D: John Guthery & Lydia Baldwin
Guthrie Family Group 2A · Branch D · Family Hub
John Guthery & Lydia Baldwin
Lydia’s Bottom on the Monongahela · The Scioto Valley of Ohio
John Guthery and Lydia Baldwin raised a family of eight sons and four daughters beside the Monongahela River. In about 1797–1798, they moved west to the Scioto Valley, where their land, public service, and children’s families became part of the early history of Piketon.
Their story survives in family Bible entries, land and pension records, and the recollections of their youngest daughter, Lydia Guthery Peters. Y-DNA from descendants of their sons William and Aaron connects this paternal family with Guthrie Family Group 2A.
The Family at a Glance
John Guthery
14 April 1744 – 1 June 1823
- Birth & Origins
- 14 April 1744. Pennsylvania is the reported birthplace; his precise birthplace and parents have not been established.
- Marriage
- Lydia Baldwin, 13 March 1771.
- Residence
- The Monongahela country near Big Whiteley Creek, in present-day Greene County, Pennsylvania; later the Scioto Valley around Piketon, Ohio.
- Life & Service
- Landholder and Revolutionary soldier; later lieutenant colonel in the Washington County militia. Family and local histories associate him with the early development of Piketon.
- Death & Burial
- 1 June 1823, aged 79; buried at Mound Cemetery, Piketon, Pike County, Ohio.
Lydia Baldwin
16 February 1755 – 14 July 1816
- Birth & Origins
- 16 February 1755. Her daughter’s account reports Virginia; the precise locality remains uncertain.
- Parents
- Family histories identify Francis Baldwin and Charity as her parents. The earlier Baldwin pedigree remains incomplete.
- Marriage
- John Guthery, 13 March 1771, when Lydia was sixteen.
- Land & Family
- The application for the tract later called Lydia’s Bottom was entered in her name. John and Lydia were parents of twelve children.
- Death & Burial
- 14 July 1816; associated with Mound Cemetery, Piketon, Pike County, Ohio, in the family’s burial accounts.
The family Bible supplies the framework of births, marriage, and deaths. The children were born before the move to Ohio. Their youngest daughter’s later account names all twelve and reports that eleven made the journey west.
The Children of John & Lydia
Select a child’s name to explore that family.
| Child & Birth | Marriage | Family & Records |
|---|---|---|
| William Guthery Born 4 January 1772 |
Catherine Theobald | Received 103 acres from John and Lydia in 1806. Later family accounts place his death about 1829 in Illinois. |
| Archibald Guthery Born 20 January 1774 |
Reported wives: Rachel Hudson and Nancy Phillips | Moved from Ohio to Indiana. His death is estimated about 1831; the reported Black Hawk War connection remains unproved. |
| John Guthery Jr. Born 25 October 1776 |
Elinor “Ellen” Howard | Their family includes daughters Cynthia Ann, Drucilla, and Eliza. His land transactions must be distinguished from those of his father. |
| Francis Guthery Born 1 January 1778 |
Died in infancy | The Bible preserves his birth. He was the one child who did not accompany the family’s later move to Ohio. |
| George Guthery Born 26 March 1779 |
Sarah Howard | Moved to Illinois. Lydia Peters named their children Samuel, Baldwin, John, and Priscilla, while acknowledging that she knew little of their later family. |
| Elisabeth Guthery Born 26 January 1781 |
Jonathan Clark | Also recorded as Elizabeth. The Clarks moved west to Iowa; Jonathan appears among the grantees in John and Lydia’s 1806 land conveyances. |
| Priscilla Guthery Born 16 January 1783 |
William Collings | Remained in the Piketon area. Lydia Peters associated William with the construction of her father’s grist and sawmill on Big Beaver. |
| Aaron Guthery Born 31 December 1784 |
Nancy Howard | Served as Pike County sheriff and auditor. His death on 4 May 1825 was reported in a contemporary newspaper notice. |
| Rebecca Guthery Born 21 January 1786 |
James Daniels 21 May 1808, Ross County, Ohio |
Also recorded as Rebekah. The Bible records her death on 15 June 1819. Their children were Hiram and Eliza. |
| Moses Guthery Born 12 February 1787 |
Hannah Hastings | Shared the 1806 purchase of 96 acres with Joseph. He died after 30 August 1827 and by the June 1828 court term. |
| Joseph D. Guthery Born 29 March 1790 |
Hannah Dever | Moved from the Pike County area to Marion County, Ohio. His family includes the William, John Dever, and Isaac Frazier lines. |
| Lydia Guthery Born 17 October 1794 |
William D. Peters 16 December 1817, Pike County, Ohio |
The youngest child. Her account published in April 1872 preserves family history and memories of early Ohio life. She died 25 January 1875. |
Family Records & RelationshipsThe Bible, land conveyances, and Lydia Peters’s account.
