F: William Guthrie & Lettice Burk & Frances Wilbourn
Guthrie Family Group 1A · Branch F
William Guthrie / Guttery Lettice Burk & Frances Wilbourn
Christ Church Parish · Middlesex County, Virginia · 1700s
William Guthrie, also recorded as Guttery, raised his family in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. He married Lettice Burk on 24 January 1716/17 and, following her death, Frances Wilbourn on 29 November 1728. Parish entries and the wills of William and his son Benjamin preserve the names and relationships at the heart of this family’s story.
The Family at a Glance
William Guthrie
Also recorded as Guttery & other variants
- Parents
- Not established
- Birth
- Date and place unknown
- Residence
- Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia
- First Marriage
- Lettice Burk
24 January 1716/17 - Second Marriage
- Frances Wilbourn
29 November 1728 - Death
- 1781–1782; between his will of 2 April 1781 and its probate on 22 July 1782
Lettice Burk
William’s first wife
- Parents
- John & Mary Burk
- Birth
- 24 September 1693
Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia - Baptism
- 29 October 1693
- Marriage
- 24 January 1716/17
Christ Church Parish - Death
- 26 September 1727
- Burial
- 28 September 1727; recorded in the parish register
Frances Wilbourn
William’s second wife
- Parents
- Not established
- Birth
- Estimated 1702–1713; date and place unrecorded
- Marriage
- 29 November 1728
Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia - Residence
- Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia
- Last Confirmed Reference
- Named as William’s wife in his will of 2 April 1781
- Death
- Date unknown; living on 2 April 1781
William’s two marriages connect fourteen children with this Middlesex family: three daughters with Lettice Burk and eleven children associated with Frances Wilbourn. Parish entries preserve many of their births, baptisms, marriages, and early deaths. Benjamin Guthrie’s 1780 will adds relationships that help bring the family into focus.
The surviving records follow children into the Chowning, Berry, Tuggle, Daniel, and Bristow families. Proposed connections also lead to Southampton County, Virginia, and North Carolina, where the tested Guthrie line matches GFG1A.
The Next Generation
Select a child’s name to follow their story.
| Child & Family Page | Birth & Baptism | Marriage & Later Life |
|---|---|---|
| Children of William Guthrie & Lettice Burk | ||
| Betty Guthrie | 20 March 1718/19 Baptized 19 April 1719 |
Married Robert Chowning on 24 December 1735. A 1772 Caroline County court entry may refer to her; her death date remains unknown. |
| Ann Guthrie The earlier child of this name |
12 September 1722 Baptized 22 September 1722 |
Died on 8 September 1737, shortly before her fifteenth birthday. |
| Rachel Guthrie | 29 November 1724 Baptized 3 January 1724/25 |
Her later life, marriage, and death have not been identified. |
| Children Associated with William Guthrie & Frances Wilbourn | ||
| Benjamin Guthrie | Date unknown No baptism identified |
Died in February 1780. His will, dated 22 February and proved 28 February, names parents, siblings, and younger relatives. No wife or children of his own have been identified. |
| Mary Guthrie | 26 March 1730 Baptized 3 April 1730 |
Died in infancy on 5 May 1730. |
| William Guthrie The earlier child of this name |
7 September 1731 Baptized 17 October 1731 |
Died in infancy on 1 January 1731/32. |
| Lettice Guthrie | 17 November 1732 Baptized 26 November 1732 |
Died on 15 November 1734, two days before her second birthday. |
| John Guthrie | 25 July 1735 Baptized 24 August 1735 |
Benjamin’s will identifies him with Gloucester County and names his daughter Frances. Martha is his proposed wife; his death date is unknown. |
| Frances Guthrie | 21 September 1737 Baptized 2 October 1737 |
Married John Berry, then Griffin Tuggle on 10 January 1779. Died in 1819; her estate was administered in Caswell County, North Carolina. |
| William Guthrie The later child of this name |
16 March 1740 Baptized 6 April 1740 |
Proposed as William Guthrie of Chatham County, North Carolina, husband of Mary Magdalene, whose descendant’s Y-DNA matches GFG1A. |
| Margaret Guthrie | 9 October 1742 Baptized 7 November 1742 |
Married Richard Daniel. Named as Margaret Daniel in Benjamin’s will of 22 February 1780; her death date is unknown. |
| Ann Guthrie The later child of this name |
4 August 1745 Baptized 1 September 1745 |
Married Samuel Bristow. A proposed continuation follows this family into Southampton County, Virginia, under the Brister spelling. |
| Lucy Guthrie | About 1750, estimated No baptism identified |
Married William Daniel on 26 July 1770. Their children Samuel and Caty are named in Benjamin’s will. Her death date is unknown. |
| Samuel Guthrie | 8 July 1752 No baptism date identified |
Named as William’s son and an executor in the 1781 will. Proposed as Samuel Guthrie of North Carolina, husband of Jane Kinningham. |
Family Evidence NotesOpen for parish dates, family relationships & connections still being traced
The Parents & Their Estimated Birth Dates
William’s age and birthplace have not been established. Estimates placing his birth in the later 1600s depend on assumed ages at marriage and at the birth of his youngest child. John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett are proposed relatives, not documented parents. Frances Wilbourn’s estimated 1702–1713 birth range assumes that she was at least fifteen at marriage and no older than fifty when the youngest child was born. It is not a recorded age. Her proposed connection to Thomas Wellborn and Arcadia Scarborough also remains unproved. Lettice’s parents are recorded as John and Mary Burk; Mary’s maiden surname has not been established.
