Guthridge

GUTHRIDGE SELLMAN

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 8/27/2010 at 22:32:12

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Guthridge
By Margie Guthridge

Isaac Guthridge was born in Brown County, Ohio, February 17, 1827. He was reared and educated in Illinois. He married Sarah Sellman, March 29, 1857. They moved to Woodbury County, Iowa, taking up a homestead in the NE Quarter of Section three, Union Township. They had four children: Revillo Krum Guthridge, born May 22, 1869; Hannah Ann Guthridge, born January 21, 1864; James Benjamin Guthridge, born September 23, 1867; and John Isaac Guthridge, born July 30, 1870.

Lawrence G Harding was born on December 17, 1833, at Mansfield, Ohio, and died on May 26, 1919, near Griswold, Iowa. In 1834 he and his parents moved to La Porte, Indiana, and came to Benton County, Iowa in 1853. He drove a stagecoach in that area before the Civil War.

Lawrence was a veteran of the Civil War and served three years. He enlisted in Company D, 28th Iowa Volunteer Infantry on August 8, 1862. He was in the battles of Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and Lookout Mountain, and was taken prisoner at Sabine Crossroads in Louisiana on April 8, 1864. He was confined to Libby Prison in Tyler, Texas, for four months. In prison, the men fought over dead animals to eat and he ate the leather of his boot tops. He carved a comb from a bone in prison; it is still in perfect condition. They walked the prisoners down the streets of New Orleans. Lawrence weighed only sixty pounds at that time and all he had on was a pair of drawers cut off at the knees to patch the seat of them. The southern women emptied their slop jars on them from the upstairs windows, so bitter because the North had won the war.

Lawrence married Lavina Jane Wright on May 22, 1866, in Marengo, Iowa. Lavina was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, on May 11, 1845. She came to Iowa in 1851 with her parents, who settled in Iowa County. Lawrence and Ldavina Harding homesteaded in 1868 in what is now Section four of Arlington Township. They had three children: Matthew, who died at twenty months; Lydia, who died at seventeen years; and Minnie. The Hardings were living in a ‘soddy’ on the farm when their daughter, Minnie M Harding, was born –the first white girl born in Arlington Township-on October 1869. Lavina died on the farm on November 4, 1918.

Revillo Krum Guthridge and Minnie Harding were married October 5, 1886. Their children were: Iliff Earl Guthridge, born October 21, 1888, died August 10, 1970; and Lawrence Isaac Guthridge, born May 20, 1892, died November 5 1969. Revillo Guthridge’s second marriage was in June 1897, to Mrs Clara (Crother) Payne. They farmed near Anthon and their sons, Victor and Wilbur, spent their early lifetimes in that area.

Iliff Earl Guthridge married Edna Sanderson, December 25, 1910. They farmed south of Moville for a short time and spent several years on the homestead, moving to Moville in 1922. Their children are: Myrtle Ruth, born January 17, 1912, died June 17, 1943; Anna Earline, born September 16, 1914; Cecil Anzlyne, born March 13, 1916; and William Raymond, born December 25, 1919.

Myrtle Ruth married Carl Petersen in 1931. Their family of six children is: Delores, Edna, Betty Gay, Gordon, Carla, and William. Carl’s occupation was varied.

Anna Earline married Harmon H Hunting, April 5, 1939. They owned and operated a grocery store in partenership with his parent’s asnd later with their son, Rand. Harmon served in the army during World War II. Their chidlren are Constance, Eugene, and Rand.

Cecil Anzlyne married Raymond Rounds, June 17, 1940. His main occupation was a salesman, primarily of farm equipment. Their family of four daughters and two sons are: Rita, David, Anne, Madelon, Robert and Fauneil. Ray served in the Navy during World War II. “Angie’ worked as a cook for several years and later as a social worker.

William Raymond married Margie Plumer, November 25, 1945, after serving over three years in the South Pacific in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He has spent his adult lifetime working as a lineman and line superintendent of the Woodbury County Rural Electric Coop, with the exception of his tour of duty in the Army. Margie has been a secretary/bookkeeper. They have four children, Cindy, Greg, Cristy, and Stuart.

Lawrence Isaac Guthridge married Catherrine Schmillen on August 18, 1914. They have always been farmers and moved back to the homestead in 1922. The children are Donald Iliff, born August 18, 1915, died October 4, 1982; and Verla Guthridge Fox Wright, born February 1, 1925.

Donald married Bernice Becker, June 10, 1942. They farmed with Lawrence until his retirement in 1950, with the exception of the time Donald served in the Navy during World War II. They have a family of four daughters and one son: Sheryle, Doneen, Teresa, Vicki, and Larence I ‘Larry’.

Verla lives in the town of Moville. Her family included her husband, Cleone Wright, owner and operator of the Moville Hardware until his retirement, and their daughter, Leana. Verla also has a step-daughter, Lorna.

The farm located in Arlington Township, homesteaded in 1868 by Lavina and Lawrence Harding, is still owned and operated by their descendants. Eighty acres is owned by Wiliam and Margie Guthridge, forty acres is owned by Verla Wright, and forty acres is owned by the Donald Guthridge Estate. Mrs Donald ‘Bernice’ Guthridge is living on the homestead and Larry Guthridge is operating the farm.