Husband George Wilkins Guthrie 1
Born: 5 Sep 1848 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co, PA 1
Christened:
Died: 8 Mar 1917 2
Buried:
Father: John Brandon Guthrie (1807- ) 1
Mother: Catherine S. Murray ( - ) 1
Marriage: 2 Dec 1886 2
Wife Florence J. Howe 2
Born:
Christened:
Died:
Buried:
Father: Hon. Thomas M. Howe ( - ) 2
Mother: Mary Ann Palmer ( - ) 2
Children
General Notes: Husband - George Wilkins Guthrie
He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he attended the public schools and then went to the University of Western Pennsylvania (later the University of Pittsburgh), graduating with the class of 1866. He then studied law in the office of Hon. Robert J. Walker, of Washington, D. C., later entering the Law Department of Columbian College (later George Washington University), graduating in 1869. Being admitted the same year to the Washington bar and to the bar of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, he began at once the building of a general practice which steadily grew until it was one of the largest and most successful in the city. For a short time Mr. Guthrie was in partnership with Colonel James K. Kerr, under the firm name, Kerr & Guthrie, in the one-story building on Diamond street, on ground where the court house later stood, near the old buildings of the University of Pittsburgh. Later, he formed a partnership with Hon. Malcolm Hay, builder of the Guthrie building, situated on Diamond street. He was recognized as a leader in his profession, but it was as leader of the National Municipal League that some of his most valuable work was done. Interested in the conduct of municipal affairs, and understanding clearly the odious comparisons that can honestly be made between city governments in this country and the management of affairs in foreign cities, he set himself the task of aiding in the healing of that diseased part of our national life. He drafted many laws for the regulation of first and second class cities and used every opportunity to arouse intelligent interest in securing better city government. Thus he was unusually well prepared to fill the office to which he was elected in 1906, that of first executive of the city of Pittsburgh. He was one of the leaders in the Greater Pittsburgh movement, and joint author of the act consolidating the cities of Allegheny and Pittsburgh. His fight to compel the public service corporations to pay to the city taxes, license fees, and various other obligations provided for in their charters, gained for the city in one year more than a half million dollars and assured an additional annual income of over $150,000. Always an advocate of pure water, he was largely instrumental in the development of the city's water system. His election, in 1906, was secured by the largest vote ever polled in the city.
Politically, Mr. Guthrie was a Democrat, and influential in national affairs of the party. In 1908 he was elected an honorary member of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce, and later became a member of its board. He was identified with a number of civic bodies having for their object the promotion of the welfare of Pittsburgh.
In 1910, following the gubernatorial election, he was associated with and leader in the movement to reorganize the Democratic party in Pennsylvania, and served as State chairman during this period. In 1912 he headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the Democratic National Convention that nominated Woodrow Wilson for the presidency, and took a very active part in securing that nomination. His long and able participation in party councils, and his broad knowledge of world affairs, made him a well-qualified candidate for diplomatic service, and in May, 1913, he was appointed United States Ambassador to Tokyo, Japan. The following month he sailed, and from that time until his death, filled that position. His sudden death, of apoplexy, came as a great shock to his friends, as he had seemed to be in the best of health and had visited Pittsburgh in 1915, expressing the greatest delight in his work in Japan and had seemed to be in unusually good health. The government of Japan sent him home in a warship, an unusual honor, and his funeral was one of the most impressive events of its kind in the history of Pittsburgh.
Mr. Guthrie belonged to the Pennsylvania Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, and was a member of the Pittsburgh Club, of the Pittsburgh Golf Club, of the Duquesne Club, and of the University Club of New York City. He was for many years attorney and later vice-president and trustee of the Dollar Savings Bank. The degree of Doctor of Laws was conferred upon him by the University of Pittsburgh, and by Trinity College, of Hartford, Connecticut. He was also a member of the board of managers of the Kingsley House Association, of the Children's Hospital, and a member of the board and president of St. Margaret's Hospital.
The highest honors within the power of the Free and Accepted Masons were conferred upon George Wilkins Guthrie. He received the Blue Lodge degrees at Pittsburgh, Franklin Lodge, No. 221, Free and Accepted Masons, in 1873 (Entered Apprentice, September; Fellow Craft, November; and Master Mason, December), serving this lodge as Junior Warden, 1878, Senior Warden, 1879, Worshipful Master, 1880; served the Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania as Right Worshipful Junior Grand Warden, 1905, Right Worshipful Senior Warden, 1906-07, Right Worshipful Deputy Grand Master, 1908-09, Right Worshipful Grand Master, 1910-11, and at the time of death was Past Right Worshipful Master. Received the Royal Arch degrees, Shiloh Chapter, No. 257, Royal Arch Masons, of Pennsylvania; Mark Master, Most Excellent Master and Royal Arch Mason in 1877; served as Principal Sojourner, 1878; Constituted Life Member, 1905. Received the Cryptic degrees "at sight" in Mount Moriah Council, No. 2, Royal and Select Masters, of Pennsylvania, in 1909. Received the degrees of the Commandery in Tancred Commandery, No. 48, Knights Templar, Pennsylvania; Red Cross and Temple, 1905; Malta, 1906. Received the degrees of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite to the thirty-second in Gourgas Lodge of Perfection, fourth to fourteenth, September, 1874; in Pennsylvania Council, Princes of Jerusalem, degrees fifteenth and sixteenth, October, 1874; in Pittsburgh Chapter of Rose Croix, degrees seventeenth and eighteenth, November, 1874; in Pennsylvania Consistory, degrees nineteenth to thirty-second, December, 1874. He served Gourgas Lodge of Perfection as Junior Grand Warden, 1875; Thrice Potent Grand Master, 1876-78; Grand Orator, 1881; and at the time of his death was Senior Past Thrice Potent Master. He served Pittsburgh Chapter of Rose Croix, as Captain of the Guard, 1875; Grand Orator, 1877 to 1882; Most Wise and Perfect Master, 1889 to 1896. He received the thirty-third degree in the Supreme Council at Boston, September, 1885, and was crowned an Active Member in the Supreme Council, September, 1895.
Mr. Guthrie was a member of the American Institute of Social Science, and of the Church Club of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and a vestryman of Calvary Episcopal Church.
General Notes: Wife - Florence J. Howe
She was a member of the Art Society of Pittsburgh, and of the Twentieth Century Club, and the Pittsburgh Golf Club.