Guthrie Family Group 5 – Branch C
Matthew Guthrie 1824 KY – Bet. 1848-50 MS
of Kentucky and Mississippi, USA

MATTHEW GUTHRIE
Parents: Shadrick Guthry 1772SC-1850MS and Malinda Badley
Birth: about 1824
Location: Kentucky, USA (probably in Hickman County)
Marital Status: Single
Military Service: Mexican-American War
Occupation: Laborer
Death: Oct – Dec 1849
Location: Upper Mississippi River near Island 71 (Wisconsin)
Burial: Mississippi River

NOTES:

Shadrick Guthry & Malinda Badley’s son, Matthew Guthrie is a bit of an unknown. Although he would have been born in Kentucky, his DOB is uncertain. The year 1824 has been given in trees as his birth date. However, the 1830 census lists the two youngest males in the household as being 10-14 (born 1816-1820) and 15-19 (born 1811-1815). Later census records show his brother Shed as being born about 1821, which would definitely make him the younger of the two. This means Matthew Guthrie was most likely born about 1811-1815.

One interesting fact is his name: Matthew Guthrie. This is not a common name among Guthrie men during the 1700s, but it does show up in one other family thought to be GFG5 relations. Matthew Guthrie of Thickety Creek, South Carolina is theorized to be Shadrick’s brother.

During the 1830 census, the family had been in Graves County, Kentucky, but by 1840 they were living in Mississippi.

Matthew Guthrie would presumably have been with the family in 1840. His mother had died when he was younger, and his father Shadrick Guthry remarried that year. If his birth year of 1824 is correct, he would only have been 15 – 16 at the time.

Six years later, Matthew Guthrie is apparently found due west of Pontotoc, across the boundary of the Mississippi River, on the far side of Arkansas. The General Index of Deeds for Washington County, Arkansas (FHL 008583621 – Letter G Index IMG 66) show son land entries for descendants of Carter Guthrie and Barbara Beal who had moved from North Carolina to Arkansas. The Inverted Index (Grantees) (FHL008197817 – Letter G Index IMG 60) shows no entries for Matthew Guthrie.

Ancestry hints include Mexican War muster rolls for a Matthew Guthrie, private, Capt. J Preston’s Co (K), Mounted Regiment Arkansas Infantry July 1846 – Dec 1847. Private Matthew Guthrie was 22 when he enrolled in Washington County, Arkansas on 10 July 1846 making his est. DOB 1824. This seems to be the source of the birth year listed in online trees, but does this service record apply to this Matthew Guthrie? It is the only record for that war for anyone named Matthew Guthrie. The connecting evidence seems to come from the land warrant issued to the soldier and an information request by his brother stating the location of Matthew’s disappearance. He had reportedly been heading to “Island 71” in a canoe and likely drowned on the Mississippi River.

The US Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Land Management – General Land Office Records shows a document for a Military Warrant in the State of Wisconsin issued 2/1/1849 for Matthew Guthrie of Capt. Preston’s Company First Regiment Arkansas Cavalry. Document No. 2977. 160acres in Calumet County, which is located on the Eastern side of the state close to Lake Michigan.

A search for “Island 71” returned a map of the Upper Mississippi River by the US Army Corp Engineers. Another one is found here with Island No. 71 in the middle of the map. The Mississippi River flows along the Western side of Wisconsin’s border with Minnesota.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources provides a description: The Upper Mississippi River winds its way along 230 miles of the western border of Wisconsin. It is a special place, with its sweeping vistas of bluffs, bottomland forests, open water, wetlands and islands. From the headwaters at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, the Upper Mississippi River extends downstream to the mouth of the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois. It borders five states and includes more than 1,250 miles of river, but it is only a small portion of the entire Mississippi River basin.

A newspaper notice posted in the Southern Shield (Helena, Arkansas) on 2 March 1850 by his brother Shadrick ‘Shed’ Guthrie requesting information reveals some of the information about Matthew Guthrie’s death. He was reportedly drowned in the Mississippi River.

As far as is known, Matthew Guthrie was unmarried at the time of his death.

GUTHRIE CHILDREN: 0
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants
Autosomal DNA Participants: N/A – No Known Descendants

READING and RESOURCES

DOCUMENT: Bureau of Land Management
Military Warrant – Wisconsin – Issue Date: 2//1/1849
Matthew Guthrie
Militia: Captain Prestons Company First Regiment Arkansas Cavalry

NEWSPAPER NOTICE: Southern Shield (Helena, Arkansas) on 2 March 1850, Newspapers.com

NEWSPAPER NOTICE: The Vicksburg Daily Whig, on Tuesday, 16 Jan 1855, Newspapers.com

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