Guthrie Family Group 5 – Branch D
PERMELIA J GUTHRIE 1827 OH – 1891 CA and GEORGE GILBERT
of Ohio, Iowa, and California, USA

PERMELIA J GUTHRIE
Parents: James C Guthrie 1795-1862 and Nancy Corn 1798-1857
Birth: 13 April 1827
Birth Location: Ohio, USA
Marriage: George Gilbert on 15 July 1849 in Jefferson County, Iowa, USA
Divorce: 1870-1880
Occupation: Homemaker / Weaver
Death: 12 December 1891
Death Location: San Joaquin County, California, USA
Burial: East Union Cemetery, Mateca, San Joaquin, California, USA

GEORGE GILBERT
Parents: John H Gilbert and Mary Anne McMullen (unverified)
Birth: 1 March 1827
Birth Location: Larne, County Antrim, Ireland
Occupation: Farmer
Death: 18 August 1920
Death Location: Holyoke, Phillips, Colorado, USA
Burial: Holyoke Memorial Park, Holyoke, Phillips County, Colorado, USA

Permelia J Guthrie was born on 13 April 1827 in Ohio. She moved with her parents and siblings to Iowa where she married George Gilbert on 15 July 1849. They lived in Jasper County, Iowa through the birth of their youngest son, John Edward Gilbert in 1871.

A shift in the family dynamics appears to have happened by the 1880 census. Permelia (Guthrie) Gilbert is listed as a widow, which presumably would indicate that her husband, George Gilbert, died in Jefferson County, Iowa between 1870 and 1880. However, he shows up that year in Little Blue, Adams, Nebraska, a divorced farmer. Permelia may have preferred the more socially acceptable status of widow over divorcee. George went from Nebraska to Holyoke, Logan, Colorado where he remarried on 18 Dec 1887 to Diantha Jewett. They lived in Holyoke the remainder of their lives. George died at the age of 93. He died in Holyoke on 18 Aug 1920. He is buried at Holyoke Memorial Park.

To support the family, Permelia worked as a weaver. She moved to San Joaquin County, CA, presumably to live with relatives. She died there on 12 Dec 1891 at the age of 64, and is buried at Manteca at East Union Cemetery.

Children: 9
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

CHILD 1: GEORGE GILBERT
1850 IA – bef. 1860 IA
Died in early childhood

Eldest son George Gilbert, no doubt named for his father, was born about a year after his parents’ marriage. He is not listed on the 1860 census with the family presumably having died in Iowa during his infancy or early childhood. No further details.

CHILD 2: NANCY ANN GILBERT
12 Jan 1852 IA – 26 No 1943 IA
Spouse: James Madison Frost m.1883 in Iowa, USA

Daughter Nancy Ann Gilbert was born 12 January 1852 in Fairfield, Jefferson, Iowa. The family was in Buchanan for the 1860 census, and Fairfield remained their post office. At that time the Nancy, 8, along with siblings Elizabeth, 7, and James, 6, were already attending school. Their younger sister Mary was only 1 at the time. Farm laborer John Dary from Ireland was living and working on the farm with her parents.

The 1870 census of Buchanan lists Nancy as 18, along with her parents, and 6 siblings ranging in age from 17 down to 5. Two other workers are also with the household at that time, Horace Young, a farm laborer, and Robert Mahafy, a brick moulder.

1880 is the year her parents are listed in different states. Nancy Gilbert is not found in either household. On 22 Aug 1882 in Jefferson County, Iowa, Nancy married carpenter James Madison Frost. A widower, his first wife Mary Eliza (Thompson) Frost had died in 1881 leaving 5 children under the age of ten, the youngest having died a few months after her mother. These were: Margaret Louise (1873), Arthur (1874), Robert J (1876), John (1878), and Bertha (1881).

James and Nancy remained in Iowa, although eventually settling in Ottumwa, Wapello County, adding 7 more children to the Frost family born between 1883 and 1895. These were: Celia Permelia (1883), Leanna (1884), Thomas Edward (1886), Henry Clay (1887), James Lloyd (1891), Helen Mearl & Hazel Pearl (1895).

James was a soldier of Company A, 1st Tennessee Cavalry during the Civil War, serving from the state where he was born. He moved to Iowa soon after the war.

Nancy was a member of the Flinley Avenue Baptist church and of Enterprise Rebecca lodge, No. 132.

James died on 12 July 1913 in Ottumwa on the day after his 71st birthday. Nancy lived until 26 November 1943. She was 91 at her death having lived in the same home for 35 years. They are buried at Shaul Cemetery in Ottumwa.

