies identify their mother by name. The Ohio deed supplies several married names.
| Reported birth | Child | Where the name appears |
|---|---|---|
| 1810 | Mary | The cemetery index identifies her as a daughter of E. and J. Fowler, born 7 December 1810 and died 10 January 1836. |
| 1812 | Harrison | His biography names Jane Bogan. The deed names his wife Ireminta. |
| 1814 | Franklin | Bought the heirs’ interests in the Ohio land. |
| 1816 | Martha | Named with her husband Jesse Rose. |
| 1818 | Elizabeth | Named with her husband John Mart. |
| 1820 | Caroline | Named with her husband John Sampson. |
| 1823 | Virginia | Named with her husband Henry Crane. |
| 1823 | Mahala | Brice H. Sheets’s biography calls his first wife Mahaly Fowler. |
| 1824 | Jane | John H. Sheets’s biography names her parents as Elijah and Jane. |
| 1826 | Elijah | Named among the grantors in the deed for his father’s land. |
| 1828 | Infant son | The cemetery index identifies an infant son of E. and J. Fowler who died 24 August 1828. |
Read the heirs’ deed · Read the family biographies · Good Hope burial entries
Historical Highlights
In Botetourt, a marriage clerk had reason to record who stood behind a bond. In Kanawha, the assessor wanted the names of taxpayers and an account of their property. That difference explains why we can identify Anne’s father in 1794 yet can follow only Elijah by name on the next part of their route.
Across the Ohio River, the records grow fuller for Elijah and Jane. Their son Harrison remembered moving to Gallia as a boy. Neighbors remembered the cabin where Elijah taught. After his death, the recorder described the trees along a riverbank and listed the married couples who sold their interests in that land.
- 1794
Anne’s father is named in Botetourt
The Virginia State Library’s compiled register gives 4 November as the date of bond. The bride is Anne Guthrie, the groom Elijah Fowler. Under the bride’s parents or guardian the entry reads “John Guthrie, father.” James Guthrie and Robert Guthrie share the security-and-witness column. Their inclusion places them with Anne on this occasion. The register leaves their relationship to her unstated.
Register of Marriages, Botetourt County, Virginia, p. 77. Full register page, image 82, film 007578844. - 1795–1801
From the Botetourt lists to the Kanawha roll
The Botetourt transcription places William Fowler and Elijah Fowler together under 23 March 1795 in Robert Harris’s district. Elijah’s figures, 1–0–0–2, include one taxable white male and two horses. The next year’s entry for Elijah is dated 16 March. In 1801 the Kanawha roll lists Joshua, William, and Elijah Fowler on successive lines, each with his own entry. The list gives no kinship among the three men.
The earlier research citation gives 23 May for the 1795 entry. The photographed transcription reads March. Film numbers and the two readings.
- 1809
John Lee records Elijah’s marriage to Jane Bogins
In the county clerk’s typescript, John Lee’s 1809 heading appears at the foot of page 10. The list continues at the top of page 11 with Thomas R. Suavar and Isa Kelly, then Elijah Fowler and Jane Bogins. Lee’s attestation follows their names. A separate list headed 1808 begins farther down the page. This sequence establishes 1809 for the Fowler marriage, although Lee gives no month or day. Kanawha County Clerk, pp. 10–11, image 143 of 582, film 004226396.
Kanawha County marriage list. Full-image reference from Diana Guthrie · Alternate transcription grouping the couple under 1808 - 1815–1826
The Fowlers cross into Ohio
Harrison’s biography places the family’s move to Gallia County in 1815, when he was about three. Elijah’s name continued in the Kanawha tax research through 1817 and appears on the Gallia lists in 1818 and 1819. A tax entry can outlast a move. The 1820 census counted eight people in his household in Ohio Township, Gallia County. On 2 February 1826 John and Joseph Jenks conveyed land to him. Gallia County Deed Book 10, p. 81.