A family recorded in several kinds of evidence
The Bible entries and Lydia Peters’s narrative identify the household. Ohio land and estate records connect the parents, children, spouses, and heirs. A name repeated in a later family history is weighed alongside these records.
Two generations named John
The 1806 deeds naming John Guthery and Lydia his wife belong to the parents. A separate 1815 conveyance explicitly names John Guthery Junr. Keeping the generations distinct prevents the father’s property history from becoming the son’s biography.
Places through time
Present-day Greene County locates the Pennsylvania home, but the county did not exist during the children’s earliest years. Likewise, the Ohio family’s 1806 deeds describe Ross County, before the creation of Pike County.
Historical Highlights
From Lydia’s Bottom to the Scioto Valley
The family’s Pennsylvania home began with land entered in Lydia Baldwin’s name. Her 1769 application led to the surveyed tract known as Lydia’s Bottom, beside the Monongahela near Big Whiteley Creek. The 1792 warrant expressly identifies her as the Lydia Baldwin who had married John Guthry and records payment by the couple.
Nearby tracts were associated with other women of the Baldwin family. Together they offer a way to study the family through its land and neighbors. The surviving record examined for Lydia’s tract does not, however, establish the later story that Francis Baldwin gave or financed the land.
John’s Revolutionary service and later militia responsibilities belonged to the years when the family was growing in the Monongahela country. Published histories associate their home with Guthery’s Fort. His lieutenant-colonel title is supported by a Washington County militia return dated 19 August 1793, after the Revolution.
In about 1797–1798, the family left Pennsylvania for Ohio. Lydia Peters described a journey down the Monongahela and Ohio rivers, followed by the movement of goods upstream on the Scioto by keelboat. Some members of the family traveled overland. These details preserve a journey made in stages, with different means of transport.
In Ohio, land clearing, farming, and a mill helped establish a new home. Lydia recalled that William Collings came in 1804 to build her father’s grist and sawmill on Big Beaver. He later married her sister Priscilla. The mill illustration draws on this family account; its appearance is an artistic interpretation.
The children’s lives extended the story into Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and other Ohio counties. Lydia remained close to the family’s Ohio beginnings. Her account, published in April 1872, brings together information learned from her parents and siblings with her own memories of childhood, schooling, and life along the Scioto.
The Family Timeline
Family records, land instruments, and later recollections trace the journey from the Monongahela to Ohio. Source notes distinguish recorded events from remembered family history.
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1744 & 1755Family beginnings
John & Lydia Are Born
The family Bible records John’s birth on 14 April 1744 and Lydia’s on 16 February 1755. Their exact birth localities and John’s parentage remain subjects for research.
Source: Family Bible; later family accounts.
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3 April 1769Monongahela country
Land Entered in Lydia’s Name
Application No. 541 was entered for Lydia Baldwin. The application describes 300 acres west of the Monongahela, adjoining the Windfall bottom.
Source: New Purchase application register; 1792 warrant recital.
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1 November 1770Lydia’s Bottom
The Tract Is Surveyed
The official warrantee map dates the survey to 1 November 1770 and records 321 acres and allowance. Application, survey, warrant to accept, and patent are separate steps.