Parish Dates & the Old Style Calendar
The dates draw on the published Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Virginia, from 1653 to 1812. Under the old English calendar, the year began on 25 March. Dual years clarify entries such as the January 1716/17 marriage and Betty’s March 1718/19 birth. The infant William’s death on 1 January 1731/32 follows his September 1731 birth; the printed year does not require a printing-error explanation. Rachel’s birth on 29 November 1724 and baptism on 3 January 1724/25 follow the surrounding register sequence. Lettice Burk’s baptism is 29 October 1693.
Benjamin & Lucy: Relationships Reconstructed from Probate
Benjamin’s birth date and position among the children are unknown. His 1780 will names siblings and younger relatives whose identities connect him with William and Frances’s family. It provides for both parents without naming them. Lucy’s placement is inferred from the same family network: Samuel and Caty Daniel are identified as children of William and Lucy Daniel, but Lucy is not expressly called Benjamin’s sister. That reference establishes her identity as their mother without proving whether she was living in February 1780.
William’s Will & Frances’s Survival
William’s will of 2 April 1781 names wife Frances and son Samuel, with John George, as executors. Frances receives the use of the estate for life, with the remainder to the children living at her death. Probate on 22 July 1782 supplies the other end of William’s death interval. Frances was living when the will was written; her death date has not been found. These are separate events from the 1819 estate of their daughter Frances Tuggle.
Children with the Same Given Name
The Ann born in 1722 died in 1737; she is distinct from the Ann born in 1745 who married Samuel Bristow. The William born in 1731 died in infancy and is distinct from the William born in 1740. Mary’s recorded death in May 1730 rules out identifying her as the later wife of Granville Gray Haggard.
John, Margaret & the Limits of a Will
Benjamin describes John as being of Gloucester County but makes his bequest conditional on John still being alive. The will therefore does not establish John’s survival to February 1780. The proposed identification with John and Martha in Gloucester tax records needs its own support. Margaret, by contrast, is named as sister Margaret Daniel and receives a legacy. Her death cannot be fixed at 1765. Accounts differ over the year of her October marriage to Richard Daniel; the proposed Churchill Gibson marriage and a later North Carolina–Georgia son also require further evidence.
Frances Berry Tuggle & Her Estate
Frances’s will abstract is dated 2 August 1819; her original estate inventory is dated 14 October 1819. Together they place her death between those dates. The sale occurred on 11 November, and the inventory and sale were returned at January Court 1820. Her will names William Berry and daughter Anna/Anne Paschal, with Paschal granddaughters. The description of two children does not erase John Berry, named as her son in Benjamin’s 1780 will. Anne’s biological-versus-step relationship within the Berry–Tuggle household remains to be resolved.
Ann Bristow & the Southampton Bristers
Samuel Brister’s Southampton will, written in 1794 and proved in 1795, names wife Ann and five younger children. A Nicholas Brister will index also identifies Anne Brister as his mother. These are useful family connections, although identifying the Southampton couple with Samuel and Ann of Middlesex requires the records to be considered together. Lucy Brister’s marriage bond to William Stephenson Jr. is dated 18 October 1792. Her circa-1772 birth is an estimate assuming marriage at about twenty; the bond describes her as of full age without stating that age.
The GFG1A Match & the Branch B Locality
The tested North Carolina line of William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene matches GFG1A. The earlier Virginia family lived in Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County—the same locality as Branch B’s John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett. Both findings support investigating their relationship. The identification of the parish-born William of 1740 with the North Carolina man, and the precise connection between the older Middlesex households, remain to be documented.
Samuel’s Name & Proposed North Carolina Family
The printed 1752 birth entry preserves only the ending of the child’s given name, “uel.” The identification as Samuel is supported by the later family wills. His proposed identification with Jane Kinningham’s husband draws on North Carolina associations and a published family account. That account names an older John, rather than William, as Frances Wilburn’s husband, a discrepancy still requiring explanation.
Historical Highlights
Tidewater Roots, Parish Records & Family Connections
William Guthrie’s family belongs to the same Middlesex County parish landscape as Branch B’s John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett. Christ Church Parish records preserve William’s marriage to Lettice Burk on 24 January 1716/17, followed by the births and baptisms of their daughters Betty, Ann, and Rachel. This shared locality is a meaningful connection between the branches, although William’s place within the earlier Guthrie generations remains to be established.
The family’s collected parish and court references offer glimpses beyond births and marriages. They describe William keeping Honora Baskett in 1720 and later receiving payment for the support and burial of Ockaney Panto, whose name appears in several spellings. Another reference concerns the capture of Pekoney, an enslaved boy held by Philip Todd, in 1722. These accounts place William within the parish’s arrangements for support and the county’s system of slavery. The references to Honora also make the Baskett surname worth following, without establishing her relationship to Elizabeth Baskett or to William.
Two marriages and fourteen associated children give this family a long presence in the parish register. Lettice died on 26 September 1727, and her burial was recorded two days later. William married Frances Wilbourn on 29 November 1728. Their household experienced several early losses: Mary died in infancy in 1730, the first William in January 1731/32, and young Lettice in 1734. William’s daughter Ann from his first marriage died in 1737, just before her fifteenth birthday. Later children again received the names William and Ann; each belongs to a distinct life and record trail.
