• New Hampshire Revolutionary Rolls
  University of New Hampshire Library. Digitized War Rolls volumes I–IV, also numbered XIV–XVII in the Provincial and State Papers series. Begin with the indexes, then read the relevant roll or document in full. When recording a reference, preserve both the series volume and the printed page number.
• New Hampshire Revolutionary War Records, 1675–1835
  FamilySearch’s collection of records from the state archives includes oaths, muster rolls, petitions, tax books, pension rolls, and other material. Search by name or browse the images. The broad collection dates include records from outside the Revolutionary War, so check the date and purpose of each document. Sign-in may be required.
• New Hampshire State Papers, Volume VIII: 1776–1783
  A digitized published collection of government proceedings and Revolutionary documents, including the 1776 constitution and Association Test material. Useful for placing individuals and towns within the political and administrative work of the war.
• National Archives: American Revolution Records
  A guide to federal military sources, including compiled service records and pension and bounty-land applications. Use these alongside New Hampshire sources when tracing service, later claims, and evidence about a veteran’s family.

Try Guthrie, Guthrey, Guthry, Guthery, and Gutherie as search starting points. Printed indexes, handwritten records, and searchable transcriptions may render the same surname differently. An unfamiliar spelling is a lead to examine, not proof of a match.

• Military rolls and accounts: compare the town, captain, regiment, dates, rank, and length of service. Keep separate entries distinct until the evidence supports joining them.
• Town and family records: look for marriages, births, deeds, probate, and town proceedings that connect a soldier to a household.
• Pensions and later claims: look for earlier residences, descriptions of service, witnesses, and family information; compare later recollections with surviving wartime records.
• Neighboring colonies: follow connections into Massachusetts and the other New England sections. A unit’s colony designation does not establish a soldier’s birthplace.

The 1776 Association Test offers another route into New Hampshire’s Revolutionary communities. Read the declaration and the accompanying town return together to understand whose names were recorded and in what circumstances.

A signature can document a political commitment; it does not, by itself, establish military service. Refusal or absence also needs context before assigning a person a Loyalist identity. Compare the return with other records of the individual and family.

For the wider research path, see Loyalists & Divided Loyalties.

• Bunker Hill — National Park Service
  Background on the June 1775 battle and the New England forces involved.
• Bennington Battlefield — National Park Service
  Context for the August 1777 battle and the forces led by John Stark and Seth Warner.

A regiment’s participation in a battle provides context. Establishing an individual Guthrie’s presence requires evidence specific to that person’s service.

• Adam Guthrie: a soldier described as transient, with records under several surname spellings. His family origins remain unresolved.
• James Guthrie Sr. and James Guthrie Jr.: distinguishing father from son is central to interpreting the Massachusetts service entries. The study leaves the allocation of some records open.
• Joseph and Samuel Guthrie: their records add to the wartime history of the Berkshire family and provide opportunities to compare relatives, locations, and service.
• Benjamin and Phillip Guthrie: examine the evidence and identity discussion in each profile before carrying a proposed family connection into a tree.

The James Guthrie problem also connects to Mistaken Identities: James Guthrie — Betts/Hickox.

• Massachusetts Revolutionary War Index Cards to Muster Rolls, 1775–1783
  FamilySearch’s searchable collection of card abstracts from muster rolls, pay rolls, descriptive lists, accounts, and related records. These are images of the index cards; use their volume and page references to pursue the underlying documents. Sign-in may be required.
• Massachusetts Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War
  The State Library’s digitized published compilation. Use it to locate names and summarized service, then compare the entry with the archival cards and surviving rolls. Record the publication volume and printed page separately from any archival reference cited within the entry.
• Massachusetts Archives: Digital Records
  An official gateway linking the Revolutionary War muster-roll index, muster-roll records, published service compilation, and other state collections. Useful when moving from a name or card reference toward the source record.
• Massachusetts Archives: Collection Overview
  Descriptions and references for government records and related series, including military payments, clothing records, and relief for Continental soldiers’ families. Use the listed series titles and identifiers when planning further research or asking the archives for help.

Build a dated sequence for each candidate using the captain, regiment, town, enlistment, discharge, and any age or physical description. Preserve the spelling on each record while recording possible variants separately.

The Massachusetts Guthrie study includes forms such as Gothry, Gothery, Gothree, Gotrey, and Gotry. Search broadly, but use the surrounding details to decide whether a record belongs to the person you are tracing.

Several cards may summarize different records of one period of service. Likewise, a published entry and an index card may draw on the same underlying roll. Compare their sources before treating them as independent confirmation or adding their service periods together.

The archives identify both town returns of relief to Continental soldiers’ families for 1779–1780 and relief account books for 1777–1781. These are promising sources to consult alongside town proceedings, probate, deeds, and vital records when investigating a soldier’s household.

Remember Maine. During the Revolution, Maine was part of Massachusetts; it became a separate state in 1820. Research a wartime Maine connection through both Massachusetts collections and the historical geography of Maine.

For families whose records cross borders, continue into New Hampshire, Connecticut, and New York. British service, Loyalist experiences, or migration north may instead lead into British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• Lexington & Concord: 19 April 1775
  Minute Man National Historical Park’s account of the opening day’s fighting.
• The Siege of Boston
  A National Park Service overview connecting military events with civilian experiences, the British evacuation, and Boston’s continuing wartime role.

• Rhode Island Historical Society: Revolutionary War Manuscripts
  A digital collection drawn from Continental and state regiments, county militia, and independent companies. Its Explore the Records page allows browsing by document type or military organization, including payrolls, enlistment returns, and commissions.
• Rhode Island Historical Society: Military Research Guide
  A guide to published references, manuscript holdings, and reading-room indexes. The Revolutionary War section includes the 1777 military census and the society’s Revolutionary War Military Records, MSS 673, subgroup 2. Check the guide when an online name search provides little information.
• Rhode Island State Archives: Family History Research
  A starting point for military, census, and vital records, with a link to the Digital Archive. Use these collections to connect a service entry with a family and community; ask the archives about relevant records that are not available online.
• National Archives: American Revolution Records
  Federal service, pension, bounty-land, naval, and judicial research pathways. Particularly useful when a Rhode Island connection leads to service beyond the colony or to records created by the Continental government.

Search for Guthrie and possible spelling variants, then compare each result with the person’s town, age, relatives, and known movements. Treat a surname match as the beginning of an investigation.

• Soldiers and militia: compare the captain, company, regiment, dates, and any residence information. Distinguish service in a Rhode Island unit from the presence of another colony’s troops in Rhode Island.
• The 1777 military census: use this as a lead to a person’s community and military eligibility. A census entry alone does not establish that the person served.
• Family and town records: look for deeds, probate, marriages, town proceedings, and petitions that connect a military name with a household.
• Records across borders: compare possible connections in Massachusetts and Connecticut, especially when a family’s residence changes during the war.

