John Guthrie, an immigrant to Middlesex County, Virginia, is not always easily distinguishable from other men of the same name who were in the area of Tidewater Virginia at about the same time. There was also John Guthrie, likely from England, who settled at King's Creek (later called Guthries Creek) in what became King and Queen County, Virginia. Additionally, there was John Guthrie, the captain of the Ewe & Lamb, a merchant vessel that often brought indentured servants and was licensed to carry convicted criminals sentenced to be transported to the Americas. The latter was an intermittent presence in the records of the Virginia Colony. Nevertheless, they are 3 distinct individuals.
This John Guthrie, whose birth date nor age has ever been documented in the records of Middlesex County, VA, died there in 1706. He was a planter and surveyor, not a ship captain. His parentage is also undocumented.
The lineages of the Middlesex, King & Queen, and Cumberland VA Guthrie families have become very entangled by genealogists over the years. It is only now through Y-DNA testing of Guthrie men that we are slowly being able to determine which of these lines is actually related. There has also been a tendency to try to fit all of these early Virginia families under one 'roof' so to speak when they don't belong together, or to make connections to earlier generations without any evidence.
Direct male descendants of John Guthrie and Elizabeth Basket match the genetic profile of Guthrie Family Group 1A, which is the same genetic group found in the Guthries of Craigie, and the Guthries of Snow Hill, MD. There are a few others. See GFG1A details at https://guthrie-genealogy.com/guthrie-family-groups/gfg1a/
This man does not have a middle name "Montrose". No such documentation exists in the records of Middlesex, VA. There are indeed Guthries in Montrose, Scotland, but none know to be directly associated with this man nor to the genetic lineage currently proven as related. The same goes for the couple James Guthrie and Elizabeth Ochtersorny, whom some people have randomly selected as parents for this man from Middlesex, VA. They are also not associated with Montrose. There are many infants by the name John Guthrie listed in the Old Parish Records within a reasonable time period that could potentially be this person to take a random stab at a set of parents. Further evidence is required.
We can estimate the birth year range for John Guthrie. The earliest document in the records of Middlesex, VA that can be proven to be this man's is the notation of his marriage: "John Guthry & Elizth Basket both of this parish was marryed 6th ffeb. 1686." Also mentions "John Guttery of Scotland".
Let's guess that John Guthrie was an adult of 21 years of age upon his marriage. His birth year would have been 1665.
If he was a more seasoned immigrant and late to the marriage mart, he may have been 40. His birth year would have been 1646.
That gives us a reasonable age range of 21-40 and a birth year estimate of 1646 - 1665
The Old Parish Records of Scotland list numerous infants with recorded birth/baptismal records for that date range. It cannot be certain that his birth occurred in Angus (Forfarshire) because we have no other data to prove that, but GFG1 does include Guthries who lived in Angus. Filtering the list to just Angus results in a shorter list of 10 for closer research, but John Guthrie could potentially have been born anywhere in Scotland.
Possible Parents (OPR Birth Records):
1) Johne Guthrie son of James Guthrie on 27 Apr 1650 in Dundee
2) Johne Guthrie son of Alexander Guthrie on 1 Jun 1651 in Dundee
3) Jon Guthrie son of David Guthrie on 27 Mar 1654 in Arbroath
4) Jhone Guthrie son of James Guthrie on 21 Aug 1654 in Arbirlot
5) Jhone Guthrie son of David Guthrie/Jean Arnot on 30 Jun 1659 in Arbroath
6) John Guthrie son of James Guthrie/Cirst. Soutar on 8 Apr 1660 in Kettins
7) Jhon Guthrie son of James Guthrie/Elizabeth Ouchterlony on 9 Aug 1661 in Arbroath
8) John Guthrie son of David Guthrie on 21 Feb 1662 in Dun
9) Johne Guthrie son of Patrik Guthrie/Elspeth Gibb on 26 Jul 1663 in Kinell
10) Jhone Guthrie son of Jhone Guthrie on 9 Apr 1664 in Arbirlot
Note that James Guthrie and Elizabeth Ouchterlony are on the list of potential parents. They're in Arbroath, not Montrose. Again, one set of potentials rather than actuals.
Currently Y-DNA Testing has proven the lineage of Guthrie Family Group 1A back to James Guthrie and Christian Scott. Genetic distance calculations suggest that the Middlesex line's most recent common ancestor would be found diverging from a branch a little further back on the historical Guthrie Family Tree.
