4-A: William Guthrey

Embroidered Guthrey family tree sampler

Guthrie Family Group 4 · Branch A · Child Page

William Guthrey & Rebecca Noel

Cumberland and Buckingham Counties, Virginia

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Thomas Guthrey’s deed for 260 acres calls William his son. The terms allowed Thomas to keep the use of the land during his lifetime. A generation later, the division of William’s own estate helps identify the daughters who had married into the Coleman and Apperson families.

The Family at a Glance

William Guthrey

Birth
16 August 1751 in the family account. Flint Hill in King William County is a tradition. His father already held an interest in land in Cumberland.
Marriage
25 November 1778 in Buckingham County, reported. Four children are known.
Death
By 27 March 1826, when the Cumberland court recorded his inventory. The day of death and burial place are unknown.

Rebecca Noel

Birth
25 March 1761, reported. Her parents have yet to be established.
Widowhood
An 1830 Cumberland household is indexed under Rebecca’s name. Its oldest woman is much younger than the age implied by the family birth date.
Death
The family gives 5 January 1836. The court recorded her inventory on 26 January and her administration account and division in 1837.

Children of William Guthrey & Rebecca Noel

The four children are identified in the family and estate research. The dates labeled reported come from family accounts.

ChildBirthMarriage & Later Life
John Guthrey22 September 1779, reportedMarried a Palmore, called Nancy or Jane in family accounts, then Mary “Polly” Ayres and Elizabeth “Betsy” Ayres. The Buckingham death register gives November 1856 and age 81. Its day appears to read 31, an impossible November date. The family gives the 30th. His age conflicts with the reported 1779 birth.
William “Buck” Guthrey24 September 1781, reportedMarried Elizabeth Coleman. Their family included Edward Travis and William Poindexter Guthrie. Buck died 4 December 1848, according to the family account.
Nancy Ann Guthrey1 February 1783, reportedMarried James White, then Gulielmus Coleman Jr. Her daughter Sarah Howard White belonged to the first marriage. Nancy died between the last reported Coleman birth in 1822 and her cousin’s marriage to Gulielmus in 1826.
Sarah Noel Guthrey28 January 1786, reportedMarried James Apperson in Cumberland in August 1805. William consented and John stood surety. The Apperson–Harris–Turner Bible records their children. The family reports Sarah’s death on 5 January 1836.
Following the next generation

John’s Buckingham family. The Palmore family includes William Palmore, Rebecca Noel, Elizabeth Boatwright, John Garnett, James Smith and Daniel Travis. Martha Ann belongs to the marriage to Polly Ayres. The Elizabeth Ayres line includes Joseph Lee, Mary Susan, Poindexter, Emily Jane, Nathaniel, Nancy Catherine, Kesiah and Matthew. The 1850 household helps distinguish the younger children.

Buck, Nancy Ann and Sarah Noel. Buck’s family includes Louzannie Garnett, Nancy Turner, Edward Travis, William Poindexter, Elizabeth Eleanor, John James and Ireland. Ireland’s later life remains open. Nancy Ann’s family includes Sarah Howard White and the Coleman children John Baptist, James W., Virgil, Ann Rebecca and Alexander Gulielmus. Use the Apperson Bible for Sarah Noel’s eight children. James Apperson’s reported death in Cumberland in 1865 and the Richmond mortality entry for 1869 need independent identification.

Guthrie DNA Project Participation

Child lineY-DNABig YAutosomal
John106344, 177763——
William “Buck”——✓
Nancy AnnN/AN/A—
Sarah NoelN/AN/A—

✓ marks a documented autosomal line. A dash marks a category without an assigned result in this review. N/A marks a child through whom the Guthrey Y chromosome did not pass.

Historical Highlights

An open Bible with Virginia land records

The two generations appear together in the deed books. Thomas retained the use of the 260 acres he conveyed to William for five shillings. In the next generation, a division of property names representatives of married children. The two sets of records allow a reader to follow both the land and the changes of surname.

