4-A: Travis Guthrey
Guthrie Family Group 4 · Branch A · Child Page
Travis Guthrey & Anne
Anne’s proposed maiden name is Hill.
King William and Cumberland family tradition · Halifax County, Virginia
View in Guthrie Research Tree →When Travis consented to Fanny’s marriage in 1790, he called her “my Daughter.” Twelve years earlier, a Halifax deed named Anne as his wife. The family can also be followed across the county by its land. A white oak in Collins’s line marked one end of Travis’s Spider Creek purchase. Decades later, deeds along the same creek name the younger Guthreys who bought land from him.
The Family at a Glance
Travis Guthrey
- Birth and family
- About 1742 is a working estimate. The family tradition places his beginnings in King William County and his move to Halifax by way of Cumberland. He already held Halifax land in April 1773. Branch A places him in Thomas Guthrey’s family. His mother’s identity remains open.
- Death
- He was living in February 1815. The family study reports that William Jennings became administrator in 1818. His death is usually given as about 1818 in Halifax. His burial place is unknown.
Anne, wife of Travis
- Marriage
- When Travis sold the Bates Branch land on 18 June 1778, Anne relinquished dower. This gives her recorded forename and establishes the marriage by that date.
- Family tradition
- Laurence R. Guthrie reported a possible Hill marriage. The proposed parents are Thomas Hill and Bathshua Abney, with Dennett Hill a proposed grandfather. The full name Mary Anne Hill, the birth date 25 July 1730 and a marriage about 1759 still need supporting records.
- Later life
- Her date of death and burial place are unknown.
Children associated with Travis’s household
These eleven entries preserve the Branch A reconstruction. Fanny’s father named her himself. Polly, Sally and the younger Thomas have distinct parentage questions. Most birth years are estimates, and Anne’s maternity is undocumented for individual children.
| Child | Birth | Marriage & Later Life |
|---|---|---|
| Frances “Fanny” Guthrey | About 1765–75, estimated | Travis consented on 25 October 1790 to her marriage to Thomas Milner. Nipper Adams stood bond. |
| Polly Guthrey | About 1770, estimated | The Halifax entry for Absalom Lane and Polly is dated 20 January 1795. Its index names her father as Thomas Guttrey. Her placement here is open. |
| William T. Guthrey | Birth year uncertain | Married Nancy Davis in Halifax on 5 January 1805. His will, signed on 31 August 1819, names Nancy and provides for their children without naming them. |
| John Guthrey | Birth year uncertain | A descendant reported that John died at twenty-one following measles. The years assigned to him are estimates. |
| Samuel Guthrey | Birth year uncertain | Bought land from Travis in 1815. His son Beverly’s record names Sam and Betsy. Samuel’s estate sale was recorded on 16 January 1844. |
| Sally Guthrey | About 1776, estimated | The Halifax marriage entry for Salley Guthrey and Frederick Clay is dated 18 December 1801. Her parents still need to be identified. |
| Thomas Guthrey | Birth year uncertain | Married Mary “Polly” Baskerville in Cumberland in December 1793. Provisionally placed here. William Guthrey and Rebecca Noel are also proposed as his parents. |
| Elizabeth “Betsey” Guthrey | 6 February 1779, gravestone | The 1795 Halifax marriage index identifies Travis as her father. Her Tennessee gravestone names her husband Brackett Owen and gives her death as January 1865. |
| James Guthrey | About 1783, estimated | Married Mary “Polly” Hubbard on 4 June 1810. A Halifax farmer, he acquired land from Travis in 1815. Records differ on the date of his death. |
| Dennett Hill Guthrey | 4 February 1784 or 1785, reported | Married Sarah “Sally” Smallman Hart on 23 August 1821 in Halifax. The family reports that he farmed there and died in April 1861. |
| Elijah Guthrey | About 1791, estimated | Bought land from Travis in 1815. The Halifax marriage to Gartney Vaughan is dated 7 February 1822. She headed the household in 1860. |
The next generation in Halifax and Tennessee
William and Nancy. The family reconstruction names John H., Jane T., Elizabeth M., Mary D. and William C. The brothers married sisters Mourning Rebecca Crews and Margaret P. Crews, daughters of Richard Crews and Sarah Guthrey. The two couples give their descendants more than one Guthrey line to follow. The widow Nancy Davis was enumerated in August 1860. The April death entry for a Nancy with Blackwell parents belongs to a different woman.