Benjamin Guthrie’s will supplies a particularly valuable picture of the wider family. Written on 22 February 1780 and proved six days later, it names his siblings Frances Tuggle, John Guthrie of Gloucester, William Guthrie, Samuel Guthrie, Margaret Daniel, and Ann Bristow. It also provides for both parents, without naming them. His provision for John allows for the possibility that his brother had already died. The will connects the Guthries with Berry and Daniel children, while its schooling provisions—and a codicil adding Leonard Bristow—show Benjamin directing part of his estate toward the next generation’s education. Not every child receiving help is expressly identified as a relative.
William’s own will followed on 2 April 1781. He left Frances the use of his remaining estate for her lifetime, with the remainder to the children living at her death, and named Frances, his son Samuel, and his friend John George as executors. The probate endorsement is dated 22 July 1782. Together, those dates place William’s death within that interval and establish that Frances was living when he made his will. They do not supply her death date. These two Middlesex wills—Benjamin’s and William’s—provide the framework for following the family beyond the parish entries.
One daughter’s records carry the story into North Carolina. Frances Guthrie, first married to John Berry, married Griffin Tuggle on 10 January 1779. Griffin’s estate inventory was returned in Caswell County at July Court 1807, with William Berry acting as executor. It records a hundred-acre tract, livestock, tools, books, household belongings, and two unnamed enslaved people. Frances’s later estate papers preserve further details of this household. Her will abstract is dated 2 August 1819, and her original inventory was taken on 14 October, placing her death between those dates.
Frances’s estate records also preserve the presence of people whose lives cannot be reduced to the property lists in which they appear. Her inventory names an enslaved man, Jim, and an unnamed enslaved woman. The sale of 11 November 1819 records an unnamed enslaved boy sold to Ezekiel Paschal and an unnamed enslaved woman sold to John Paschal. Because the inventory says “man” and the sale says “boy,” the boy cannot simply be identified as Jim. The household goods, loom, farm tools, livestock, and land sale help describe the family’s material circumstances; the sale of enslaved people records the coercion within that same household economy. The papers’ return at January Court 1820 was a later administrative event, not Frances’s death date.
Other children lead into continuing research in Virginia and North Carolina. Benjamin’s will places John in Gloucester and identifies Margaret Daniel and Ann Bristow by their married names. The proposed continuation of Ann’s family into Southampton County includes Samuel Brister’s 1794 will, proved in 1795, and a later will index identifying Anne Brister as Nicholas’s mother. These are useful relationships to investigate together. The proposed North Carolina family of Samuel Guthrie and Jane Kinningham likewise needs to be connected with the Samuel named in the Middlesex wills.
The tested North Carolina Guthrie line matches GFG1A. Its submitted paternal lineage runs through Claiborne Guthrie to William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene. This provides affirmative genetic support for that line’s place within the family group. Research proposes that the North Carolina William was the child recorded in this Middlesex family in 1740. Establishing that identity would connect the tested line to William and Frances’s household. Alongside it, the shared Christ Church Parish location with Branch B gives a strong geographic focus for tracing the earlier relationship. The DNA match and the common locality are established parts of the research picture; the precise connecting generations remain the question.
Follow the family timeline below →
Explore the records and DNA evidence →
The Family Timeline
Parish entries follow William Guthrie’s two marriages and growing family in Middlesex County. Later wills preserve relationships across generations, while his daughter Frances’s estate carries the story into North Carolina.
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24 September
1693BirthLettice Burk Is Born
Christ Church Parish · Middlesex County, Virginia
Lettice, daughter of John and Mary Burk, was born on 24 September and baptized on 29 October 1693. Her recorded birth gives this family story its earliest securely dated personal event; William Guthrie’s birth date and parents remain unidentified.
Source: The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va., from 1653 to 1812 (1897), p. 51; printed transcription.
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24 January
1716/17William Guthrie Marries Lettice Burk
Christ Church Parish · The first marriage
The parish register records William and Lettice’s marriage. Their family was established in the same parish as John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett’s Branch B family.
Why the marriage date has two years
The printed entry gives 24 January 1716 and follows December 1716 entries. Under the old English calendar, the year began on 25 March. The dual year 1716/17 preserves the recorded year while clarifying its place in the January-to-December calendar.
The day and month have not been shifted. This calendar treatment also explains the dual years used for Betty’s March birth, Rachel’s January baptism, and the infant William’s January death.
Source: Christ Church Parish Register (1897), p. 162.
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1719–1725Children & parish connections
Three Daughters in the Parish Register
Middlesex County · William and Lettice’s household
Betty was born on 20 March 1718/19 and baptized on 19 April 1719. Ann followed on 12 September 1722, with baptism ten days later. The register sequence places Rachel’s birth on 29 November 1724 and baptism on 3 January 1724/25.
Parish connections beyond the children’s entries
The collected family research includes a 1720 reference to William keeping Honora Baskett and a 1722 court reference concerning his capture of Pekoney, an enslaved boy held by Philip Todd. These summaries preserve leads into parish support and the county’s enforcement of slavery; they are distinct from the children’s register entries.
Honora’s surname makes her a useful person to trace alongside the Guthrie–Baskett families. The reference does not establish her relationship to William or to Elizabeth Baskett.
Sources: Christ Church Parish Register (1897), including Betty on p. 102 and Rachel on p. 116; parish and court references retained in the Guthrie Research Tree.
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26 September
1727Lettice Dies
Christ Church Parish
Lettice died two days after her thirty-fourth birthday. The parish register records her burial on 28 September 1727. Her daughters were still children; Rachel was not yet three.