Frost Children: 7
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) Celia Permelia Frost: 17 May 1883 IA – 20 Feb 1965 IA (m1.1905IA) Ralph James Langdale; (m2.1908 IA) Charles William Moore; (m3.1910IA) Harry Palmer Brouhard
2.) Leanna Frost: 21 Jul 1884 IA – 17 Mar 1965 IN (m.1903IA) John Harrington Mitchell +children
3.) Thomas Edward Frost: 17 Jan 1886 IA – 13 Jun 1921 IA – unmarried
4.) Henry Clay Frost: 23 Dec 1887 IA – 1 Sep 1971 IA (m1.1910IA) Ethel May Chadwick +children; (m2. 1931 MO) Avis Irene Morris
5.) James Lloyd Frost: 22 Feb 1891 IA – 4 Sep 1975 IA (m.1916 IA) Nellie Irona McClure +children
6.) Helen Mearl Frost: 22 Mar 1895 IA – 3 May 1978 IA (m.1913 IA) Frederick William Belgard +child; (m2. 1917 IL) Wesley Irving Reeves
7.) Hazel Pearl Frost: 22 Mar 1895 IA – 25 May 1978 MI (m.1919 IA) Hubert James Aries Singleton +children

CHILD 3: ELIZABETH JANE GILBERT aka ‘Lizzie’
1853 IA – aft. 1920 CO
Spouse: Robert Stewart

Elizabeth Jane Gilbert was born in 1853 in rural Jefferson, Iowa. Lizzie attended school, but was listed as “without occupation” during the 1870 census when she was 17 and still living at home. About 1872, she married Robert Stewart. Like her father, Robert was an Irish immigrant. Later census records show his parents were from Scotland. He was a farmer. They lived in Jefferson, Iowa until after the 1880 census and eventually moved to Colorado. The head of the household during the 1910 census in Phillips County, Colorado was Lizzie’s father, George Gilbert, then a widower and 86 years of age. Robert died in Colorado before 1920. The census that year reveals that Lizzie gave birth to 8 children only 7 of whom were still living. Lizzie was then residing with two of her sons in Phillips, Colorado. She was about 75 at her death on 12 September 1928 in Loveland, Larimer, Colorado. She is buried there at Lakeside Cemetery.

Stewart Children: 8
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) Margaret Stewart: abt.1871 IA – 2 Jun 1963 CO (m.1901 CO) Charles William Hilton +children
2.) Elizabeth Jane Stewart: 23 Feb 1873IA – 24 May 1943CO (m.1897CO) John Thomas Crimmins +child
3.) George James Stewart: 2 Sep 1875 IA – 5 Feb 1923 CO – unmarried
4.) Jane Stewart: born about 1878 – died before 1900
4.) Anna Jane Stewart: 29 Sep 1879 IA – Died aft. 1885 – No further details
5.) Belle Stewart: 25 Jul 1883 IA – 25 Feb 1959 CO – no further details
6.) Emma Stewart: 14 Oct 1886 – aft. 1900 CO – No further details
7.) Robert ‘Bert’ J. Stewart: 13 Dec 1891 CO – 20 Oct 1970 CO

CHILD 4: JAMES DANIEL GILBERT
10 August 1854 IA – 8 March 1922 CO
Spouse 1: Ida Robinson Berry m.2 Feb 1881 in VanBuren, Iowa, USA
Spouse 2: Matilda Ann Redmon m. 23 Dec 1885 in VanBuren, Iowa, USA

After the death of his brother George in early childhood, James Daniel Gilbert, born on 10 August 1854, became the oldest surviving son in the family. He grew up in Buchanan, Jefferson, Iowa. Note that by the 1880 Census, his parents had already separated. His mother Permelia was listed as a widow as the census had no category for divorce. James was mistakenly listed as both single and widowed that year. His early years were spent as a farm laborer and farmer.

James Daniel Gilbert was married at 26 to Miss Ida Berry of Leando, Iowa on 2 Feb 1881. She was 17. They had three children: Levi Oscar (1881), May Deborah (1883) and Homer (1884) who died in childbirth or in his early infancy. Ida was only 20 at her death on 21 August 1884.