Samuel. Beverly B. Guthrie married Martha Guthrie and later Emaline Clay. An 1855 marriage entry for Martha C. Guthrey and Alexander Robert Hailey names her parents as Samuel and Elizabeth. Frances, Albert, Rebecca and Sabrina also appear in this neighborhood. Their households are leads to kinship. Each relationship still needs its own record.
Elizabeth and Brackett Owen. The family account includes Armistead Lewis, Nancy Tucker, Temperance Haley, Mary Jane Compton, Staples, Frances Bayliss, Caroline T. Shaw, Sarah “Sallie” and Permelia Wyatt. Compare the daughters’ Halifax marriages with the Tennessee gravestones. The inscriptions for Staples and Sallie identify their parents as B. and E. Owen.
James and Polly. Their family includes Wesley Hill, David Hill, Chastain Coleman, Joseph Holmes, Susan Ann Cardwell and Elizabeth Elder. A daughter Mary is proposed. Laurence called Wesley and David twins. Their separate birth records would help settle the year.
Dennett and Elijah. Dennett’s family includes Elijah Thomas, Christopher Connell, James Travis, Eppa Dennett, Catherine Elizabeth and Nancy Hill. Elijah and Gartney’s family includes Nicholas, Elijah T., Robert H., Paul W. and Ellis. William Watson Guthrie, who married Martha Elizabeth Sparrow, appears in both reconstructions. His parents remain open.
Guthrie DNA Project Participation
| Child line | Y-DNA | Big Y | Autosomal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fanny Milner | N/A | N/A | — |
| Polly Lane, proposed | N/A | N/A | — |
| William T. | 1023845 | — | — |
| John | — | — | — |
| Samuel | — | — | — |
| Sally Clay, proposed | N/A | N/A | — |
| Thomas & Mary Baskerville, provisional | — | — | — |
| Betsey Owen | N/A | N/A | — |
| James | 146235 | — | ✓ |
| Dennett Hill | — | — | ✓ |
| Elijah | — | — | — |
November 2026 review. ✓ marks a represented autosomal line. A dash indicates no assigned result in this review. N/A marks a Guthrey paternal-line test through a daughter as inapplicable.
Historical Highlights
Travis sold his Bates Branch acreage to Joseph Mullins for £47. Anne’s relinquishment of dower gives her a place in the record at the moment the couple gave up the land. The following day Travis bought about 130 acres on the branches of Childres Creek.
On Spider Creek, neighbors help identify the tracts. William Dean’s deed followed a boundary shared with Joseph Collins. In the next generation, James Guthrey’s corner appeared in Samuel’s deed, and the edge of Samuel’s estate appeared in a sale to Martha A. Guthrey in 1850.
Family Timeline
- 1773An April deed identifies Travis as an adjoining owner. On 15 September he bought about 200 acres on Bates Branch from William Hill for £18.
- 1778–79Anne relinquished dower in the sale to Joseph Mullins. Travis bought land from John Chisum and then from William Dean. Dean’s deed begins at a white oak in Collins’s line.
- 1790Travis gave written consent for Fanny to marry Thomas Milner on 25 October.
- 1792Joseph Collier of Edgefield, South Carolina, sold Travis about 440 acres bounded by Spider Creek for £150.
- 1799–1803A published abstract places a Thomas Guthrey on 136 acres. A separate deed conveyed 50 acres to Brackett Owen. A Jennings deed subsequently named Travis’s boundary.
- 1815On 20 February Travis made conveyances to younger Guthreys. Samuel’s tract crossed Brookes Road and ran to James Guthrey’s corner.