Source: Christ Church Parish Register, death and burial entries. A parish burial entry does not identify a particular grave or churchyard plot.
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29 November
1728William Marries Frances Wilbourn
Christ Church Parish · The second marriage
William and Frances’s marriage begins the second part of this household’s parish history. Eleven children are associated with their family through parish entries and later probate evidence. Frances’s parents and exact birth date have not been established.
Source: Christ Church Parish Register, marriage entry, 29 November 1728.
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1730–1734Births & early losses
Three Young Children Die
Christ Church Parish · William and Frances’s family
Mary was born on 26 March 1730, baptized on 3 April, and died on 5 May. William, born on 7 September 1731 and baptized on 17 October, died on 1 January 1731/32. Lettice was born on 17 November 1732, baptized on 26 November, and died on 15 November 1734, two days before her second birthday.
Mary’s recorded infant death rules out the later marriage sometimes assigned to her with Granville Gray Haggard. The infant William must likewise remain separate from the younger brother later given his name.
Source: Christ Church Parish Register, birth, baptism, and death entries; Mary’s baptism, p. 129; William’s death, p. 188. The January dual year resolves the apparent date conflict.
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1735–1737
A Marriage, New Children & Another Loss
Middlesex County · Two generations of the family
John Guthrie was born on 25 July 1735 and baptized on 24 August. That December, William and Lettice’s daughter Betty married Robert Chowning on 24 December 1735, at sixteen.
Betty’s sister Ann died on 8 September 1737, four days before turning fifteen. William and Frances’s daughter Frances was born on 21 September 1737 and baptized on 2 October.
Source: Christ Church Parish Register, family entries; John’s birth, p. 141.
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1740–1752The younger children
The Parish Sequence Continues
Christ Church Parish
- William · Born 16 March 1740; baptized 6 April
- Margaret · Born 9 October 1742; baptized 7 November
- Ann · Born 4 August 1745; baptized 1 September
- Samuel · Identified with the partly legible birth entry of 8 July 1752
The younger William and Ann are distinct from the earlier children of those names. The proposed identification of this William with the later North Carolina man is a central question in Branch F research.
Samuel’s name & children without recorded birth dates
The printed 1752 entry preserves only the ending of the given name, “uel.” Later family wills, including William’s identification of son Samuel, support the reading as Samuel.
Benjamin’s birth date and position among the children remain unknown. Lucy’s birth about 1750 is an estimate, and her placement in the family is inferred from the relationships in Benjamin’s will. Neither should be presented as a dated parish birth.
Sources: Christ Church Parish Register, including the 1752 entry on p. 288; Benjamin’s 1780 will and William’s 1781 will.
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1760sMarried daughters
Daniel & Bristow Family Connections
Middlesex County
Margaret married Richard Daniel, and the younger Ann married Samuel Bristow. Their married names are confirmed in Benjamin Guthrie’s 1780 will.
Marriage dates & the proposed Southampton continuation
Accounts differ between 2 October 1762 and 2 October 1764 for Margaret’s marriage. Ann’s principal reported marriage year is 1765, but conflicting year and month references require reconciliation with the underlying entry.
The proposed continuation of Ann’s family in Southampton County includes Samuel Brister’s will of 2 October 1794, proved 11 June 1795, naming wife Ann. A later Nicholas Brister will index identifies Anne Brister as his mother. These records contribute to the identification without alone proving the Middlesex-to-Southampton connection.
Lucy Brister’s marriage bond with William Stephenson Jr. is dated 18 October 1792. The register calls her of full age; her circa-1772 birth is an estimate, not an age stated in the bond register.
Sources: family marriage research; Middlesex Will Book F, pp. 179–180; Southampton Will Book 4, p. 688, and marriage register, p. 85; Nicholas Brister will index.
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26 July
1770Lucy Guthrie Marries William Daniel
Middlesex County
Lucy and William’s children Samuel and Catherine, called Caty, later appear in Benjamin Guthrie’s will. That record identifies Lucy as their mother without expressly calling her Benjamin’s sister or establishing whether she was still living in 1780.
Sources: marriage information in the Guthrie family research, 26 July 1770; Benjamin Guthrie’s will, Middlesex Will Book F, pp. 179–180.
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10 January
1779Frances Berry Marries Griffin Tuggle
The Guthrie–Berry–Tuggle family
Frances Guthrie, previously married to John Berry, married Griffin Tuggle. Benjamin’s will in the following year calls her his sister Frances Tuggle and identifies her son John Berry by her earlier husband, also John Berry.
Sources: marriage information in the Guthrie Research Tree, 10 January 1779; Benjamin Guthrie’s original will. No evidence establishes “Miller” as the earlier husband’s middle name.
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22–28 February
1780Will & probateBenjamin’s Will Connects the Family
Middlesex County · Will Book F
Benjamin made his will and codicil on 22 February 1780. Probate followed on 28 February, placing his death between those dates. The will names siblings Frances Tuggle, John Guthrie of Gloucester, William Guthrie, Samuel Guthrie, Margaret Daniel, and Ann Bristow, and provides for his unnamed parents.
Family relationships, education & the codicil
The bequest to John allows for the possibility that he had already died; it cannot establish his survival to the will date. Benjamin also names John’s daughter Frances and children in the Berry and Daniel families.
Schooling provisions extend to several children. The codicil adds Leonard Bristow, son of Richard and Mary. A bequest for education does not by itself establish a biological relationship.
Samuel Guthrie acted as executor at probate, with Beverly Daniel as security. The will, codicil, and probate are separate parts of the surviving record.