A young widower with children, James Daniel Gilbert remarried on 23 December 1885 to Matilda Ann Redmond. She was the daughter of John and Martha Jane (McClure) Redmond, and 21 years old at the time. The first twenty or so years of their marriage they resided in Van Buren County, Iowa where ‘Daniel’ owned a shop and worked as a shoemaker. By 1915, they were living in Liberty, Jefferson, Iowa. They had seven children, the first of whom, Lillie (1887), lived only for a day. The remainder grew to adulthood: Edith Alice (1889), Andrew Jackson (1891), Albert Walker (1893), Charles Flavel (1896), Ruth Ann (1899), and Bessie Levena (1905).

Daughter Bessie, 14, was the only one still living with her parents during the 1920 census of Liberty, IA. James Daniel Gilbert died in Libertyville on 8 March 1922 at 67 years of age. His widow Matilda Ann (Redmon) Gilbert lived another decade. She died in Otumwa, Wapello, Iowa on 5 Dec 1932 at age 68. They are buried at Leando Cemetery in Douds, Van Buren County, Iowa.

Gilbert Children: 9 – 10
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) Levi Oscar Gilbert: 7 Oct 1881 IA – 6 Jan 1958 (m1.1906) Bertha Crandall; (m2.1916) Fay Franklin
2.) May Deborah Gilbert: 2 May 1883 IA – 22 Nov 1927 IA (m1.1907IA) Earl Lewis +children; (m2.1911 IA) Myron Newton Hoot +children.
3.) Homer Gilbert: 16 Aug 1884 IA – died in 1884 in childbirth or early infancy
4.) Lillie Gilbert: 12 May 1887 IA – 13 May 1887 IA – died in infancy
5.) Edith Alice Gilbert: 29 May 1889 CO – Oct 1980 IA (m1.1907IA) Otis Leroy Hewitt +children; (m2.1953IA) Gilmore William Plowman.
6.) Andrew Jackson Gilbert: 8 Jul 1891 IA – 20 Jun 1976 IA (m.1916IA) Blanch Dora Nason +child
7.) Albert Walker Gilbert: 26 Aug 1893 IA – 13 Mar 1955 IA (m1.1927IA) Clara Estella Stafford +children; (m2.1945IA) Leona Eva Sells.
8.) Flavil Charles Gilbert: 15 May 1896 IA – 19 Jun 1953 IA (m1.1919MO) Bonita Elliott ‘Maye’ Smith; (m2.Bef1950) Rhaellyn B. MNU
9.) Ruth Ann Gilbert: Dec 1899 IA – aft. 1905 “step daughter” – Mother listed as May Gilbert / Father not listed on Birth Record
10.) Bessie Levena Gilbert: 4 May 1905 IA – 20 Jan 1987 IA (m.1928IA) Harry Lloyd Byrum

CHILD 5: MARY ELLEN GILBERT
1859 IA – 1936 OR
Spouse: James Pierce Rumer on 10 Jul 1877 in Jefferson County, Iowa

Daughter Mary Ellen Gilbert was born in Buchanan, Jefferson County, Iowa about 1859. She was listed on the 1860 census there with her parents and siblings, and again in 1870. At age 11 that year, she was identified as “Elen”. This is the last verified entry for the daughter of George and Permelia.

There is a Jefferson, IA marriage for an Ellen Gilbert to James Rumer on 10 July 1877. However, Oregon death records for Mary Ellen (Gilbert) Rumer, widow of James P Rumer, list the parents as “John Gilbert” and “Cordelia ???”. This Mary Ellen’s birth was 12 Mar 1854. She died at 82 years 8 months and 18 days of life in Garden Valley, Oregon. It is quite possible that her daughter, Mildred Fogle, the informant for the death record, simply made an error in listing Mary Ellen’s parents’ names, especially since the family lived so distantly from the Gilberts. The couple’s eldest son was named George.

Mary Ellen and James Rumer divorced sometime between the 1910 and 1920 census. He died in 1926. Mary Ellen (Gilbert) Rumer died on 10 December 1936 in Roseburg, Douglas, Oregon.

