GFG13
Guthrie Genealogy
Guthrie Family Group 13
Ulster · New York · The Carolinas · Tennessee · Georgia · Alabama
An Irish family tradition. Three American branches. Close Y-DNA matches bring these Guthrie families together—and give us new places to look for their missing generations.
Open the GFG13 Research Tree →Origin Theories
Family traditions, local records, and DNA comparisons each suggest a direction to explore. These theories remain open to evidence that supports, changes, or rules them out.
Family tradition · Scotland to Ulster
The Covenanter and Antrim Connection
The James Guthrie–Jane Smith family preserved a tradition of Scottish Covenanter ancestors who moved to Ireland during religious persecution in the late seventeenth century. Some reportedly returned to Scotland; this branch remained in Ireland.
American Guthrie and Allied Families associates James with Ballymena, County Antrim. That makes Antrim a useful research lead for GFG13, while the earlier Scottish family remains unidentified.
Help investigate: look for named relatives, congregations, parish records, and correspondence connecting the New York family with a particular Irish or Scottish household.
Ballymena or Rathfriland?
Accounts of James’s sons also mention Rathfriland, which is in County Down. The underlying correspondence expresses uncertainty about that location.
Keep both leads available for investigation. Neither the family tradition nor the broad haplogroup settles the precise parish where the common ancestor lived.
Branches B & C · A possible closer connection
Does Edwin Belong Within Robert’s Family?
Robert’s family lived in the Abbeville area of South Carolina, and Edwin’s census records consistently name South Carolina as his birthplace. Their tested descendants match exactly at 37 markers.
Earlier autosomal research also reports Norwood matches among descendants of these branches. Together, these clues support investigating whether Edwin descended from Robert and Jane, or whether their lines meet through an earlier relative.
Help investigate: find a record naming Edwin’s parents or placing him among Robert’s extended family. The Y-DNA match does not establish a particular parent–child relationship, and autosomal connections may follow other family lines.
Robert’s parents · An Abbeville lead
Was There an Earlier Robert Guthrie?
A Robert Guthrie household appears in the 1790 Abbeville census. The Robert who later lived in Giles County was born in 1773 and would have been about seventeen.
Could the household belong to an older Robert, perhaps his father? Or could the younger Robert already have been listed as its head? The census does not identify the relationships.
Help investigate: compare deeds, tax lists, probate, and neighboring households in North Carolina and South Carolina before attaching a set of parents.
Other surname matches · A wider paternal history
What Might the Other Surnames Tell Us?
The match lists include Jackson, Gillespie, Diamond, McNicoll, Malone, and other surnames. Some connections may reflect older shared ancestry; others could eventually lead to a surname change, adoption, or undocumented parentage event.
The results do not yet identify an original surname, a particular event, or where it happened. A change in Ireland remains a possibility to investigate.
Help investigate: compare the closest matches’ documented paternal lines and higher-level results. Look for shared places and records before choosing an explanation.
Most Wanted Documents
- James and Jane in Ireland: a marriage, baptism, church record, or family paper identifying their parents and home parish.
- The unnamed emigrant brother: correspondence or records identifying the brother said to have accompanied James to America.
- Robert’s early family: records distinguishing the Abbeville Robert households and connecting the North Carolina-born man to his parents.
- Edwin’s parents: a will, deed, guardianship, marriage, or other record explicitly connecting him with an earlier Guthrie household.
- The Norwood relationship: original family correspondence and probate evidence identifying which Guthrie husband belongs with Capt. John Norwood’s daughter Jean.
- Edwin’s 1867 loyalty oath: the original document behind the reported Buncombe County, North Carolina birthplace. That detail is absent from the voter-register image described in the branch study.
Have a record or a family story with a source to follow? Share it with Ann →
Explore the Branches
Each branch has its own records, migrations, and family questions. Choose a familiar ancestor—or follow a new trail.
Branch A · Guthrie–Smith
James Guthrie & Jane Smith
Ulster, Ireland → Saratoga & Livingston Counties, New York
James was born in Ireland in the 1760s. The branch research places his household in Galway, Saratoga County, in 1810; the family later became established around York in Livingston County.