A coastal connection deserves a search beyond army rolls. Look for a vessel’s name, its captain, the port involved, and the dates of a voyage or capture. These details may provide a firmer starting point than the surname alone.

Distinguish Continental naval service, state naval service, privateering, and merchant employment. A reference to a sailor or ship does not establish which kind of service was involved. Depending on the evidence, follow up with crew lists, pay accounts, correspondence, or admiralty and prize proceedings.

For a possible connection to the Royal Navy or other Crown service, continue to British Forces.

For a Newport-area family, build a timeline before, during, and after the occupation. A disappearance from local records may reflect a move rather than a death. Compare later residences with property transactions, probate, church records, and evidence from neighboring communities.

Remaining in an occupied town, leaving it, or appearing in a record of suspicion does not by itself establish allegiance. Read the circumstances of each document and distinguish an accusation from demonstrated conduct.

Explore the Rhode Island State Archives exhibit Military Occupation and Newport Life for historical maps and records concerning occupation, political tests, and investigations. Follow relevant family evidence into Loyalists & Divided Loyalties or Canada & Northern Colonies.

• Record of Service of Connecticut Men
  The Connecticut Adjutant-General’s Office compilation, published in 1889, includes a Revolutionary War section edited by Henry P. Johnston. Use the indexes and service entries as finding aids, recording the printed page, unit, and dates. The volume also covers later wars, so check which section you are reading.
• The Public Records of Connecticut
  The State Library’s guide to the published Colony and State series, with routes to digitized volumes. These contain legislative acts, resolutions, appointments, and supplementary documents. Choose volumes covering the relevant year to investigate governmental decisions and community concerns.
• Revolutionary War Pension Applications Index, 1789–1853
  An index to pension-related documents in Connecticut court records. The collection consists largely of later papers concerning financial eligibility and challenges to revoked pensions. Files may describe service, property, debts, occupation, and dependents. Record the court and box reference before requesting a copy.
• Index to Loyalist Connecticut Court Records, 1776–1784
  A finding aid to selected county and superior court documents involving people charged as Loyalists. Entries can identify residence, the hearing year, case notes, and the location of the original papers. The index is not comprehensive, and a charge must not be treated as a conviction.

For additional name indexes and guidance on accessing original records, visit the Connecticut State Archives databases page.

• Start with the household: establish the spouse, children, town, and approximate age before attaching a military record to a same-name Guthrie.
• Trace the service: compare companies, commanding officers, enlistment dates, and places named in the record. Search possible surname variants as well as Guthrie.
• Follow the family across borders: compare Connecticut evidence with Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. Birthplace, residence, and the colony credited with service may differ.
• Read beyond the soldier’s name: witnesses, neighbors, spouses, and administrators may help distinguish two men or connect a later claim with an earlier household.

Connecticut’s pension-related court papers can complement a federal pension file. Statements about property, work, debts, and dependent relatives may help reconstruct a veteran’s circumstances long after the war.

Keep the dates of testimony separate from the events being described. Compare ages, residences, and family names across the documents, noting disagreements rather than silently choosing one version.

The Connecticut court index covers a particular body of records; it is not a complete list of Connecticut veterans or all federal pension applicants. Continue through the National Archives’ Revolutionary War guide for federal service and pension sources.

Look for a Guthrie name in petitions, accounts, local proceedings, and court papers as well as military lists. A payment or supply claim may document civilian involvement without establishing enlistment.

For an entry in the Loyalist court index, obtain the underlying complaint, warrant, testimony, or judgment where available. Identify what was alleged, what evidence was presented, and how the case ended. An accusation belongs in the research record with its outcome and qualifications.

Related research paths: Loyalists & Divided Loyalties and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• The Danbury Raid & Battle of Ridgefield
  A National Park Service account of the 1777 expedition and the American response.
• Governor Tryon’s Expedition to Danbury, 1777
  A manuscript map in the Library of Congress collection, useful for exploring the geography of the raid.

• New York State Archives — Military Service Records Pathfinder
  Start with the Revolutionary War section for an overview of surviving state records, published substitutes, and land-grant sources.
• Revolutionary War Accounts & Claims — A0200
  This name index covers records of compensation for military service and goods or services supplied to the state. The collection also includes some muster rolls, bounty-right assignments, and papers concerning confiscated Loyalist property. Record the person’s role, organization, and archival location before requesting the document.
• New York State Library — Digitized Revolutionary War Collections
  A starting point for published rosters, Loyalist materials, orderly books, and other digitized sources. Look for New York in the Revolution as Colony and State among the available publications.
• New York State Archives — Name Indexes
  Broaden the search to other indexed collections. Keep each result’s series number and record description; the same name can appear in several different contexts.

The 1911 State Capitol fire damaged or destroyed much of New York’s state-held Revolutionary War service documentation. Published abstracts and indexes prepared before the fire therefore have particular value.

The State Archives guide identifies the 1904 edition of New York in the Revolution as Colony and State as an important pre-fire resource. It also points to correspondence answering inquiries about Revolutionary soldiers in 1904–1909, preserved in series A1363.

When an original cannot be located, identify exactly which abstract, publication, or earlier correspondence supports the conclusion. An unsuccessful search in one collection does not establish that a person never served. Consult the National Archives’ Revolutionary War guide for federal research paths as well.

• Compare names in context: search Guthrie and possible spelling variants, then compare age, spouse, town, officers, and service dates before combining entries.
• Follow neighboring colonies: check Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania when family movements or unit records point across borders.
• Read the complete claim: an accounts entry may concern a supplier, representative, or other interested party. Identify why the Guthrie name appears before describing it as evidence of military service.
• Trace land ownership carefully: New York bounty-land patents could go to eligible Continental veterans or their assignees. A patentee’s name alone does not prove personal service or residence on the land.

Keep the search open to different allegiances. If a document identifies British or Loyalist service, confiscated property, or a move into British territory, follow that evidence into the corresponding military, claims, and settlement records.

A move to Canada alone does not establish Loyalist status. Build the connection through dated records, family members, former residences, units, and named associates. Distinguish an allegation of disloyalty from documented service or a settled claim.

Continue with British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• The Battle of Brooklyn
  A National Park Service introduction to the 1776 campaign and the British occupation of New York City.
• The Saratoga Campaign — 1777 Timeline
  Follow the northern campaign from its planning through the surrender. Use the chronology to place documented service in context; presence in a regiment does not by itself prove participation in every battle.

• Stryker’s Official Register — 1872
  The New Jersey State Library’s digitized copy of William S. Stryker’s register of Revolutionary War officers and men. Use this published compilation to locate names and units, then follow the references into surviving records. Record the printed page as well as the entry.
• New Jersey State Archives — Genealogical Collections
  The military section identifies compiled service cards, service abstracts, numbered manuscripts, and Loyalist muster rolls. It also notes pension affidavits for Cumberland, Hunterdon, and Somerset Counties. The same guide describes land, probate, tax, and court records useful for identifying a household.
• Revolutionary War Damage Claims — Searchable Index
  Search for people whose property losses were recorded. Preserve the county, township, volume, and page references supplied with a result, and consult the underlying inventory when available.
• Damage Inventories — Collection Guide (PDF)
  Explains the legislation behind the inventories, their arrangement, and gaps in coverage. The series is titled Inventories of Damages by the British and Americans in New Jersey, 1776–1782, although some inventories were prepared later.