Source: Pennsylvania State Archives warrantee map, Monongahela Township.
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13 March 1771Marriage
John Guthery & Lydia Baldwin
John and Lydia marry. The family Bible supplies the date; an exact marriage locality has not been established.
Source: Family Bible.
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1772–1794A growing household
Eight Sons & Four Daughters
William, born 4 January 1772, is the eldest; Lydia, born 17 October 1794, is the youngest. Francis dies in infancy.
Source: Family Bible; Lydia Guthery Peters’s account.
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Revolutionary eraPennsylvania
Military Service & the Home Community
John serves in the Pennsylvania line. A 1781 militia listing names Captain John Guthery of Greene Township. Published histories also associate him with the neighborhood refuge known as Guthery’s Fort.
Source: Pension papers; Pennsylvania militia records; published local histories.
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17–19 April 1792Washington County, Pennsylvania
Lydia’s Land Title Is Completed
The warrant to accept, dated 17 April, identifies John Guthry and Lydia his wife and their payment for the tract. The return is noted on 18 April; the compiled map records the patent on 19 April, P18–413.
Source: Original warrant and docket; official warrantee map.
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19 August 1793Washington County militia
Lieutenant Colonel John Guthery
A published return of elected officers names John Guthery as lieutenant colonel commanding the First Regiment. This is post-Revolutionary militia service.
Source: Pennsylvania Archives, Sixth Series, IV:256; Ninth Series, I, part 2:645.
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About 1797–1798Pennsylvania to Ohio
The Family Moves West
The later family account describes travel down the Monongahela and Ohio, then upstream movement of goods on the Scioto. Eleven children accompany the move according to Lydia Peters.
Source: Lydia Guthery Peters’s recollections, published April 1872.
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1804Big Beaver, Ohio
A Grist & Sawmill
Lydia Peters recalled William Collings coming to build her father’s mill. The account connects the mill with the later marriage of William and Priscilla.
Source: Lydia Guthery Peters’s account; date and work attributed to her recollection.
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21 October 1806Ross County, Ohio
Land Passes to the Next Generation
Deeds name John Guthery and Lydia his wife as grantors to Archibald, Aaron, William, Jonathan Clark, and Moses and Joseph jointly. William’s instrument specifies 103 acres; the joint Moses–Joseph conveyance specifies 96 acres.
Source: Recorded deeds, supplied Book 1 series, pp.90–92, 97 and 183.
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14 July 1816Pike County, Ohio
Lydia Baldwin Guthery Dies
The family Bible records Lydia’s death on 14 July 1816.
Source: Family Bible.
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13 October 1820Pension declaration
John Gives His Age as Seventy-Six
The original declaration is consistent with the Bible’s 1744 birth date.
Source: Original Revolutionary pension declaration.
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1 June 1823Piketon, Ohio
John Guthery Dies
John dies aged 79 and is buried at Mound Cemetery. The July court amendment and pension certificate dated 23 August are subsequent administrative events.
Source: Family Bible; pension file.
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April 1872Family recollections
Lydia Peters Preserves the Story
An account published in the Pike County Republican preserves the youngest daughter’s family history and memories. Surviving typed copies and later publications transmit that account.
Source: Later typed account; May history; WPA provenance material.
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1926–1929Mound Cemetery
Later Commemoration
A government headstone application dated 22 July 1926 records shipment on 8 February 1928. Separate correspondence in 1929 concerns a monument. These events belong to later remembrance of John.
Source: Headstone application and shipment notation; separate monument correspondence.
The children’s pages continue the story through their own marriages, households, land, and descendants.
Explore the Research
The family Bible, Pennsylvania land records, Ohio deeds and estates, and John’s pension papers provide the documentary foundation. Lydia Peters’s recollections add family knowledge and personal memories that can be compared with those records.