- 1818–25William Jennings reportedly took administration of Travis’s estate in 1818. The later Lane chancery case identifies Travis’s administrator as a defendant.
Spider Creek · four transactions with different parties
12 April 1799. Laurence abstracted Travis’s sale of 136 acres for £50 to Thomas Guthrey, then living on the tract. The recorded deed has yet to be located. The abstract leaves the buyer’s relationship to Travis unstated. American Guthrie and Allied Families, Appendix, p. 689, note 57
14 April 1801. Travis conveyed 50 acres to Brackett Owen for £16. The description starts at a pine in Paddy’s former line. The acknowledgment follows on 22 June. The citation is Halifax Deed Book 18, pp. 594–595.
20 August 1803. William Jennings Sr. conveyed 200 acres to William Jennings Jr. The boundary begins where Spider Creek meets Travis’s line.
23 May 1850. Robert Jennings and his wife sold Martha A. Guthrey about 120 acres adjoining Samuel Guthrey’s estate. The Baskerville family had a Martha A., and Samuel and Elizabeth had a daughter recorded as Martha C. at marriage. A later conveyance by the purchaser or her heirs could identify her. Halifax land records and deed indexes
The 1815 deeds · what the clerk recorded
The recorded copy of Travis’s sale to Samuel gives 110 acres and a price of £110 in Virginia currency. William, James and Dennett witnessed the deed. It was proved on 27 February. On the next opening, Elijah’s deed starts immediately below Samuel’s endorsement. Both entries identify the parties as Halifax residents. Neither calls the buyer a son.
The same series includes conveyances to James and Dennett. Compare the four descriptions before assigning a later parcel to one man’s heirs. Halifax Deed Book 25, film 008359369. Opening with the Samuel deed, pp. 204–205 · Samuel’s endorsement and Elijah’s deed, pp. 206–207
Explore the Research
DNA & the Family Line
Two paternal lines represent Travis in GFG4. Kit 1023845 descends through William T. Guthrey and kit 146235 through James and his son David Hill. The reviewed project lists autosomal representation through James and Dennett. The Y-DNA distinguishes this tested paternal family from GFG1 and GFG5. Anne’s ancestry and the identity of the younger Thomas each require documentary evidence. Branch A DNA overview
Thomas and Mary Baskerville · placement within GFG4
Richard Baskerville’s consent for Mary is dated 4 December 1793. The published Cumberland bond entry for Polly Baskerville and Thomas Guthrey is dated 6 December and names Thomas and William Guthrey as sureties. In his 1935 letter to Joseph A. Guthrie, Laurence corrected his earlier assignment of the marriage to the elder Thomas.
The Spider Creek sale makes Travis a plausible father of the groom. A family letter instead places the groom with William Guthrey and Rebecca Noel. The surety’s name and the buyer’s residence leave both possibilities open. Patrick Hoggard’s research places the Thomas who married Catherine Cox in Henry and Patience’s family. The previously submitted pedigree for kit 232860 connects those two Thomas identities. The reported GFG4 match is preserved, with the Baskerville placement pending a corrected descent.
Halifax case 1837-019 identifies Mary as the widow of the younger Thomas. The family reconstruction names Travis C., Mary K., Richard B., Martha A., Edwin H., John B., William H. and Thomas I. Guthrey. Edmund Guthrey, Frances C. Guthrey and John S. Jennings also appear among the parties. The index lists Peggy, an enslaved woman. The pleadings and exhibits are needed to establish each person’s role. Guthrey v. Guthrey, 1837-019 · Baskerville family chart · Hoggard, Appendix 7 · Joseph A. Guthrie, pp. 30–31
Family names and conflicting identifications
Travis and Francis. Joseph transcribed the elder Thomas’s will with a gift to a son Francis and suggested that Travis was intended. The bequest names Bob, an enslaved man. The editorial suggestion supplies neither a recorded second name for Travis nor independent proof that the two names identify one person. Thomas’s will and Joseph’s note, pp. 24–25
Samuel’s wife. Laurence called her Betty Barrows. A Campbell marriage names Samuel Guthrie and Jane Buress on 16 December 1816. Beverly’s death record names Betsy, and Martha’s marriage names Elizabeth. The original Campbell papers and a record linking that couple to Halifax would help establish the wife’s surname.