Rumer Children: 7
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) George Pierce Rumer: 1 Sep 1878 IA – 6 Jan 1948 CA (m.) Mary Delight ‘Lita’ (Allen) Dunning +children
2.) Cleo Rumer: Jul 1880 IA – 27 Dec 1918 PA (m.) (FNU – possibly Charles) Edwards
3.) Pearl M Rumer: 18 Aug 1882 NE – 1969 NE (m.) Thomas Frank Lang -no children
4.) Isaac David Rumer: 28 Mar 1884 NE – 19 Feb 1956 OR (m.) Anna Marie Ostrem +children
5.) May M Rumer: 9 June 1888 IA – 9 Dec 1960 (m.1903NE) Oscar Rudolph Roos +children
6.) Mildred Rumer: 12 Jun 1894 NE – Jul 1976 WA (m.1910NE) James Louis Fogel +children
7.) Bryan Jennings Rumer: 29 May 1896 – 21 Apr 1966 (m.1960) Eva Irene Shoup -no children

CHILD 6: EMMA GILBERT
1861 IA – Aft. 1880
Marital Status / Spouse: Unknown

Emma Gilbert was born about 1861 in Buchanan, Jefferson, Iowa. She was listed in the 1870 and 1880 censuses with her family in that location at 9 and 18 years of age. There is no clear indication in online records as to what happened to her after that. Did she marry, or die prior to the 1900 census? Her parents split up and divorced. Some of the family ended up in California or other parts of the country.

CHILD 7: LEANA ECKERT GILBERT
19 Mar 1863 IA – 8 Dec 1924 CA
Spouse: John Burl Blankenship m. 6 May 1880 in Tulare, California, USA

Leana Eckert Gilbert was born on 19 March 1863. She was still a minor when her parents’ marriage ended. During the 1880 census, her father George Gilbert was living on his own in Little Blue, Adams, Nebraska. Her mother Permelia living in Buchanan, Jefferson, Iowa with James, Emma, Thomas, and John, but Leana was not in either location. On 6 May 1880, Leana married John Burl Blankenship in Tulare, California. She was 17, while he was ten years older, a son of John Martin and Mary Ann (McGee) Blankenship. A farmer, he was born in Nevada, so it is likely that they met when his family was living in California.

John and Leana were parents to 5 sons and 3 daughters born between 1882 and 1903. They divorced prior to the 1910 census, when the 54-year old John is found listed as a farm worker on his parents’ farm. Leana and her children were renting a house on Peralta Street in Oakland, Alameda, California. Both John and Leana died in 1924. Leana is buried at Mountain View Cemetery in Fresno, Fresno County, California.

Blankenship Children: 8
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) George Avery Blankenship: 10 Feb 1882 CA – 29 Jan 1952 CA engineer / oil industry (m.) Catherine (Ingram) Ridlon -no children
2.) John Martin ‘Doc’ Blankenship: 18 Sep 1883 CA – 27 Aug 1961 CA locomotive engineer (m.) Frances Xavier Delaney -no children
3.) Gertrude Virginia Blankenship: 15 Jun 1885 CA – 1 Jan 1970 CA (m.) William A King +children
4.) Robert Archibald Benjamin Blankenship: 15 Feb 1887 CA – 29 Nov 1940 garage machinist (m.) Ella G Tuttle – no children
5.) Louise Blankenship: Mar 1889 CA – 10 Aug 1910 bookkeeper / store – unmarried
6.) Delvin B Blankenship: Dec 1891 CA – aft. 1910 – no further info – (possibly joined Navy?)
7.) Curtis Lee Blankenship: 9 Apr 1899 CA – 2 Jul 1963 CA (m./div.) Thelma Blanche Stevens +child
8.) Edna R Blankenship: 25 May 1903 CA – 15 Jan 1973 CA (m.1924CA) Everett W Fink +children

CHILD 8: THOMAS JACKSON GILBERT
7 Mar 1865 IA – 27 July 1936 CA
Marital Status: Unmarried / Single

Thomas Jackson Gilbert was bon 7 March 1865 in Buchanan, Jefferson, Iowa. HIs parents were divorced by the time he was 15 years old. He moved to San Joaquin County, California. He joined the US Military on 7 May 1898 as a private and served during WWI. He was a farm laborer. Thomas had chronic asthma, which resulted in heart trouble. He died on 27 July 1936 at the age of 71.

Gilbert Children: None Known
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

CHILD 9: JOHN EDWARD GILBERT aka ‘Jack’
Feb 1871 IA – 22 Feb 1922 CA
Spouse: Mary Etta (MNU)

John Edward Gilbert was born about February 1871 in Buchanan, Jefferson, Iowa. He worked as a farm laborer and farmer. He and his wife Mary Etta (MNU) had 1 daughter. Jack died on 22 Feb 1922 in French Camp, San Joaquin, California at 51 years of age.

Gilbert Children: 1
Y-DNA Project Participants: N/A – Descendant of a Female Guthrie
Autosomal DNA Participants: NONE

1.) Louise R Gilbert: born about 1912 CA – died after 1931 (m./div) Cray Parker Gerlach

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