The Guthrie DNA Project
Five recorded Y-DNA participants descend through John and Lydia’s sons William and Aaron. Their results place this paternal family in GFG2A. Kit 128728, through William, Michael Ruhama, and Perry, has a recorded Big Y-700 result.
| Child’s Line | Y-DNA | Big-Y | Autosomal |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Guthery | 4 kits | 128728 · Big Y-700 | Represented |
| Archibald Guthery | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| John Guthery Jr. | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Francis Guthery | Not applicable | Not applicable | No descendant line |
| George Guthery | Not recorded | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Elisabeth Guthery | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not recorded |
| Priscilla Guthery | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not recorded |
| Aaron Guthery | 292715 · Y-DNA111 | Not recorded | Represented |
| Rebecca Guthery | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not recorded |
| Moses Guthery | Not recorded | Not recorded | Represented |
| Joseph D. Guthery | Not recorded | Not recorded | Represented |
| Lydia Guthery | Not applicable | Not applicable | Represented |
“Not recorded” means no representation identified in the reviewed project material. Y-DNA follows an unbroken father-to-son line; John’s daughters did not transmit his Y chromosome. Autosomal representation is tracked separately. Participation reflects the project records reviewed in October 2026.
Y-DNA & Big-Y Participants
| Kit | Descent from John & Lydia | Recorded Test | Big-Y |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128728 | William → Michael Ruhama → Perry | Big Y-700 | R-FTD49641 |
| 245752 | William → Michael Ruhama → Perry | Y-DNA111 | Not recorded |
| 292715 | Aaron → Alfred → William Franklin | Y-DNA111 | Not recorded |
| 425544 | William → John Sr. → John Jr. | Y-DNA37 | Not recorded |
| 902807 | William → John Sr. → Moses J. | Y-DNA37 | Not recorded |
What the results establish: these tested paternal lines belong to GFG2A. The terminal SNP R-FTD49641 belongs to kit 128728’s reported result; it is not assigned here directly to John Guthery or to a proposed earlier ancestor.
Comparing the Two Branch D LineagesShared GFG2A membership and distinct sampled lines.
The five sampled John-line kits have DYS458=18; the three sampled Archibald-line kits have DYS458=17. This distinction is useful for comparing the represented descendant lines, but it does not locate the change in a particular eighteenth-century man.
Kits 128728 and 245752 share DYS715=25 and descend through Perry Guthrie. Their shared result alone cannot establish whether that change began with Perry, Michael Ruhama, John, or another ancestor.
No Archibald-line Big-Y result is recorded in the reviewed overview. Additional Big-Y coverage in both families could clarify paternal branching. Documentary evidence would still be needed to identify a shared father or establish the proposed brotherhood.
Autosomal ParticipationConnections through sons and daughters.
Recorded autosomal lines include William, Aaron, Moses, Joseph, and Lydia. Examples include kit 288138 through Moses and Eliza Guthery Dutton, and kits B59698 and 351544 through Joseph’s son Isaac Frazier Guthery.
These associations identify research connections. An autosomal match at this generational distance does not by itself prove descent from John and Lydia or resolve the relationship between the two Branch D families.
Family Records & Open Questions
Origins & the Proposed Archibald Connection
The family is described as presumably Scot-Irish: Scottish ancestry with a connection to Ireland. The locality and duration of the Irish residence are unknown. This tradition does not establish John’s birthplace, immigration history, or parents.
Laurence R. Guthrie’s work provides an important framework for investigating an older Archibald as a possible ancestor. May attributes the proposed brotherhood of John and the younger Archibald to Howard Leckey and describes the argument as circumstantial. Naming patterns, neighborhood association, and military service remain useful leads rather than a completed pedigree.
Compare the Archibald Guthery and Rebecca Phillips Family Hub while keeping the two households and their records distinct.
Lydia’s Bottom & the Baldwin Family
The 1792 warrant links Lydia Baldwin directly to John Guthry as her husband. It records payment by the couple and does not name Francis Baldwin as a donor. The alleged gift or financing remains unproved.
