Happy Saint Patricks Day THE ADAM GUTHRIE STORY According to the book First Families of Tennessee, Adam Guthrie was born in Ireland. His birth date has been placed between 1740-1745. A study was done in the early 1930s about the descendants of Thomas Guthrie, one of Adams sons, by Penelope Johnson Allen of the Tennessee State Genealogical Records Department. Her articles, known as Leaves From the Family Tree, appeared weekly in the Chattanooga Times and gives the following information about the Guthrie family. The immigrant ancestor of the Guthrie family in East Tennessee (Adam Guthrie) came to America from Ireland in the latter half of the 18th century and found his way to Kentucky. It is also noted that, he (Adam Guthrie) was a direct descendant of Niall Mac Guthrie, who has been traced from King Fergus of Cannaught through Miles the son of Cobthatch to Gothfrith, The Lord of Brefney. From Gothfrith who was killed in 1161 A. D. it is thought that our line of the Guthrie name has been derived. The word Goth means straight and Frith means small, hence, the son of a straight, small man. Adam Guthrie came to America about 1765, possibly by way of Scotland, and made his way to what was old Augusta County, Virginia where a Scotch/Irish Colony was located. He later married Mary Anderson in Augusta County but according to court records he removed to Fincastle County, Virginia by 1773. Here, it is believed, some of his children were born. He is known to have explored with Colonel John Anderson and others in extreme upper East Tennessee in the 1770s. It is thought that Adam Guthrie left Virginia permanently as early as 1784 and records indicate that by 1787 he was established in the Southwest Territory (East Tennessee) where his name appears on a petition filed that same year to form a new state from North Carolina. This is noted in Volume 22 of the North Carolina State Records which indicates the State of Franklin petitioners. In 1793 Adam Guthrie received a land grant for 123 acres along the north bank of the French Broad River in old Greene County, North Carolina, what is now Sevier County, Tennessee. The land bordered that of Col. James Hubbard who was a noted Indian fighter in the area. It is known that the wives of Adam Guthrie (Mary Anderson) and James Hubbard (Elizabeth Anderson) were sisters. In 1796 Tennessee became the 16th state and Adam remained here until about 1809 when he removed to Cumberland County, Kentucky. Two of his sons, James and George, removed to Cumberland County prior to Adams departure. The family crossed the Cumberland Mountains and settled along Illwill Creek in the region of the Upper Cumberland River. All of Adams family owned farms in this area which is presently a part of Clinton County, Kentucky formed in 1834 and lies along the Kentucky/Tennessee state line. The family returned to Tennessee in 1834, pioneering to the Indian territory along the river in Southeast Tennessee where they permanently settled on large farms. Adam Guthrie remained in Cumberland County until his death in 1827 and at the time his will was recorded in 1825 had acquired a good deal of property in both Kentucky and Tennessee. He was a farmer and planter by way of occupation and a pioneer in the truest sense. His journey which began with the dangerous voyage to America in the 18th century and ended across the Appalachian and Cumberland Mountains during the frontier period is a feat worth taking note of. Also of note is the fact that Adam Guthrie was in Tennessee, with family, less than twenty years after William Bean who is noted as being the first white settler to permanently live and begin farming in extreme East Tennessee along the Watauga River. ~He was my fourth great grandfather and was one of the First Families of Tennessee.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 02:49:47 +0000
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