Family Timeline

  1. 1778William and Rebecca’s marriage is reported on 25 November.
  2. 1779–86John, William, Nancy Ann and Sarah Noel were born.
  3. 1781–84William collected and drove cattle for continental use in September 1781. The court allowed his claim in 1785. Thomas conveyed the Pidy Creek tract to William in May 1784. The court acknowledged the transaction that August.
  4. 1805William consented to Sarah Noel’s marriage to James Apperson.
  5. 1826–28William’s inventory, division and sale were recorded in Cumberland Will Book 8.
  6. 1836–37Rebecca’s inventory and estate division followed in Will Books 9 and 10.
Finding the right William

The 1784 father-to-son deed is indexed in Cumberland Deed Book 6, p. 217. Deed Book 15, p. 37, is a later Guthrey transaction. The 1820 census entry for William Junior needs its own identification. The household ages make it unsafe to use it as a household list for either generation without corroboration.

Explore the Research

DNA & the Family Line

The project traces kit 106344 through John and his son Daniel Travis Guthrie, and kit 177763 through John and his son Joseph Lee Guthrie. The two descendants represent children of different marriages of the same John. Buck’s line has autosomal representation. Kit 232860 has a proposed Baskerville pedigree and is not assigned to one of William and Rebecca’s children.

The two Nancy Guthreys and the widow White

The 1812 marriage index calls Gulielmus’s bride Sarah White. Hoggard’s corrected family study identifies the widow as Nancy Ann, daughter of William and Rebecca. The 1827 division includes Gulielmus. In 1826 he married Nancy Guthrey, daughter of Henry and Patience. The Alabama papers later identify him as acting for this second Nancy in her brother Bernard’s estate. Nancy Turner Guthrie, Buck’s daughter, belongs to the following generation.

The Baskerville marriage

William’s appearance as surety for a Guthrey–Baskerville bond does not identify the groom as his son. The branch provisionally places the younger groom with Travis. The Thomas who married Catherine Cox was a son of Henry and Patience. Compare the Cumberland estate papers with the corrected Hoggard study before assigning another child to William.

John’s wives and their children

The Palmore marriage is associated with six children, including Daniel Travis. The older published account gives the wife’s forename as Elizabeth. Martha Ann is assigned to Polly Ayres. The later Ayres household includes Joseph Lee. A Palmore estate distribution or a marriage entry naming the bride would settle the first wife’s name.

Buck’s family and its neighbors

Buck’s daughter Nancy Turner and her cousins Nancy Ann and Nancy appear in different generations. In Kentucky records associated with William Poindexter, Jane and Morris Guthrie require their own family histories. Proximity in a census and a shared surname do not establish parentage.

Reading & Sources

Start with these records

The collections below include records for relatives, neighbors and people with similar names. A link to an index is a finding aid. Identifications depend on the underlying entry. Some images require a sign-in or access through a participating library.

Family, estate and Bible records
Cumberland deeds and indexes · Books 1–9
Cumberland deeds · later books and the Coleman heirs
Cumberland wills, inventories and estate divisions
Printed sources and county collections
Guardian accounts
Cumberland court orders · earlier books
Cumberland court orders · later eighteenth century
Cumberland court orders · later volumes
Bible collections and Noel family research
Most Wanted Documents
  • Find the original Buckingham marriage or a Noel deed or estate record that identifies Rebecca’s parents.
  • Read the 1812 White marriage bond, the 1846 Coleman conveyance (Cumberland Deed Book 26, p. 315) and chancery case 1830-005 together for the two Nancy families.
  • Compare the Buckingham register (1856, p. 45, entry 67) with an obituary or Bible entry. The register appears to say 31 November, while the family gives 30 November. Seek the original Palmore marriage evidence.

Continue the Family’s Story

A family Bible beside an open farmhouse door

The 1827 division names the households that came together after William’s death. A receipt signed by an heir, a Palmore family entry or the record behind Rebecca’s reported birth date could identify which relatives carried these papers into the next generation.

Researched & Curated by Ann Guthrie

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