- 1827–1832
A schoolteacher and justice in Guyan Township
Guyan Township was organized on 4 December 1826. At its first election the following April, eleven votes were cast at John Swindler’s house. Both Swindler and Elijah Fowler became justices of the peace. The county history credits Elijah with performing the township’s first marriage, between Seth Chase and Anna Garlick, and teaching its first school in a log cabin half a mile west of Crown City.
John Lee, whose Kanawha list includes Elijah and Jane, also preached at Swindler’s house. In 1832 Elijah and John Henry were among the early members of a Baptist congregation on Indian Guyan Creek. Hardesty’s Guyan Township history, pp. XIX–XX.
- 1841–1846
Two burials and a deed to Franklin Fowler
Elijah died on 10 September 1841. Jane died three days later. The family study places both burials at Good Hope Cemetery in Guyan Township. The worn photograph of Elijah’s stone preserves his name, but the finer lettering is difficult to read. Harrison’s biography gives 25 March 1770 for his father’s birth. The county cemetery index gives the same month and day in 1772. Good Hope entries for Elijah and Jane.
Four years later, the heirs released their interests in 68½ acres to Franklin Fowler for $200. The deed was dated in October, acknowledged in November, and certified as a true copy the next April. Names, dates, and the two-page deed.
Explore the Research
Two records answer different family questions. The Botetourt register tells us whose daughter Anne was. The Gallia deed tells us who had an interest in Elijah’s land. To work out who their mothers were, we have to follow the people named in the deed into records of their own.
Anne’s Guthrie family and the other Fowler marriage
John Guthrie is identified as Anne’s father in the 1794 register. James and Robert Guthrie appear beside her. The John Guthrie family study places them as her brothers. Robert’s own family study identifies his wife as Frances Fowler. A shared surname and a second marriage between the families make Frances worth following, but her relationship to Elijah remains an open question. John’s family · Robert and Frances
Finding the Virginia and Ohio tax entries
Botetourt County. The photographed transcription is headed 1795 Tithable and Land Books. Its source note identifies the lower southern district, Robert Harris, p. 7, call number 929.3 B748t, West Virginia History Library, Charleston. It gives 23 March. Compare the legacy reading of 23 May with film 007849091, image 251 of 697. The 16 March 1796 entry is image 280. Library of Virginia reel guide.
Kanawha County. The 1801 roll shows Elijah by name. The family study also traces him in 1802, 1806, and the series ending in 1817, film 007849142. Its range starts in 1808. Virginia suspended collection that year, so the later annual search begins in 1809. Library of Virginia guide to personal property tax records.
Gallia County. Look for Elijah in 1818, 1819, and 1824–1826, film 105073748. Read these assessments alongside Harrison’s account of arriving in Ohio in 1815.
Who was living in Elijah’s household?
1820. One man was 45 or older. One woman was 26–44, one was 16–25, and one was 10–15. Two boys and two girls were under ten. One person worked in agriculture. The woman aged 16–25 could have been born during Anne’s marriage. A marriage bond, guardianship, or family Bible identifying her parents would give that clue a name. Gallia census transcription, Ohio Township, Elijah Fowler, entry 333.
1830. The legacy reading gives a man and a woman aged 60–69, a male and two females in each of the 15–19 and 10–14 groups, three girls 5–9, and a boy under five. The older woman’s age falls outside the range expected for Jane’s reported 1787 birth.
1840. A man was 70–79 and a woman 50–59. Two males and three females were 20–29, three females were 15–19, and one boy was 10–14. One person worked in agriculture. Only the household head is named in these schedules.
Elijah Fowler’s heirs to Franklin Fowler · 1845–1846
The heading identifies the grantors as Elijah Fowler’s heirs. For $200 they released their interests in 68½ acres in Guyan Township, Gallia County. The survey runs to the east bank of the Guyandotte and uses, among other landmarks, a hackberry and a sycamore. The deed is dated 18 October 1845. A note says part was acknowledged on 1 November 1845, the date of the justice’s certificate. The recorder certified the copy at Gallipolis on 2 April 1846.