• Identify the family first: compare town, approximate age, spouse, land ownership, and associates before assigning a service entry to a particular Guthrie.
• Check the type of service: distinguish Continental, militia, and other service descriptions. Preserve the company, commanding officer, rank, and dates rather than reducing every entry to “Revolutionary soldier.”
• Build a service timeline: keep separate enlistments and tours distinct. Do not assume that a person served continuously between the earliest and latest dates found.
• Search across borders: follow evidence into Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. Residence, enlistment, and the location of a campaign may point to different places.

For broader local research, visit the Guthrie Genealogy New Jersey guide.

New Jersey authorized appraisers to inventory wartime losses attributed to British forces and their adherents, the Continental Army, and militia. These papers can bring civilian experiences into a family history that otherwise focuses only on soldiers.

Read for the claimant’s location, the date of the loss, the property described, and anyone who gave supporting testimony. Compare these details with deeds, tax records, and estate inventories to test whether the claimant belongs to the Guthrie household under investigation.

Keep the date of the incident separate from the date the claim was recorded. A loss inventory does not by itself prove military service, political allegiance, or payment of compensation. Coverage is incomplete, so absence from the index cannot establish that a family escaped wartime losses.

New Jersey’s Revolution divided communities and families. If the evidence points toward Loyalist service, include the State Archives’ Loyalist records in the search rather than relying solely on American military rosters.

Trace each person through dated records. Shared surnames do not establish shared allegiance, and a later move does not explain itself. Compare relatives, neighbors, occupations, and earlier residences before linking a New Jersey Guthrie to a household elsewhere.

Related research paths: British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• Crossroads of the American Revolution
  The National Park Service introduction to New Jersey’s wartime landscape and the experiences of its communities.
• Morristown — Winter Encampment Summary
  A chronology for placing documented service in context. Check the particular winter and unit before connecting an ancestor to an encampment.
• New Jersey’s Revolutionary War Historic Sites
  State resources for exploring preserved battlefields, headquarters, and other places associated with the war.

• Published Pennsylvania Archives — Series Guide
  The Pennsylvania State Archives explains the published series and their contents, with a route to digitized volumes. Use this alongside the Guthrie finding aid to identify the correct series and volume.
• Pennsylvania Revolutionary War Records Overview
  A guide to Associators, militia, the Pennsylvania Line, and the state navy. Its collection links include the Revolutionary War Military Abstract Card File, pensions, military accounts, depreciation certificates, and donation-land records.
• Militia Battalions & Companies by County
  Explains the militia system and links to county arrangements, including Bedford, Chester, Cumberland, Washington, and Westmoreland. Particularly useful for comparing officers, places, and changes in unit numbering.
• Pennsylvania Digital Archives
  Guidance for finding and viewing digitized state holdings. Carry the record group, series number, volume, and page from an index or abstract into the search for the underlying record.

1. Search several spellings: try Guthrie, Guthry, Guthrey, Guthery, and other forms recorded in the finding aid. Preserve the spelling found in the source.
2. Capture the full citation: note the series, volume, printed page, document date, and heading. A viewer’s image number may differ from the printed page.
3. Read the surrounding document: check its opening, closing, continuation pages, and any explanatory notes. A short indexed entry may omit the context needed to interpret it.
4. Compare related appearances: determine whether another entry supplies new evidence, repeats the same record, or belongs to a different person.
5. Build the family connection: compare military evidence with tax, land, probate, church, and pension records before assigning parents, spouses, or a Guthrie Family Group.

A militia class was part of the system for calling men to duty, not a rank. Men could appear in enrollment records, serve a particular tour, provide a substitute, or appear in fine and appeal records. Keep those different circumstances separate.

Unit numbers also changed. Pennsylvania’s militia battalions were renumbered following new elections of officers, so a different battalion number does not automatically mean that a man moved or transferred. Compare the date, locality, and officers as well as the number.

Record exactly what each document establishes. A fine or appeal should not be turned into a conclusion about a person’s lifelong allegiance or the whole of his wartime experience.

For western Pennsylvania families, follow the county and township named at the time of the record. Compare ranger and militia references with correspondence, civil appointments, tax lists, and later claims. Modern county names can obscure where an earlier document was created.

Read wartime correspondence with attention to who wrote it, what the writer witnessed, and what was reported secondhand. Preserve distinctions between an accusation, an official action, and a later account.

A reference to Canada may concern captivity, military operations, or settlement. Establish the circumstances before inferring allegiance. Continue through British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies when the evidence points in those directions.

What Happened at Valley Forge
The National Park Service explains the 1777–1778 encampment and its significance. Use this history to understand documented service; establish an individual’s presence through records rather than assuming that every Pennsylvania soldier wintered there.

• Delaware Public Archives — Revolutionary War Records Guide (PDF)
  A finding aid to the Archives’ Revolutionary War holdings. Use it to identify relevant collections and record references before requesting documents or planning a research visit.
• Delaware 250 — Archival Collections & Digitized Books
  A resource hub linking to legislative papers, military records, and downloadable volumes of Delaware Archives — Military. It also provides access to material cataloged as the unpublished sixth volume. Check each volume’s dates and contents; the military series extends beyond the Revolution.
• Revolutionary War Oaths of Allegiance, 1777–1784
  Individual oaths and lists of people who swore fidelity to the United States or Delaware. Documents may identify the person administering the oath, its wording, the date, and the signer. The collection also contains transcripts and later research correspondence.
• Delaware Public Archives — Collections Portal
  Search beyond military records for evidence that identifies a household. Compare results with probate, land, court, tax, and legislative references, retaining the collection and item identifiers for follow-up.

• Reconstruct the household: establish the county, relatives, approximate ages, and land connections before attaching a same-name military entry.
• Follow the person’s movements: search Pennsylvania, Maryland, and New Jersey when residence, enlistment, or family records point there.
• Compare spelling variants: include Guthrie, Guthry, Guthrey, Guthery, and other forms suggested by the manuscripts. Inspect the image when an index reading is uncertain.
• Trace the unit separately: identify the company, officers, and dates. A soldier’s birthplace, wartime residence, and state credited with service may differ.

The Pennsylvania section includes the Guthrie Index & Entries and existing family studies that may supply useful cross-border leads.

An oath records a declaration made at a particular time. It is not, by itself, a military enlistment or proof of participation in a battle. Read the wording, date, place, and names of officials before deciding what the document establishes.

Delaware’s collection includes a list of New Jersey residents who swore an oath administered by Caesar Rodney at Trenton in 1777. This is a useful reminder that a record held in Delaware does not automatically describe a Delaware resident.