The nearby tracts associated with Barsheba/Bathsheba Baldwin, Rebekah Jenkins, and Elizabeth Baldwin offer further leads. Their land histories and the missing generation in the older Baldwin pedigree are related avenues of research, but one does not automatically resolve the other.
Reading Lydia Peters’s Account
Lydia was the youngest of twelve children and was only a small child when the family left Pennsylvania. Her earlier family history came from her parents and older siblings; her Ohio recollections include experiences of her own.
The account is dated here to April 1872. The material examined includes later typed copies and published reproductions. WPA material compiled by Minnie A. Rietz records a source-custody statement involving C. C. Daily of Piketon and includes Rachel S. Thompson’s 1936 letter. It adds provenance without turning the typed copy into the original newspaper.
Reference Sources & Further Reading
Records & Published HistoriesSources for the family, land, service, and recollections.
- Family Bible of John and Lydia (Baldwin) Guthery: supplied page images of births, marriage, and deaths, compared with later transcriptions.
- Pennsylvania land records: New Purchase application No. 541; warrant to accept dated 17 April 1792 and docket return dated 18 April; Monongahela Township warrantee map, showing patent reference P18–413.
- John Guthery’s Revolutionary pension file: original declaration dated 13 October 1820, pension jacket, administrative papers, and later correspondence. Incoming genealogical inquiries require separate identity assessment.
- Pennsylvania Archives: Sixth Series, volume IV, page 256, the militia officers’ return dated 19 August 1793. Ninth Series, volume I, part 2, page 645 publishes the same underlying return.
- Ohio land and estate records: the 21 October 1806 conveyances; the explicit John Guthery Junr. deed of 19 June 1815; later family conveyances and estate administration.
- Lydia Guthery Peters’s account: attributed to the Pike County Republican, April 1872; later typed account and WPA Bio 385 provenance material, Wyoming State Archives.
- History of Lieutenant-Colonel John Guthery of Greene County, Pennsylvania, Mary Gray May, 1956.
- American Guthrie and Allied Families, Laurence R. Guthrie, 1933; Howard L. Leckey, The Tenmile Country and Its Pioneer Families. Their family reconstructions are compared with the underlying records.
- Pennsylvania Patriots and the Pennsylvania Archives Series Index for distinguishing similarly named soldiers.
- John and Lydia in the Guthrie Research Tree; Guthrie DNA Project records and the October 2026 comparison snapshot.
Most Wanted Documents
Help Extend the EvidenceNew family-held or archival material is welcome.
- Documents naming John Guthery’s parents or explicitly connecting him with Archibald Guthery’s family.
- Original Baldwin applications, assignments, receipts, deeds, or estate papers identifying the relationship behind the nearby riverfront tracts.
- Additional early family Bible provenance, letters, or original newspaper copies associated with Lydia Peters’s account.
- Pension arrears or settlement papers naming John’s surviving children and recipients.
These are opportunities for future discovery. The family history can be followed with the evidence already available.
Help Build the Family Story
John and Lydia’s family history reaches from a tract on the Monongahela to the farms, mills, and communities of the Scioto Valley. Their children carried it farther, while Bible entries, deeds, and remembered stories preserved connections to the first household.
Do you descend from one of their twelve children? A family Bible, letter, photograph, land record, or carefully documented lineage may help connect a later family to these beginnings. Contributions are welcome with or without DNA testing.
For men descended through an unbroken Guthery or Guthrie father-to-son line, Y-DNA can help test the paternal connection. Big-Y testing can add detail to the branches already represented in the project.
This is wonderful! I have Lydia Baldwin as my first cousin 9 times removed.
maryann.bumgarner@gmail.com
See History of Washington Co., Pennsylvania, Vol. 1, Part 1, ch 19, pg 103. A group under Colonel Lochry’s command went to what is now Dearborn Co., Indiana to kill Indians and give supplies to Geo. Lewis Clark. Lochry was killed in an ambush, Guthrie was taken prisoner, to Montreal by the British, then escaped.