The grantors are Harrison Fowler and his wife Ireminta, Jesse and Martha Rose, John and Elizabeth Mart, Henry and Virginia Crane, John and Caroline Sampson, Brice and Mahala Sheets, John and Jane Sheets, and Elijah Fowler. Franklin appears as the buyer. The clerk identifies the wives and their husbands individually. The deed leaves the heirs’ mother unnamed.
Read both pages for the names. Caroline appears as “Claring” in the opening and “Caroline” on the second page. Virginia’s surname appears as Crane in the opening and looks like Carne later. Mahala appears as “Meehala” or “Mehala.” The younger Elijah is named in the granting clause and the acknowledgment. Good Hope burial entries place Mary’s death in 1836 and an infant son’s in 1828, both years before this conveyance. Deed Book 19, pp. 422–423, film 008193267, images 222–223. Advance one image for the acknowledgment.
Deed indexes and related Fowler transactions
Kanawha. The earlier study found no entry for Elijah in the cited Fowler pages. The earliest Fowler entries it found were 1808 among sellers and 1835 among buyers. Grantors, pp. 177–181 · Grantees, pp. 164–167
Gallia sellers. Book and page references follow each transaction. Elijah’s heirs to Franklin, 19:422, and Franklin to James Cook, 22:99. Lewis to Henry Fowler, 23:15. William to Barnabas Dewitt, 11:327. Wakeman to Joseph Drowillard, 12:348, to John Bowen, 14:76, and to Henry Fowler, 23:14. Grantor index · Elijah and Franklin · Lewis · William and Wakeman
Gallia buyers. Elijah from John and Joseph Jenks, 10:81. Franklin from J. C. Dawson, 21:485, Nelson Layne, 27:21, William Sims, 29:483, and Burrell Sims, 32:163. Henry from Wakeman, Lewis, and William Fowler, 23:14–16. Harrison from John A. Sanders, 31:481, Isaac M. Mart, 31:482, Joseph H. Mart, 31:483, and James H. Mart, 31:484. Wakeman from Jacob Tinsdale, 12:91, and Wm. W. Keating, 14:28. These are leads for tracing the land and neighbors. Each proposed family relationship needs evidence of its own. Grantee index · Elijah and Franklin · Henry and Harrison · Wakeman · Gallia deed catalog
Harrison Fowler, Mahala Sheets, and Jane Sheets in print
Harrison’s sketch gives his birth as 8 June 1812 in Kanawha and identifies his parents as Elijah Fowler and Jane Bogan. It also gives his father’s birth as 25 March 1770. Harrison married Aromenta Mart on 10 October 1840. In time he served as a justice himself. Harrison Fowler, p. 20.
Brice H. Sheets’s sketch names his first wife as Mahaly Fowler, born 17 May 1823, and identifies Elijah as her father. John H. Sheets’s sketch says his first wife Jane, born 18 July 1824, was the daughter of Elijah and Jane (Bogan) Fowler. These accounts identify the women who appear with their husbands in the deed. Sheets biographies, pp. 22–23.
Hardesty’s 1882 county history · Guyan Township chapter · Maxine Marshall’s index for Fowler and for Guthrie, first page and continuation · Mary Ann Wood’s every-name index, Fowler p. 21 and Guthrie p. 25. The Guthrie entries include other family groups.
A record that names Anne as a mother
A Bible entry giving a child’s birth and naming Anne, or a guardianship that calls a child an heir of Anne Fowler, could carry her story beyond the Botetourt register. The original bond and any surviving consent could also clarify the roles of James and Robert. If you have such a record, please share its wording and where the original can be found.
The project lists no autosomal DNA participant with a documented line through Anne. A descendant through Anne would not inherit her father’s Y chromosome through her. For a proposed descendant, the first step is identifying the child who connects the two families.
Researched & Curated by Ann Guthrie