Margaret Forrest

There is very little documentation to be found on Margaret Guthrie. Her parents, James & Elizabeth (MNU) Guthrie came from Ireland to Maryland during the 1760s. Margaret was born before 1775 in either Maryland or Orange County, North Carolina where the family moved prior to 1781.

The first indication of her marriage is found in the Nov 1800 will of her father, James Guthrie, who mentioned several grandsons who were his namesakes, including James Forrest.

Margaret, along with her other married sisters, Ann, Mary, and Martha, all received the sum of 10 shillings in their father's will, suggesting that they had already been given items or property as their dowry. The two unmarried sisters, Jean and Elizabeth, received furniture and household items, a horse, and two cows, to be given to them at the time of their marriages, and so they older sisters may have received the same.

There is also an Autobiographical Sketch of Thomas Hamilton, the husband of Elizabeth T Forrest, who noted that his mother-in-law, Margaret Guthrie Forrest was buried at the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church cemetery in Carroll County, TN.

The identity of Margaret's husband is unverified, possibly a John Forrest.

They married before 1792, probably in North Carolina.

Elizabeth T Forrest's birth is five as 25 Feb 1792 in NC, either in Caswell or Orange County. She married Thomas Hamilton in 1812 in Humphrey's County, TN.

James Forrest was born 15 Jan 1795 also in North Carolina.

Sometime between 1795 and 1812, Margaret Forrest and her family moved from NC to Humphrey's County, TN.

The only hint of where Margaret might be living in 1820 is the household of a John Forrest in Humphrey's county. His neighbor is John Madden, the husband of Margaret's sister Jean.

1F 45+
1F 26-44
1M 16-25
2M and 1F under 10

Did Margaret (Guthrie) Forrest have a 3rd child named John? If this is her, she disappears from the records.

One clue is found at the website for the Shiloh Cumberland Presbyterian Church & Cemetery in Carroll County, TN. It lists Elizabeth T (Forrest) Hamilton's parents as "Mr Forrest and Margaret (Guthrie) Doeewar". Does this mean that Margaret remarried?