Distinguish an original signed document from a transcript or later letter about it. Compare witnesses and associated names with independent family records before identifying the signer as a particular Guthrie.

Broaden the search beyond soldiers to petitions, legislative papers, accounts, and court proceedings. These may reveal a family’s circumstances or involvement in the war without establishing military service.

The Delaware 250 resource hub includes material on Loyalists as well as the American cause. When an accusation or treason proceeding appears, follow the case to its outcome where possible. Separate what someone alleged from what the surviving evidence establishes.

Continue through British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies when a documented connection leads there.

• The Lower Counties & Colonial Records
  Explains Delaware’s changing administration and why some early records are found among Pennsylvania’s colonial papers.
• The Battle of Cooch’s Bridge
  A Delaware Public Archives account of the American position and the 1777 engagement with British and Hessian troops. The force included men from several states; the battle’s location alone does not identify an ancestor’s unit.
• Dover Green & the Revolution
  A state historical overview connecting Delaware’s political history with the raising of its Continental regiment.

• Maryland State Archives — Military Records Guide
  Open the Revolutionary War section for published sources, original records, pensions, and bounty-land guidance. The guide distinguishes regular Continental soldiers from county militia and identifies additional research paths.
• Archives of Maryland, Volume 18 — Muster Rolls & Service Records
  The digitized volume of Muster Rolls and Other Records of Service of Maryland Troops in the American Revolution. Compare the searchable text with the linked page images, preserving the printed page, unit, dates, and any remarks attached to an entry.
• Revolutionary War Records Index — MSA S1423
  A route into additional archival records. Follow each index reference to its named collection and document; a short index entry is a finding aid, not the complete evidence.
• Maryland State Papers — Scharf Collection
  Includes Revolutionary-era enlistments, commissions, correspondence, accounts, and naval material, among records from other periods. These papers can help investigate the supply and administration of the war as well as individual service.

• Establish the county and household: compare the military name with land, probate, church, and court records. A spouse, occupation, or group of neighbors may distinguish two same-name men.
• Follow the officers: when a surname search fails, examine records indexed under the commanding officer or unit. Retain the company and regiment names used at the time.
• Separate periods of service: build a dated sequence of enlistments, transfers, discharges, and later claims. Do not assume every entry belongs to one continuous enlistment.
• Search neighboring jurisdictions: compare Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Virginia when family movements or service records cross those borders.

The Revolutionary War Pension Record Index — MSA S1421 is a starting point for Maryland pension research. The military guide also directs researchers to legislation granting pensions and records of payments.

Keep a state award separate from any federal pension file. Compare dates, residences, disabilities, and service descriptions across the documents, noting disagreements rather than silently combining them.

For Maryland military land, the guide links to lot records west of Fort Cumberland. A military-lot reference is a lead to ownership research; it does not establish that the veteran settled on that land. Trace the lot and later transactions before using it to explain a family’s migration.

For a Guthrie associated with a port, vessel, or waterside community, look beyond infantry rosters. The Scharf Collection includes records concerning the ship Defence, engagements with enemy barges, and payments for supplies and labor.

A person named in an account might be a sailor, supplier, worker, claimant, or witness. Identify the role from the document before describing it as enlistment or combat service. Keep the vessel’s name and the date, since those details may be more useful than the surname alone.

If the evidence points to British or Loyalist connections, continue with British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• Finding the Maryland 400
  A Maryland State Archives research project exploring the soldiers associated with the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn. Its biographies and source discussions offer useful examples of reconstructing individual lives. Maryland service alone does not establish membership in this particular group.
• The Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
  A National Park Service account of the allied movement toward Yorktown, including Head of Elk, Baltimore, and Annapolis. Use the route to understand a documented itinerary rather than to infer an ancestor’s presence.

• Library of Virginia — Revolutionary War Service Records
  The main research guide for Virginia service, with paths into military records, pensions, bounty land, public service claims, and Loyalist research. There is no single comprehensive source or index covering all Virginia Revolutionary War records.
• Revolutionary War Public Service Claims Index
  A starting point for claims involving goods, supplies, and services furnished for the war effort. Preserve the county and archival references, then obtain the underlying documents to establish the nature of the contribution.
• Revolutionary War Bounty Land Claims
  Explore claims based on qualifying Virginia military service. Distinguish the veteran from heirs or other parties pursuing the claim, and keep the application, supporting evidence, decision, and later land transactions separate.
• Revolutionary War Virginia State Pensions
  A research path for state pension records. Compare any result with federal pension evidence and local records rather than assuming that the two pension systems contain identical information.

• Build a county timeline: identify where the family lived before, during, and after the war. A change in county name may reflect a boundary change rather than a move.
• Separate the service categories: record whether the evidence concerns the Continental Line, state forces, militia, naval service, or a civilian contribution.
• Compare identities carefully: use spouses, ages, occupations, land descriptions, witnesses, and neighbors to distinguish same-name Guthries. Search spelling variants as well as Guthrie.
• Follow connections beyond Virginia: compare Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina when family or military evidence points across borders.

Virginia’s public service claims include requests for compensation for property, supplies, and personal services provided to militia, state, and Continental troops. These records can give a Guthrie family a place in the wartime story even when no enlistment has been established.

Read for what was supplied, who certified the claim, where the transaction occurred, and whether the claimant acted personally or represented someone else. Keep the date of the contribution separate from the later date of certification or payment.

A public service claim does not by itself prove armed service. Describe the contribution precisely and compare the claimant’s identity with independent household records.

Land rights could pass to heirs or be sold to other people. A name on a later transaction may therefore identify a descendant, purchaser, or representative rather than the person who served. Nor does a warrant alone establish that the veteran occupied the land.

Follow the warrant number and the chain of transactions. The Library of Virginia’s article on bounty warrants found in chancery causes explains how estate, contract, and debt disputes can preserve additional evidence about military claims and family relationships.

Search well beyond the war years when the evidence warrants it. Later disputes may clarify who inherited a claim, but statements about parentage or service still need to be checked against the documents cited.

The Library of Virginia’s Digital Collections provides routes to chancery records, legislative petitions, governors’ correspondence, maps, and the Lost Records Localities collection. These can offer additional research paths when a county’s surviving records are incomplete.

Investigate the specific loss and surviving record types before treating an entire county as undocumented. Copies, exhibits in later cases, and state-level correspondence may preserve evidence that is missing locally.

For evidence of Crown allegiance, consult the Library’s Loyalist research guidance and the related sections on British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies.

• History of the Siege of Yorktown
  The National Park Service account of the allied operation and British surrender. Establish an ancestor’s presence through individual and unit records before attaching the battle to a family history.
• What Happened After the Siege?
  A chronology covering prisoners, troop movements, and the path toward peace. Yorktown’s surrender and the end of the war were separate events.