James, Dennett and Elijah. James’s reported November 1850 death needs comparison with the earlier period covered by the mortality schedule. Dennett’s reported birth years differ by one, and his April death day appears as both 13 and 18. Laurence assigned a marriage to Polly Woolsey to Elijah. Compare the 1819 Woolsey record with the 1822 Vaughan marriage before joining them in one household.
Reading & Sources
Halifax deeds, marriages and estate papers
Land. Deed Book 9, pp. 39 and 172, and Book 10, pp. 295 and 398 place Travis in the neighborhood. Book 11, pp. 53 and 72 records the Mullins and Chisum transactions. Book 11, pp. 336–337 records Dean’s deed of 8 September 1779, entered on 16 September. Book 12, p. 213 names Travis as a neighbor. Book 15, p. 318 records Collier’s 1792 sale. Read the 1779 Dean deed · Halifax County microfilm inventory
Marriage papers. Halifax Book 1, p. 19 preserves the Milner bond and Fanny’s consent, dated 25 October 1790. Page 31 is the Owen entry of 26 October 1795. Its index also puts Travis in the groom field. Elizabeth’s gravestone and the deed to Brackett help resolve that error. Page 46 is the Clay entry and p. 59 the Davis entry.
Probate. William’s will is in Halifax Will Book 12, p. 588. Distinguish his signing date from the October and November court proofs below it. Samuel’s sale account was recorded on 16 January 1844 and his estate account on 16 January 1846. Jesse E. Adams administered his estate. The 1825 case concerns Travis’s estate. The 1837 case concerns the Baskerville husband’s estate. Lane v. administrator of Travis Guthrie, 1825-017 · Guthrey estate suit, 1837-019 · Virginia chancery index
Published family accounts and the Guthrie–Coleman Bible
Laurence R. Guthrie’s American Guthrie and Allied Families preserves a descendant’s list of sons and the important Spider Creek abstracts. Read it alongside Joseph A. Guthrie’s Early Virginia Guthries and Their Kentucky Descendants, especially his account of Laurence’s Baskerville correction. Laurence, p. 37 · Laurence, Travis family, pp. 50–53 · Searchable edition · Joseph’s 1946 study
The Guthrie–Coleman Bible collection is a lead for the alternative William and Rebecca Noel pedigree. The Library of Virginia lists five photocopied leaves with a typed transcript, associated with William Guthrie, born 1751, of Buckingham County. The entry includes the names Guthrey, Noel, Noell and White. Accession 53597. Library of Virginia collection notice
Most Wanted Documents
- The 1799 Travis-to-Thomas deed and the next transfer of the 136 acres. The Spider Creek search located two other entries. The indexes are access-restricted. The grantor E–G index is on reel 31, the grantee E–K index on reel 34, and Book 18 on reel 8. Search the surname variants and later recording years.
- All papers in Halifax 1825-017. The case cover and index identify William C. Lane and others against Travis’s administrator. The bill and answers may name heirs or explain the Lane connection. Compare Polly’s original 1795 marriage papers, where the index names Thomas as her father.
- Anne’s Hill connection. Seek a Hill estate, marriage settlement or deed naming Anne and her family. William Hill’s sale to Travis and the recurring name Hill offer leads.
- Samuel’s neighborhood and William Watson’s parents. Follow Martha’s 120 acres into a later deed. For William Watson, compare his marriage and death records with both the Dennett and Elijah estate files.
Continue the Family’s Story
Fanny’s marriage consent preserves a father’s own words. A deed kept by an Owen, Milner, Lane or Guthrey descendant could do the same for another relationship. A photograph of either side is welcome, especially if the back carries a witness’s name, a recording date or an endorsement.
Researched & Curated by Ann Guthrie