The published family history and surviving correspondence preserve differing accounts of the family’s arrival. The Irish parish and the identity of an emigrant brother remain promising questions.
Current Y-DNA line: kit 273618, through James Jr. and Dorothy Burrell, then their son Cuthbert.
Explore James & Jane’s family →
Open the children’s names
- Robert John Guthrie
- James Guthrie Jr.
- Jane Guthrie
- Mary Guthrie
- Margaret Guthrie
- Eliza Ann Guthrie
- Martha Guthrie — details remain limited.
Branch B · Guthrie–Norwood
Robert Guthrie & Jane Norwood
North Carolina → Abbeville, South Carolina → Giles County, Tennessee
Robert was born in 1773 and died in Giles County in 1856. His 1850 census entry gives North Carolina as his birthplace, but his parents remain unidentified.
The family’s Norwood connection draws on Bible information, correspondence, and probate research. Separating this family from unrelated Guthries in the same locations is an important part of the investigation.
Current Y-DNA representative: kit 128463, the group’s only Y67 participant.
Explore Robert & Jane’s family →
Open the children’s names
- John Guthrie
- Francis Guthrie
- Samuel Guthrie
- Robert Guthrie
- Theophilus Guthrie
- Cynthia Amanda Guthrie
- Andrew Guthrie
- Jane Caroline Guthrie
Branch C · Guthrie–Cagle
Edwin Guthrie & Mary Elizabeth Cagle
South Carolina → Hall County, Georgia → Winston County, Alabama
Edwin was born about 1808 and married Mary Elizabeth Cagle about 1834. Their family appears in Hall County, Georgia, in 1850 and Winston County, Alabama, by 1860.
Three federal censuses name South Carolina as Edwin’s birthplace. A reported Buncombe County, North Carolina connection remains a lead to check against the original loyalty oath.
Current Y-DNA line: kit 515716, through Robert Lepezant Guthrie and Laura Waynick.
Explore Edwin & Mary Elizabeth’s family →
Open the children’s names
- Robert Lepezant Guthrie
- E. / Milla Guthrie
- Sarah J. Guthrie
- William Edmond Guthrie
- Charles B. Guthrie
- Idella Elizabeth Guthrie
- John D. C. Guthrie
More cousins · More evidence
Your Branch Could Add the Next Clue
Each family currently has just one Y-DNA representative. More participants could show which marker differences belong to whole branches and which arose in more recent generations.
Descendants in Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere are welcome to compare their family histories. If you are unsure where your line belongs, begin with your earliest proven ancestor.
You can help by testing, encouraging a suitable male-line relative, sharing records, or introducing another cousin to the project.
DNA Findings & Testing Priorities
Three Y-DNA participants: two Y37 tests and one Y67 test. All three can currently be compared at 37 markers. None has completed Big-Y testing.
A Close Match Across All Three Branches
The Branch B and C representatives match 37 for 37. Branch A is two steps from each at that same level. This supports studying these Guthrie lines together while their exact relationships remain unresolved.
The B/C match makes a closer connection worth investigating, but it does not establish that Edwin descended from Robert or tell us how many generations separate their lines.
| Branch | Kit / test | Represented family |
|---|---|---|
| A | 273618 Y37 |
James Guthrie & Jane Smith |
| B | 128463 Y67 |
Robert Guthrie & Jane Norwood |
| C | 515716 Y37 |
Edwin Guthrie & Mary Elizabeth Cagle |
| Branches | Kits compared | Genetic distance |
|---|---|---|
| B & C | 128463 & 515716 | 0 · Exact match |
| A & B | 273618 & 128463 | 2 steps |
| A & C | 273618 & 515716 | 2 steps |
Reviewed 1 October 2026. A participant’s highest test level is different from the level available for comparison with another participant.
Open the two marker differences
- DYS458: Branch A’s tester has 17; the Branch B and C testers have 16.