• State Archives — Revolutionary-Era Digital Resources
  The Archives’ America 250 hub links to digitized troop returns, legislative records, selected wartime documents, and research presentations. It is a useful entry point for exploring the range of surviving evidence.
• Revolutionary War Pay Vouchers — SR.204.29
  The finding aid describes certificates issued in lieu of cash for service or supplies. Entries commonly identify the payee, certificate number, and amount; some also give a date, fiscal district, county, or description of goods.
• Revolutionary War Army Accounts — SR.204.28
  Follow payment and settlement references into the account books. Compare certificate numbers, names, amounts, and dates rather than assuming two similar entries describe separate contributions.
• Service Records & Final Settlements — SR.204.30
  Files may contain affidavits, discharge or furlough papers, powers of attorney, assignments, and documents concerning deceased soldiers’ estates. A folder can concern more than one soldier, so examine its contents beyond the heading.

For additional collections, consult the Military Finding Aids. The state’s Colonial Records guide also directs readers to published records available through UNC’s Documenting the American South.

• Identify the household: establish the county, approximate age, spouse, land, and associates before attaching a military entry to a particular Guthrie.
• Track the record’s geography: distinguish the county of residence, recruiting area, fiscal district, and place of payment. They need not be the same location.
• Keep the service details: preserve the unit, officers, rank, and dates, distinguishing Continental service, militia tours, and civilian contributions.
• Follow neighboring connections: compare Virginia and South Carolina when the family or unit crossed borders. Include spelling variants suggested by the records.

Record the certificate number and amount along with the name. North Carolina’s Army Account Books recorded the issuance and redemption of certificates, providing a way to connect a loose voucher with its accounting history.

Keep the date of the underlying service or supply transaction separate from later payment activity. Examine any wording that identifies a representative, assignment, or estate rather than assuming that everyone named personally performed the service.

Use the final-settlement files to pursue supporting testimony where available. A pay record and an estate-related document may answer different questions: one about the wartime debt, the other about who was entitled to receive it.

North Carolina’s Revolutionary military land records include claims concerning the Military District in what is now Tennessee. A later Tennessee connection may therefore lead back to North Carolina records.

The Archives describes these materials in its Secretary of State Revolutionary War Military Papers record-request page. Capture the warrant and claim references before pursuing related land records.

Distinguish the veteran, an heir, and a later purchaser. A warrant or grant does not, by itself, establish that the veteran moved onto the land. Use deeds, tax lists, and court or estate records to trace both ownership and residence.

Scottish Highlanders were prominent in the Loyalist force at Moores Creek Bridge, but Scottish ancestry or a Scottish surname does not establish allegiance. Investigate each Guthrie through dated evidence rather than assigning the political choices of a wider community to one family.

The State Archives’ British Records: Exchequer and Audit Office guide identifies material concerning Loyalist compensation claims, wartime service, property, and supplies furnished to British forces.

Continue with British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies when a documented connection points there.

• The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge
  The National Park Service account of the 1776 engagement and the colony’s divided loyalties.
• Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
  Explore the 1781 battle and its place in the Southern Campaign. Establish an individual soldier’s presence through service records before attaching the battle to a Guthrie family history.

• SCDAH — Online Records Index
  Search the digitized Accounts Audited of Claims Growing Out of the Revolution, series S108092. Start with Guthrie, then try spelling variants. Open the document images as well as the index entry.
• Sources for Researching the American Revolution
  An Archives introduction to audited accounts, indent stubs, earlier accounts, pension files, and forfeited estates, with series references for further research.
• Understanding Audited Accounts & Indent Stubs
  This Archives research guide explains how wartime debts became claims and payment certificates, and why the card index can provide leads beyond an online name search.
• Military Records & the Revolutionary War Source Guide
  Follow the link to Charles H. Lesser’s Sources for the American Revolution at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History, an annotated guide to state records and material copied from other repositories.

• Place the family: establish the household’s district, settlement, waterways, and neighbors. Use the jurisdiction named in the contemporary record when tracing later county records.
• Separate the roles: distinguish Continental service, militia duty, civilian supplies, and claims handled for another person or an estate.
• Preserve the details: record officers, units, dates, witnesses, and claim references. Compare these with deeds, probate papers, and other family evidence.
• Follow the borders: consult North Carolina and Georgia when a family or military connection crosses state lines. A South Carolina battle does not establish South Carolina residence.

An audited account may contain a summary of the claim, receipts, affidavits, and a reference to the indent issued in payment. Read the whole packet: the cover may give only a brief description of the underlying service or contribution.

An indent was a payment certificate. The state retained a corresponding stub. Indents could later be sold or used in transactions, so distinguish the original claimant from a subsequent holder. A later name on a payment record does not necessarily identify the person who performed the service.

Compare the account with surviving stub entries, series S218110. Keep the wartime activity, claim submission, certificate issue, and later transfer dates separate. Related documents may represent stages of one claim rather than additional periods of service.

The Archives’ card index includes cross-references and surviving stub references that can extend an online search. Ask about those finding aids when a likely individual does not appear under the expected spelling.

Bobby Gilmer Moss’s Roster of South Carolina Patriots in the American Revolution is another useful starting point for service research. The Archives notes that it omits accounts and stubs for supplying money or provisions. Absence from that roster therefore does not rule out a civilian contribution.

Use a published roster as a route to its cited records. Compare the original evidence with the family’s documented chronology before merging similarly named men.

South Carolina’s Commissioners of Forfeited Estates generated accounts, claims, plats, and other papers concerning confiscated Loyalist property. The Archives’ research overview identifies these series.

Read each person’s role carefully. A name might identify an owner, creditor, purchaser, witness, or adjoining landholder. Appearance in an estate file alone is not proof of that person’s allegiance.

Where the evidence warrants it, continue with British Forces, Loyalists & Divided Loyalties, and Canada & Northern Colonies. Follow documented movements and relationships rather than assuming that relatives shared the same wartime choices.

• The Southern Campaign of the American Revolution
  The National Park Service places South Carolina’s battles within the wider conflict and the struggle between Patriot and Loyalist communities.
• The Battle of Cowpens
  Explore the 1781 engagement, its participants, and its relationship to the preceding victory at Kings Mountain.

Battle histories supply context. Individual service records are needed to connect a particular Guthrie to an engagement.

• Georgia Archives — Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants
  Explains the qualifying categories and the process from certificate to survey and grant. Read this guide before interpreting a bounty reference in a family history.
• Headright & Bounty Resources
  Links to digitized land records and identifies useful published sources. Surviving supporting papers include survey warrants, service certificates, petitions, and oaths.
• Georgia Archives — Revolutionary-Era Documents
  Explore original records concerning government, wartime evacuation, land, and the early state, with links to digital collections and finding aids.
• National Archives — Revolutionary War Records
  Use the federal guide to pursue compiled service records, pension applications, and bounty-land files. Search the state or organization of service as well as the veteran’s later home.

The Georgia Archives’ land-records resource page links to FamilySearch images, which require a free account. Preserve the original record reference along with any online image citation.