Source: original will, codicil, and probate images; Middlesex Will Book F, pp. 179–180.
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2 April
1781Will datedWilliam Provides for Frances & the Children
Middlesex County
William left his wife Frances the use of his remaining estate for life, followed by division among the children living at her death. He named Frances, his son Samuel, and his friend John George as executors.
This is the latest confirmed reference establishing Frances as living. Her death date remains unknown.
Source: original William Guthrie will image, dated 2 April 1781; Middlesex Will Book F, p. 237.
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22 July
1782ProbateWilliam’s Will Is Proved
Middlesex County Court
The probate endorsement is dated 22 July 1782. William therefore died after making his will on 2 April 1781 and by 22 July 1782. The probate date is not an exact death date.
Source: original probate endorsement accompanying William Guthrie’s will.
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July Court
1807Inventory returnedGriffin Tuggle’s Estate in North Carolina
Caswell County, North Carolina · Frances’s later household
Griffin’s inventory was returned at July Court 1807, establishing his death by that term. William Berry signed as executor. The inventory lists a hundred-acre tract, livestock, tools, books, household goods, and two unnamed enslaved people.
William Berry’s role as executor is recorded; the inventory does not identify him as Griffin’s biological son.
Source: original inventory and return, Caswell County Will Book E, p. 353. This inventory is separate from Griffin’s will.
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August–November
1819Will, death & estateFrances Tuggle’s Estate Preserves Another Generation
Caswell County, North Carolina
Frances’s will abstract is dated 2 August 1819. Her original inventory was taken on 14 October, placing her death between those dates. The estate sale followed on 11 November.
Family names & the people recorded in the estate
The will abstract names daughter Anna/Anne Paschal, granddaughters Elizabeth and Frances Paschal, and son William Berry. William Berry and Jethro Brown were executors. The description of two children does not erase John Berry, identified as Frances’s son in Benjamin’s 1780 will. Anne’s biological-versus-step relationship within the household remains under study.
The inventory names an enslaved man, Jim, and an unnamed enslaved woman. The sale records an unnamed enslaved boy sold to Ezekiel Paschal and an unnamed enslaved woman sold to John Paschal. The differing descriptions do not justify silently identifying the boy as Jim.
The land, livestock, loom, tools, furniture, and other belongings describe the household’s material circumstances. The sale also documents the forced transfer of enslaved people within that estate.
Sources: published will abstract, Caswell Will Book H, p. 283; original inventory, H, p. 300; original sale papers, H, p. 308. The abstract and original estate papers are distinct sources.
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January Court
1820Estate returnsFrances’s Inventory & Sale Are Returned
Caswell County Court
The inventory and sale were returned to court in January 1820. This later administrative date belongs to the settlement of Frances’s estate; her death had already occurred by 14 October 1819.
Sources: original returns for Frances Tuggle’s inventory and sale, Caswell Will Book H, pp. 300 and 308.
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DNA ResearchConnecting the branches
A GFG1A Match & a Branch B Locality
North Carolina paternal line · Middlesex County origins under study
The tested North Carolina line matches GFG1A. Its submitted paternal lineage runs through Claiborne Guthrie to William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene. Identifying that William with the child recorded in this Middlesex family in 1740 would connect the tested line to William and Frances’s household.
The Middlesex family’s location matches Branch B. Both families belong to Christ Church Parish. These genetic and geographic connections guide the search for the precise relationships between the households and generations.
Sources: Guthrie DNA Project affiliation and submitted paternal pedigree; Christ Church Parish family records. The submitted pedigree and the DNA match are different forms of evidence.
Explore the Records brings together the parish entries, probate evidence, DNA findings, and documents still needed to connect the generations.
Explore the Records
Follow the parish entries, wills, estate papers, and DNA evidence behind this family’s story. Together they identify relatives, distinguish people with the same name, and point toward the records that could connect the generations.
The Guthrie DNA Project
The tested North Carolina line of William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene matches Guthrie Family Group 1A. Its paternal lineage passes through Claiborne Guthrie. The proposed identification of the North Carolina William with the Middlesex child born in 1740 connects this DNA research with William Guthrie and Frances Wilbourn’s household.
The Middlesex location also matches Branch B’s John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett. Both families appear in Christ Church Parish. The genetic match and shared locality give the research a strong focus; records are still needed to establish the precise links between the households.
Which Descendant Lines Are Represented?
Select a child’s name to explore that family.
| Child | Y-DNA | Big-Y | Autosomal |
|---|---|---|---|
| BettyChowning line | N/A | N/A | ✓ |
| Ann1722–1737 | N/A | N/A | — |
| Rachel | N/A | N/A | — |
| BenjaminBirth date unknown | — | — | — |
| Mary1730–1730 | N/A | N/A | — |
| William1731–1731/32 | — | — | — |
| Lettice1732–1734 | N/A | N/A | — |
| JohnBorn 1735 | — | — | — |
| FrancesBerry–Tuggle line | N/A | N/A | — |
| WilliamBorn 1740 · Proposed North Carolina line* | ✓* | — | ✓* |
| MargaretDaniel line | N/A | N/A | — |
| AnnBorn 1745 · Bristow–Brister line† | N/A | N/A | ✓† |
| LucyDaniel line · Parentage inferred | N/A | N/A | — |
| Samuel1752 parish entry | — | — | — |
✓ = participation is recorded for the descendant line. — = no participant or result is recorded here. N/A = William’s Y-DNA cannot pass through a daughter. Autosomal DNA can be inherited through either parent.