- DYS447: Branch A’s tester has 25; the Branch B and C testers have 26.
These are the two differences visible in the current 37-marker comparison. Additional testers are needed to learn whether the values consistently follow each branch or arose closer to the present participants.
A majority value among three men does not tell us which value their shared ancestor carried. These differences also do not justify assigning a fixed birth date or generation count to that ancestor.
The Y67 comparison · Leads beyond Guthrie
Jackson and Gillespie Lead the List
Kit 128463’s Y67 match list begins with a Jackson match at two steps, followed by two Gillespie matches at three steps.
Those are useful starting points for comparing documented paternal families. The two Gillespie matches have Big-Y results and are listed at I-A17510, offering a possible future comparison if a Guthrie participant takes Big Y.
That haplogroup belongs to those matches. It has not been established for GFG13.
The current haplogroup · More detail needed
What Does I-M223 Tell Us?
All three project kits currently display I-M223 in red, indicating a haplogroup predicted from their STR results. This is a broad paternal branch rather than a recent Guthrie family identifier.
It does not establish Viking ancestry, a particular ethnic identity, or a specific Irish parish. The close STR matches and documented family histories are the useful starting points here.
Big-Y testing could identify more specific branches and help investigate how these Guthrie lines relate to each other and to selected matches with other surnames.
Why the three match lists look different
The supplied lists for kits 273618 and 515716 compare matches at 37 markers. Kit 128463’s supplied list compares at 67 markers, where the two Y37 Guthrie participants cannot yet appear.
The “Markers Tested” column records the other person’s test level. A Big-Y tester can appear in a Y37 or Y67 STR comparison without either participant being a confirmed Big-Y match to the other.
Read genetic distance together with the comparison level. Match totals and surname frequencies from different levels should not be treated as directly equivalent.
More Participants Can Help Answer the Next Question
- Branch A: a male-line descendant of Robert John Guthrie would provide a useful comparison with the existing line through his brother James Jr.
- Branch B: additional descendants through independently documented male lines could help establish Robert and Jane’s family pattern.
- Branch C: male-line descendants through sons other than Robert Lepezant would broaden the comparison within Edwin’s family.
- Untested Guthrie families: participants with Irish, Scottish, or American roots may supply a new branch and an earlier connection.
- Existing participants: higher-marker comparisons and a planned Big-Y comparison across branches could help distinguish their shared and separate histories.
Share the tester’s Guthrie line, with dates, spouses, and sources where available. If part of the ancestry is uncertain, include what is known and where the questions begin.
Contact Ann to discuss a test suited to your research question and budget. Big Y would be valuable, but it does not need to be every new participant’s first test.
Choosing a DNA Test · Joining the Project · Group Funding & Sponsorship
Related Research
Names and relationships to check in your tree
Jane Norwood: retain Jane, also found as Jean. The added name “Mary” is not supported by the original notes discussed in the family research.
Robert’s proposed parents: do not attach him to Thomas Guthrie and Jean Duncan of GFG9. That is a different paternal group, and the proposed relationship lacks documentary support.
Edwin and Mary Elizabeth: keep their family separate from Thomas Guthrie and Elizabeth Cape of GFG2E. The names and family data have been combined in some trees; “Thomas Edwin” is not an established name for this Edwin.
The Norwood will: naming a daughter Jean Guthrie without naming her husband does not, by itself, resolve which Guthrie household she belonged to.
Letters Behind the Family History
Explore the Lawrence R. Guthrie correspondence and notes cited in the James Guthrie–Jane Smith branch research.
Open the FamilySearch collection →The Guthrie–Norwood Question
Follow the evidence behind the proposed marriage connections and keep the GFG13 and GFG9 families distinct.
Explore the Norwood case →Edwin, Thomas, Cagle & Cape
See how names and records from different families became combined, and compare the identities that should remain separate.
Explore Edwin’s case →Thomas Yoner Guthrie
A related research question considers possible Abbeville connections. His proposed GFG13 placement still needs supporting evidence.
Follow the unresolved lineage →