• Establish the arrival date: determine whether the household was in Georgia during the war or settled there later. Keep the first documented appearance separate from an estimated migration date.
• Identify the service: record the unit, officers, rank, and dates rather than relying on the general description “Revolutionary soldier.”
• Follow the family: compare land, tax, court, and estate records for spouses, children, neighbors, and associates who can distinguish men of the same name.
• Look across borders: consult South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia when the evidence points to earlier residence or service there. Search surname variants found in the documents.

The Georgia Archives distinguishes certificates for service in Georgia’s Continental line, Minute Battalion, or militia; certificates for Georgia residents who enlisted in other states’ units; and certificates for residents meeting a wartime conduct requirement.

That last category is especially important when a family tradition turns every land recipient into a soldier. Read the certificate’s wording and identify the basis of eligibility. A land record may document a qualifying resident without establishing military duty.

Keep Georgia’s state bounty process separate from federal bounty-land applications. Record which authority issued the document and what evidence it required.

The Archives’ guide to Issues with Headright and Bounty Land Grants explains why acreage alone can mislead. Some published soldier lists treated recipients of 287½-acre grants as veterans, although warrants could be sold or transferred before the final grant.

A resulting grant may name the purchaser rather than the original warrant holder. Several warrants could also be combined. Search the surviving supporting papers for the chain between eligibility, warrant, survey, and grant.

Distinguish ownership from residence as well. Use deeds, tax records, and other local evidence to determine whether a Guthrie actually occupied the land.

The Georgia Archives’ Revolutionary-era document collection includes a memorandum concerning the 1782 evacuation from Savannah to East Florida and Jamaica. These destinations are useful context when tracing a documented Loyalist connection.

The evacuation also involved enslaved people, whose movements cannot simply be treated as voluntary political choices. Identify each person’s circumstances and role wherever the evidence allows.

Continue with British Forces and Loyalists & Divided Loyalties for related research paths. Follow Canadian records when a specific family connection points north; do not assume all Loyalist families followed the same route.

• Revolutionary War in Georgia
  The New Georgia Encyclopedia surveys the political conflict, military campaigns, and transition from colony to state.
• The Siege of Savannah
  Background on the failed 1779 allied attempt to recapture the city and the wider international setting of the war.

Use campaign histories to understand the setting, then establish an individual Guthrie’s participation through the records.

• The National Archives — American Revolution
  The main British research guide identifies military, colonial, naval, and government records, including headquarters papers and Loyalist claims.
• British Army Muster Rolls & Pay Lists
  A guide to tracing soldiers through regimental records. Search by regiment and period; many entries require examination of the original volume rather than a surname search.
• British Army Officers
  Routes into Army Lists, commissions, service material, and family certificates. Use the portions covering the eighteenth century.
• Royal Navy Ratings — Early Service Records
  Begin with the guide’s pre-1853 section for enlisted sailors. Ships’ musters and pay books are central sources for the Revolutionary period.

These guides cover wider date ranges than this war. Check the dates and access arrangements for each collection before following a link to a later service or medal database.

Once the regiment is known, compare successive musters and pay lists. Record company, rank, dates, and any annotations explaining absence, transfer, discharge, or death. Preserve the exact wording of an entry before interpreting it.

The main muster series is WO 12; artillery records also appear in WO 10. The British Army soldiers guide explains the wider range of surviving records.

Chelsea pension and discharge papers in WO 97 may provide another route. They are not a complete list of everyone who served. The National Army Museum’s research guide explains how to combine pension, discharge, and regimental evidence.

Follow an officer through successive Army Lists, noting regiment, rank, and commission date. The official annual lists in WO 65 cover the Revolutionary period. A listing establishes an appointment; it does not by itself establish presence at a particular battle.

The officers guide also identifies service material in WO 25 and WO 76 and family certificates in WO 42. Availability varies, so check the individual record’s coverage rather than assuming every officer has a complete file.

Compare the military chronology with parish registers, wills, and family papers. A shared name or rank is a lead, not enough to identify a Guthrie with a particular Scottish family.

The Royal Navy did not keep individual service records for ratings before 1853. Identify a ship and date, then use muster and pay books to follow the sailor backward and forward through his service.

Musters from 1764 may include age and birthplace, although these details are not always present or accurate. Treat them as clues to compare with parish and family evidence.

For officers, use the separate guide to Royal Navy commissioned and warrant officers. Consult naval operations, logs, and correspondence to establish the ship’s activities after identifying the individual’s service aboard it.

During the Revolution, Britain’s permanent Marine Corps was organized in the Chatham, Plymouth, and Portsmouth divisions. The title “Royal Marines” followed in 1802, but modern catalogues and research guides use that name for earlier records too.

The guide to Royal Marines other ranks identifies ships’ musters and Marine Pay Office records in ADM 96, including muster and pay lists. Record the company, division, ship, and date wherever available.

For Marine officers, the Archives notes that service records for appointments before 1793 have not survived. Other records must be combined to reconstruct an earlier career.

• Search variants: try Guthrie, Guthry, Guthrey, and spellings encountered in the records. Catalogue searches do not search every name written inside a volume.
• Keep identities separate: compare age, birthplace, occupation, rank, associates, and service dates before combining entries.
• Keep the full reference: record repository, series, piece or volume, page or folio, date, regiment or ship, and the wording of relevant annotations.
• Follow the aftermath: pursue discharge, pension, marriage, estate, and settlement evidence. A later American or Canadian home needs a documented connection to the earlier service.

For campaign context, the American Revolution guide identifies British headquarters papers in PRO 30/55 and Cornwallis papers in PRO 30/11. Use these alongside personal service evidence.

• The National Archives — Loyalist Claims & Wartime Papers
  The American Revolution guide identifies compensation claims in AO 12 and AO 13, related Treasury records, and the Carleton papers.
• UNB Loyalist Collection — Understanding AO 13
  A detailed finding aid explains claim papers, their arrangement, supporting documents, and access routes. Read it alongside the companion AO 12 guide.
• Library and Archives Canada — British Military & Naval Records
  The RG 8 guide covers British and Loyalist regiments, muster rolls, pay lists, and correspondence. Its finding aids connect name and subject references with the records.
• Ward Chipman Papers — Musters & Family Returns
  The UNB guide describes provincial regimental papers and settler returns, including references to wives and children. It links to digitized reels on Canadiana.

A finding aid describes and locates records; it is not the claim or muster itself. Follow the cited volume, page, or reel to examine the underlying document.

Claims sought relief or compensation for losses attributed to loyalty to the Crown. AO 12 includes recorded evidence and schedules of losses; AO 13 includes original memorials and supporting papers that may contain deeds, wills, plans, letters, and certificates.

Separate what the claimant asserted from what witnesses supported and what the commissioners decided. Record former residence, property, occupation, relatives, associates, and the dates of events described.