*William’s placement: the represented family descends from the North Carolina William and Mary Magdalene. Identifying him with William and Frances’s son born in 1740 remains under study. †Ann’s placement: autosomal participation is recorded for the Bristow–Brister line; the proposed Southampton continuation and individual parent–child connections require their own evidence.
A checkmark records participation, not proof of every ancestral link. An empty entry does not establish that a child had no descendants. No Big-Y result is recorded here for the represented North Carolina line.
What Have We Learned?
The North Carolina family belongs to the wider GFG1A paternal family. The recorded Y-DNA comparison gives us an affirmative connection to investigate alongside the family’s documents. It does not identify the earlier William’s parents or, by itself, establish the move from Middlesex to North Carolina.
The next useful comparison would come from another independently documented male line. A descendant of a different surviving son of William and Frances could help test the proposed connection. A second line through another son of the North Carolina William could also strengthen the reconstruction of that family’s paternal ancestry.
The Tested Line & Recorded Y-DNA ComparisonKit references, the reported marker match, and what the result means.
Y-DNA kit 517928 is associated with the submitted paternal line from William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene, through Claiborne Guthrie and Eleanor Newlin, then John Braxton Guthrie and later father-to-son generations.
The published project comparison reports a Y-67 test matching the GFG1A group modal at 67 of 67 markers. The modal is a reference profile formed from the most common marker values in the group; it is not a test taken by a named ancestor. The reported pattern is also found among the Middlesex-associated lines.
The earlier project summary lists R-M269 and a confirmed SNP designation of R-Y62042. These are labels on the paternal DNA tree. A SNP designation alone does not establish that a Big-Y test was performed, so no Big-Y checkmark has been added to this line.
The submitted pedigree continues from the North Carolina family to William and Frances of Middlesex. That earlier attachment is the relationship being investigated, rather than a relationship independently proved by the pedigree diagram.
Autosomal Participation & Family ConnectionsBetty’s Chowning family, Ann’s Bristow–Brister line, and the North Carolina Guthries.
Recorded autosomal participation includes descendants through Betty Guthrie and Robert Chowning, the younger Ann Guthrie’s Bristow–Brister line, and William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene’s North Carolina family. Betty’s family page identifies participation through her son Charles’s son Robert Chowning.
Autosomal kit 287202 is recorded with the North Carolina William–Claiborne–John Braxton branch. This is a separate project reference from Y-DNA kit 517928.
Autosomal participation does not establish which ancestor supplied a particular match. These early connections require careful comparison of documented descendant lines and other shared ancestry. The table preserves recorded participation without presenting it as proof of the proposed Virginia-to-North Carolina or Middlesex-to-Southampton identifications.
Help Connect a Descendant LineFamily records and suitable DNA comparisons can contribute together.
A man descended from a Guthrie son through an unbroken father-to-son line may be able to contribute Y-DNA evidence. Descendants through daughters can contribute family records and autosomal comparisons. A sourced lineage is useful whether or not a descendant has tested.
For an existing Y-DNA participant, a later Big-Y upgrade could help clarify the relationship to other GFG1A branches. It would add detail to the genetic comparison while the records continue to supply the ancestors’ names and relationships.
Family-Specific Records & Sources
The source descriptions below distinguish original record images, printed transcriptions, abstracts, indexes, and family research. The children’s pages carry the fuller descendant histories.
Christ Church Parish Register — Marriages, Children & Calendar DatesThe principal source for the Middlesex household.
The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va., from 1653 to 1812 was published in 1897 by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Virginia, printed in Richmond by Wm. Ellis Jones. The digitized volume is a printed transcription, distinct from the original parish manuscript.
- Lettice Burk, p. 51: born 24 September 1693; baptized 29 October 1693.
- William and Lettice’s marriage, p. 162: 24 January 1716, displayed here as 1716/17 from its place in the register sequence.
- Betty, p. 102: born 20 March 1718/19; baptized 19 April 1719.
- Rachel, p. 116: the surrounding sequence supports birth on 29 November 1724 and baptism on 3 January 1724/25.
- Mary, pp. 129 and 187: born 26 March, baptized 3 April, and died 5 May 1730. She cannot be the later wife of Granville Gray Haggard.
- The infant William, p. 188: the January death is read as 1 January 1731/32, following his September 1731 birth.
- John, p. 141: birth on 25 July 1735.
- The youngest child, p. 288: 8 July 1752, with only the ending “uel” legible in the printed given name. Later family wills support identification as Samuel.
Dual years clarify supported dates between 1 January and 24 March under the old English calendar. They do not require changing the day and month. Benjamin’s birth date and Lucy’s estimated birth about 1750 are not located parish entries.
Read the digitized parish register · Search its OCR text
Book-page references are the printed page numbers. Check the scanned page when OCR or a later transcription gives an uncertain name or date.
Vestry & Court References — Neighbors, Support & County BusinessResearch leads beyond the family’s vital events.
The family’s collected extracts record 10 October 1720, vestry p. 174, payment to William for keeping Honora Baskett. Later entries concern his support of Ockaney Panto: 7 October 1742, p. 257; 12 October 1744, p. 262; and 12 October 1745, p. 264, for care and burial. Spellings of Panto’s name vary. A further payment appears on 1 December 1767, p. 340, without a stated reason.