Search both series. The UNB finding aids explain that names may appear in one but not the other, related papers may be dispersed, and not everyone mentioned is indexed. A surname search with no result is not a complete search of the surviving evidence.

A provincial regiment’s muster can establish a military connection; a property claim or refugee return may document a different experience. Preserve the unit, rank, date, and annotations rather than converting every Loyalist reference into military service.

If Patriot and Loyalist records appear to concern the same Guthrie, first test whether two people have been merged. Compare age, residence, family, officers, and chronology. Only then consider whether the evidence documents a change of allegiance or another explanation.

For a regular Army or naval connection, consult British Forces. For local evidence, return to the relevant colony and pursue petitions, court proceedings, property records, and wartime correspondence.

Look beyond the named soldier or principal claimant. The Ward Chipman papers include household-related information among military and settlement records. Claims and supporting papers may also reveal family relationships and the people who helped a household survive displacement.

Distinguish a wife or child named individually from an unnamed person counted in a household total. Do not turn an age category or numerical return into an identified child without additional evidence.

Compare witnesses, fellow settlers, and neighboring households. These connections may help bridge a family’s last American record and its first documented appearance elsewhere.

The Nova Scotia Archives’ digitized Book of Negroes records names and descriptions of Black people registered for passage from New York to Nova Scotia in 1783. Read the full entry, including its account of the person’s circumstances.

The records reflect different experiences of freedom and enslavement. A recorded surname does not by itself establish biological kinship with another family of that name. Follow the person’s own relationships, movements, and later records.

The Archives also explains historical place names: “St. Johns” in these destinations refers to present-day Saint John, New Brunswick, which was then part of Nova Scotia.

• Build a dated trail: connect the last known wartime residence, departure or discharge, arrival, and subsequent household records.
• Separate the records: a compensation claim, military discharge, and land petition answer different questions. Compare them without treating them as interchangeable proof.
• Check the jurisdiction: use the place name and administrative boundaries applicable when each record was created.
• Keep the uncertainty visible: identify which relationships are stated, which are supported by combined evidence, and which remain research leads.

Continue with Canada & Northern Colonies for northern settlement research. Let the documents establish the destination rather than assigning the same migration route to every Loyalist family.

• Library and Archives Canada — British Military & Naval Records
  The RG 8 guide provides routes into British and Loyalist regiments, Canadian militia, muster rolls, pay lists, and correspondence.
• Land Records for Upper & Lower Canada
  Search petitions and land-board records for the regions now known as Ontario and Quebec. Supporting papers may help explain a settler’s identity and claimed entitlement.
• Nova Scotia Land Papers, 1765–1809
  A searchable collection of digitized files, including petitions, survey documents, maps, and draft grants. Read the entire file for individual and group applications.
• Provincial Archives of New Brunswick — Research Databases
  Links to land petitions, land grants, early probate, and records of Revolutionary soldiers and their widows.

The Haldimand papers cover military affairs, government, and the settlement of refugees. The UNB Loyalist Collection describes the records and their finding aids.

A separate index to selected Haldimand transcripts covers musters, provision lists, prisoners, refugees, and women and children associated with provincial corps. Its scope is limited to selected volumes, so it is not an index to every Haldimand document.

Record whether a Guthrie appears as a soldier, prisoner, settler, dependent, or correspondent. A provision list establishes a different kind of connection from a military muster. Compare dates and locations before joining those references into one biography.

For a family later associated with Ontario, include the records of the earlier Province of Quebec. Follow Library and Archives Canada’s guidance across the Upper Canada petitions, Lower Canada petitions, and Land Boards collections.

Petitions may describe service, losses, or circumstances supporting a request. Some include discharge certificates or other endorsements, although supporting papers were sometimes returned to the applicant.

Separate the request, the decision, and the subsequent occupation or sale of land. Compare any stated relationships with parish registers, deeds, estate records, and later family evidence. Preserve the bundle, petition, volume, and image references needed to find the complete file again.

The Nova Scotia Archives’ guide to using the land papers explains the changing boundaries. Its collection includes some New Brunswick records from before October 1784; subsequent New Brunswick grants belong with that province’s archives.

Cape Breton also became a separate colony in 1784. The guide points to a separate Cape Breton land-petition index, useful when the mainland collection does not cover the family’s location.

For New Brunswick, examine Records of Old Revolutionary Soldiers and Their Widows. Later relief petitions can describe service, years of residence, hardship, and a widow’s marriage. The Archives notes that a few ambiguous “old soldier” entries may concern the War of 1812, so confirm the conflict from the documents.

The Island of St. John, now Prince Edward Island, became a separate colony in 1769. Search both the historical place name and the modern archival descriptions.

The UNB guide to Loyalist Returns and Warrants of Survey describes records arranged by lot number, naming settlers and detailing land assigned to disbanded soldiers and refugees. The originals are held by Prince Edward Island’s Public Archives and Records Office.

Use the province’s genealogy guide to continue into conveyances, leases, maps, church records, and other family sources. Preserve the lot number as well as the settlement name.

• Build the chronology: identify the earliest documented residence, wartime appearances, arrival or discharge, and later household.
• Test the identity: compare age, spouse, children, occupation, unit, and associates. Shared names and nearby land are leads, not proof of kinship.
• Read group records: examine the whole return or petition, including headings and unnamed dependents. Do not assign names to household totals without other evidence.
• Follow the appropriate service: use British Forces for military research and Loyalists & Divided Loyalties for compensation claims and evacuation sources, including Black Loyalist records.

Parks Canada’s account of the American invasion at Île aux Noix explains the island’s role in the 1775 advance, the 1776 withdrawal, and the subsequent British defenses on the Richelieu.

Use this history to place a documented posting in context. Establish an individual Guthrie’s presence through service or other contemporary records.

• U.S. National Archives — The American Revolution
  The starting guide for federal Revolutionary service, pension, bounty-land, and related records, with links to collections and research guidance.
• The National Archives, UK — American Revolution
  Routes into British military and naval records, colonial correspondence, headquarters papers, and Loyalist compensation claims.
• Library and Archives Canada — British Military & Naval Records
  Guidance for RG 8, including British and Loyalist regiments, Canadian militia, correspondence, and associated finding aids.
• Library of Congress — American Revolution Resource Guide
  Explore manuscripts, government documents, books, images, and maps that place individual records within the wider events of the war.

State and provincial collections remain essential. Return to the colony and regional menu for local military, financial, land, and court records.

American compiled military service records were assembled later from muster rolls, pay rolls, returns, and other documents. A file may contain several cards representing separate appearances of a soldier’s name.

Read every card and note the source from which it was abstracted. Preserve the unit, officers, dates, rank, and remarks about presence, absence, transfer, or discharge. Do not treat several abstracts from one underlying document as independent confirmations.

For British soldiers and sailors, follow the regiment or ship through the sources described under British Forces. In either system, service with a unit does not automatically establish presence at every battle in that unit’s history.