A 1 May 1722 court extract concerns William’s capture of Pekoney, an enslaved boy held by Philip Todd of King and Queen County. A 1 May 1744 petition concerns a county-levy exemption for the poor man in William’s care, named Okany Pantor in that extract.
Other collected references place William as a witness to Robert Williamson’s will in 1726, a court witness in 1736, and a witness to Ann Tuggle’s will in 1757. These provide associates to follow; the names and circumstances should be checked in their full record context before assigning kinship or combining every spelling variant.
These citations are retained from family research extracts. They should not be confused with a fresh reading of the original vestry and court volumes. Honora’s surname is a useful Baskett connection to investigate, but the payment does not state her relationship to William or Elizabeth Baskett.
Locate Middlesex court, land, and probate volumes through the Library of Virginia
Benjamin Guthrie’s Will, Codicil & Probate — February 1780Middlesex Will Book F, pages 179–180.
Will and codicil: 22 February 1780. Probate: 28 February 1780. Images of the original record establish the family provisions and the separate addition for Leonard Bristow’s schooling.
Benjamin names sisters Frances Tuggle, Margaret Daniel, and Ann Bristow, and brothers John Guthrie of Gloucester, William Guthrie, and Samuel Guthrie. His parents receive a life interest but are not named. The family relationships must therefore be considered together when identifying his parents.
John’s bequest is conditional on his having survived until the will was made. John Berry is explicitly identified as a son of sister Frances by John Berry; an index that treats the Berry men as Benjamin’s brothers misstates the relationship. Samuel and Caty Daniel are identified as children of William and Lucy Daniel, but Lucy is not expressly called Benjamin’s sister.
Schooling provisions for James Stevens, Ann Callahan, Letty Clowdes, and Leonard Bristow do not independently prove kinship. Leonard’s provision belongs to the codicil. Samuel Guthrie presented the will at probate, with Beverly Daniel as security.
Will-book image reference at FamilySearch · Ancestry record reference · Benjamin’s family page and transcription
The associated appraisal is cited at Will Book F, p. 194: appraisal image reference. It is an additional record to examine, not part of the reviewed will and codicil.
William Guthrie’s Will & Probate — 1781–1782Middlesex Will Book F, page 237.
The original will image is dated 2 April 1781; its probate endorsement reads 22 July 1782. William therefore died between making the will and its probate.
The will gives wife Frances the use of the remaining estate for life, followed by division among the children living at her death. It names Frances, son Samuel, and friend John George as executors. Frances was living when the will was made; her death date remains unknown.
The county citation is Middlesex Will Book F, p. 237. The Library of Virginia lists Book F, covering 1772–1787, on reel 22. A digital collection’s broader grouping label or a loose-paper file number should not replace the specific county volume and page.
Frances Berry Tuggle & Griffin Tuggle — Caswell Estate RecordsSeparate the wills, inventories, sale, and court returns.
Griffin Tuggle: the original inventory and its return at July Court 1807 are recorded in Caswell Will Book E, p. 353. William Berry signs as executor. The inventory includes a hundred-acre tract, two unnamed enslaved people, livestock, tools, books, and household goods. Griffin’s separate will is cited at E, p. 322; its original image remains a research target.
Frances Tuggle’s will: the supplied published abstract gives 2 August 1819, October Court 1819, and Book H, p. 283. It names daughter Anna/Anne Paschal, granddaughters Elizabeth and Frances Paschal, son William Berry, and executors Jethro Brown and William Berry. The original will should be compared with the abstract to resolve the full wording and family relationships.
Original estate papers: the inventory was taken on 14 October 1819, recorded at H, p. 300; the sale took place on 11 November 1819, recorded at H, p. 308. Both were returned at January Court 1820. Frances’s death falls after making her will and by the inventory date.
The inventory names an enslaved man, Jim, and an unnamed enslaved woman. The sale records an unnamed enslaved boy sold to Ezekiel Paschal for $770 and an unnamed enslaved woman sold to John Paschal for $110. The differing descriptions do not establish that the boy was Jim. John Chapman bought the land for $332. Purchasers are associates to investigate, not automatically relatives.
Griffin’s will: FamilySearch image reference · Frances’s will: FamilySearch image reference · Follow Frances’s family
Ann Guthrie, Samuel Bristow & the Southampton BristersPositive family evidence alongside the proposed move between counties.
The original Southampton will-book image for Samuel Brister, dated 2 October 1794 and proved 11 June 1795, is in Will Book 4, p. 688. It names wife Ann and five younger children: John, Benjamin, James, Hannah, and Willis. It does not give Ann’s maiden name or expressly assign maternity.
A later will index for Nicholas Brister identifies Anne Brister as his mother. That affirmative relationship belongs in the evidence, while the original wording and date are still needed before using it to extend Ann Guthrie’s life or settle the county-to-county identification.
Lucy Brister’s bond with William Stephenson Jr. is dated 18 October 1792, in the Southampton marriage register, p. 85. The register says she was of full age. Her approximate 1772 birth is an estimate based on an assumed marriage age; it is not a recorded birth year. The 1792 date does not create the age contradiction produced by the earlier 1782 reading.
Samuel Brister’s will-book image · Lucy Brister’s marriage-register entry · Ann’s family study
The North Carolina Guthries — Wills, Land & GuardianshipsFollowing William, Samuel, and the next generation without assuming the missing links.
The North Carolina William’s reported will is dated 18 April 1809 and names wife Mary Magdalene, sons William, Claiborne, and Beverly, and children of deceased son German. The full original will and probate endorsement are needed before choosing a precise death date. Roarke/Roark remains a reported maiden surname for Mary Magdalene.