The National Archives’ pension and bounty-land guide explains files that may contain service narratives, affidavits, marriage evidence, family records, and information about widows or heirs. The contents vary from file to file.

For Revolutionary applications, distinguish the full-file microfilm publication M804 from the selected records in M805. If an extract leaves a question unanswered, pursue the complete surviving file.

Separate the date of the testimony from the date of the event described. Compare recollections with contemporary records and read the decision and correspondence as well as the application. Keep a state land grant, a federal bounty-land application, and a pension claim distinct.

A payment or claim may concern military duty, food, livestock, transport, or another contribution. Identify the purpose and the person entitled to receive payment before assigning a military role.

The North Carolina and South Carolina sections provide examples of voucher, account, and settlement collections. The Loyalist section introduces compensation claims and their supporting papers.

Record whether a Guthrie is the original claimant, a witness, an heir, a representative, or a later holder of a payment certificate. Those distinctions can change both the service conclusion and the family reconstruction.

• DAR Genealogical Research System
  Search ancestor and descendant information, library resources, and Revolutionary research collections. Examine the service source and any comments or notices attached to an ancestor’s record.
• SAR Patriot Research System
  Use compiled entries to locate source references and possible connections. SAR describes this database as a research aid and states that its entries are not direct proof for an application.

Neither database is a complete roster of everyone who participated in the Revolution. Follow the cited evidence and establish each parent-child connection in the particular Guthrie line being researched.

A familiar name is not enough: compare spouse, wartime residence, dates, and service before connecting a database entry to your family.

The PA Archive Series: Guthrie Index & Entries provides a focused route into the Pennsylvania material already explored for this series. Related studies are linked in the Pennsylvania and Massachusetts sections.

When using a published archive series, preserve the series number, volume, printed page, document date, and heading. A modern viewer’s image number may differ from the printed page.

Use indexes, abstracts, and transcriptions to locate evidence, then consult the fullest accessible source. Check ambiguous names against the image and keep editorial identifications separate from the wording of the record.

The Library of Congress collection American Revolution and Its Era: Maps and Charts of North America and the West Indies, 1750–1789 helps place roads, waterways, forts, and campaign locations in their historical setting.

Use maps and correspondence to explain a documented movement or posting. They provide context for the family story; the connection to an individual still needs evidence.

Continue with Research Tips for a practical approach to comparing names, resolving conflicting accounts, and building a supported Guthrie history.

Begin with the Guthrie household you can already document. Gather the approximate age, spouse, children, residence, occupation, land, and known associates before selecting a soldier with a matching name.

Frame a question that the records might answer: “Is the Guthrie named in this militia return the man who later lived in this county?” or “Does this widow’s application identify the couple in our family records?”

Keep a brief working profile with three parts: what is established, what is proposed, and what evidence would help decide the question. This makes it easier to pursue a promising lead without allowing it to become an unsupported fact.

• Before the war: identify the earliest secure residence, family relationships, property, and occupation.
• During the war: record each dated appearance, including the unit or ship, officers, location, role, and any absence or transfer noted.
• After the war: follow discharge, marriage, migration, land, pension, court, and estate records.

Keep the date of an event separate from the date someone described it. A later affidavit about wartime service belongs in both contexts: the service chronology and the history of the evidence.

When two entries conflict, preserve both until the difference can be explained. Check for distinct men, transcription errors, and differing meanings of dates before choosing one account.

Try Guthrie, Guthry, Guthrey, Gutherie, and other forms encountered in the documents. Search with fewer details when an exact-name search fails, then narrow the results by place, date, unit, or associate.

Record the spelling as written in the source. Use a consistent name in your working notes while preserving the original form in the transcription and citation.

Distinguish a search of catalogue descriptions from a search of document text. If the relevant volume is not indexed by every name, browse the appropriate company, district, ship, or date range. Note what you actually searched before drawing a conclusion from an empty result.

Include the heading, column labels, surrounding entries, endorsements, and reverse side when available. An isolated name or cropped image can lose the wording that explains why the person appears.

Ask whether the Guthrie is a soldier, sailor, supplier, claimant, witness, heir, representative, prisoner, or dependent. Keep the document’s description separate from your interpretation.

Follow references to related papers and distinguish stages of the same transaction. An application, certificate, payment, and later assignment may describe one underlying claim rather than several separate contributions.

Ask whether apparently separate accounts come from independent evidence. A roster, family history, and online tree may all repeat the same original entry. Trace each statement back as far as possible.

Compare spouse, residence, age, occupation, officers, witnesses, and neighbors. Explain how the details work together to identify the person, and address evidence that does not fit.

Build the parent-child links one generation at a time. Shared surnames, nearby land, and repeated given names can guide the search, but they do not establish the relationship by themselves.

Keep family tradition in the notes as a lead. When documentation supports only part of the story, say which part is established and which remains unresolved.

• Record the search: collection, repository or website, date searched, name variants, filters, and the years or pages examined.
• Preserve the reference: record group or series, volume or file, printed page or folio, document date, and image number where applicable.
• Save the context: retain a legible image and any heading, cover, or adjacent page needed to interpret it.
• Separate your notes: label exact transcription, summary, interpretation, and proposed identification so they cannot be mistaken for one another.

For an unsuccessful search, describe its limits: “No Guthrie entry found in the named index for these years” is more useful than “There are no records.”

Use precise descriptions: “named in a militia return,” “claimed payment for supplies,” or “identified his service in a later pension declaration.” Explain the basis for a stronger conclusion when several records establish it.

Keep the person’s experience distinct from the history of the regiment or campaign. Describe a battle as background unless the evidence connects the individual to it.

An unresolved identity is still worth recording. Present the source, the possible connection, the conflicting evidence, and the next question. That gives another researcher something concrete to build upon.

Return to Records & Research Resources to choose the next collection, or share your findings to help expand the Guthrie Revolutionary War series.

Leave a comment below with a brief description of what you found. When possible, include:

• The person: name as recorded, approximate dates, location, and any known spouse, family, unit, or ship.
• The source: archive or publication, collection or series, volume or file, page or image number, and a link if available.
• The connection: what the record establishes, how it may relate to a Guthrie family, and any question that remains.

You do not need to solve the entire family history before sharing a useful lead. An unidentified Guthrie or an uncertain relationship may be exactly the question another researcher can help answer.

Family historians are invited to contribute a researched account of a Guthrie individual or household during the Revolutionary era. Tell us who they were, where they lived, what the records reveal, and how the war affected the family.

A finished article is welcome, but organized notes with source references are useful too. Contributions intended for publication will be fact-checked and edited into the series’ article style, with unresolved questions kept visible.

Begin with a short comment introducing the story and the material you have. Please let us know how you would like your contribution credited.

Found a misread name, a broken link, a mistaken family connection, or a source that changes an earlier conclusion? Please identify the relevant section and share the evidence that helps explain the correction.

Different interpretations are welcome. The most useful discussion shows what the documents say, where the accounts differ, and what additional evidence might resolve the question.