Family research on German’s estate includes administration in November 1806 and successive guardianships for his children. A summary places grandfather William as guardian in May 1810. Those original papers must be reconciled with the 1809 will; a will-writing date or a transfer of guardianship is not automatically a death date.
William Jr.’s will-writing date of 14 April 1840 likewise should not become a probate or death date without the corresponding record. The children of William Jr. must remain separate from German’s children when comparing guardianships and later wills.
Samuel Guthrie’s proposed identification with Jane Kinningham’s husband requires a separate documentary connection. American Guthrie and Allied Families, p. 424, names an older John, rather than William, as husband of Frances Wilburn. That discrepancy needs explanation. North Carolina land and court associations supply leads, including a Chatham index entry dated 14 February 1798 involving Samuel Guthrie and William Rosser acting for Joseph Rosser; they do not establish the relationship alone.
Chatham will index · Chatham estate-file index · Chatham court and estate index, 1795–1799
William and Mary Magdalene’s family · Samuel’s family and competing evidence
Reference Sources & Further Reading
Repositories, Published Accounts & Comparative ResearchSources for following the family and checking earlier conclusions.
- The Parish Register of Christ Church, Middlesex County, Va., from 1653 to 1812 (1897) — the principal published parish transcription.
- Library of Virginia: Middlesex County microfilm guide — identifies the county’s surviving court, land, and probate volumes.
- William Lindsay Hopkins, Middlesex County, Virginia, 1673–1812: Wills and Inventories and Other Court Papers (1989) — an abstract collection to compare with the original records.
- Caswell estate-file index and Chatham estate-file index — locators for estate papers; an index year is not automatically a death year.
- Vivian S. Tuggle, The Tuggle Family of Virginia: Thomas Tuggle of Middlesex County, Virginia and His Descendants, 1630–1967 (1970) — compiled family history to compare with the Berry–Tuggle estate records.
- T. E. Campbell, Colonial Caroline: A History of Caroline County, Virginia (1954), and the Chowning compilations collected on Betty Guthrie’s page — leads into the Chowning family’s later history.
- American Guthrie and Allied Families, p. 424 — a published account relevant to the proposed Samuel–Jane Kinningham family, with an unresolved earlier-generation name discrepancy.
Compiled histories, indexes, and online trees help locate evidence. The original wording matters when a relationship, name, or date differs between accounts. Some linked record viewers may require an account or repository access.
Most Wanted Documents
A record naming relatives, a previous residence, or an inherited property could connect families that currently meet through DNA, locality, and associated names.
Documents That Could Connect the GenerationsThe specific questions still open in Branch F.
- The Middlesex-to-North Carolina connection. A deed, estate division, court entry, or family paper identifying Mary Magdalene’s husband with William and Frances’s son. Compare named relatives, former residences, and property interests rather than the given name alone.
- The older William’s parents. Contemporary evidence defining his relationship to John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett, or identifying another family. Honora Baskett’s parish-support records and estate or guardianship papers may help clarify the surrounding household network.
- Frances Wilbourn’s parentage and later life. Evidence for her birth family and for her life after William’s will of 2 April 1781. The proposed Thomas Wellborn–Arcadia Scarborough connection needs documentary support.
- The North Carolina William’s full will, probate, and related guardianships. Compare the 1809 will with the later references to grandfather William and the changing guardians of German’s children.
- The full marriage evidence for Margaret and Ann. Resolve Margaret’s 1762/1764 marriage-year conflict and Ann’s conflicting date references. For the Bristow–Brister family, add the original Nicholas Brister will and records linking the Middlesex and Southampton households.
- The original Griffin and Frances Tuggle wills. Compare E, p. 322, and H, p. 283, with the already examined inventories and sale papers. Clarify Anna/Anne Paschal’s relationship and follow the people named in the estate, including Jim.
- Rachel’s later life and John’s Gloucester family. Seek marriages, estate distributions, land transactions, or other records that identify Rachel after childhood and distinguish John from other men of his name. A daughter named in a will does not prove that John had no sons.
- Samuel’s Virginia-to-North Carolina identity. Find a record connecting William’s executor-son with Jane Kinningham’s husband and resolve the older John/William discrepancy in the published family account. Any military-service claim also needs a record identifying the correct man.
If you hold a family paper, source image, transcription, or precise archival reference, please share the record and its source with Guthrie Genealogy.
Every family holds a piece of the story
Help Build the Family Story
The story of William Guthrie, his first wife Lettice Burk, and his second wife Frances Wilbourn begins in the surviving records of Christ Church Parish, Middlesex County, Virginia. Parish entries, wills, and estate papers preserve parts of their family’s story; descendants may hold the letters, Bible entries, and other records that help connect the generations.
DNA and locality provide meaningful connections. The tested North Carolina line of William Guthrie and Mary Magdalene matches Guthrie Family Group 1A. The Middlesex family also shares Christ Church Parish with Branch B, the family of John Guthrie and Elizabeth Baskett. The remaining task is to document the precise relationships between these families, including the proposed link from William and Frances’s son to the North Carolina household.
What might your family add? A family Bible, old letter, deed, estate division, or carefully sourced family tree could help identify a parent, a married daughter, or a move from Virginia to North Carolina. Labeled photographs and stories from later generations are welcome, too.
Tell us how your family connects, and include the names, dates, places, and sources you have. Questions, corrections, and fresh discoveries are welcome. You can help build this family’s story with or without DNA results.
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