Martha Guthrie Explained

Martha Guthrie
Birth Place:Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Death Date: (aged 47)
Death Place:Ohio River, Sewickley, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Spouse:
Children:1

Martha Guthrie (1894 – August 17, 1941) was an amateur tennis player in the early part of the 20th century.[1] She was ranked No. 8 in the United States in 1916.

Biography

Guthrie was from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She reached the semifinals at the 1915 U.S. National Championships before falling to future International Tennis Hall of Fame enshrinee Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, 6–3, 2–6, 2–6. She also was a quarterfinalist in doubles that year.

She was a semifinalist at the 1915 U.S. Clay Court Championships, again falling to Mallory. She was a singles finalist, women's doubles winner and mixed doubles winner (with William McEllroy) at the 1915 Ohio State championships. She also won the Allegheny County Championship twice (1914, 1916); the Western Pennsylvania Championships six times (1916, 1919, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1929).

At the tournament in Tri-State Championships in Cincinnati, she won the singles title and the doubles title in 1916.[2] She also played impressively and lost in the final match[3] at the Women's Metropolitan Championships in Forest Hills that year.[4] In 1917, before she married, she won the Florida Women's Tennis Championship in Palm Beach.[5]

As Martha Guthrie Snowden after her marriage in 1917, she continued competing in tennis tournaments, as both a singles and a mixed doubles player.[6] [7]

Personal life

Martha Guthrie married lawyer Felix B. Snowden (or Snowdon) in 1917.[8] They had a daughter born in 1931, also named Martha Guthrie Snowden. They divorced in 1937, with Felix Snowden publicizing his wife's excessive drinking as the cause.[9] She married again in 1937, to Edwin S. Hingst. Martha Guthrie Snowden Hingst died in the Ohio River near Sewickley, Pennsylvania in 1941,[10] in a houseboat fire. She was 47 years old.[11]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Ballin, Florence A.. Tennis for Girls. tennis.. 1919. American sports Publishing Company. 20. en.
  2. News: Miss Martha Guthrie Wins Tennis Honors. September 17, 1916. The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh. July 24, 2019. 20. Newspapers.com.
  3. News: Miss Guthrie's Defeat. May 22, 1916. The Pittsburgh Press. July 24, 2019. 24. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: Pittsburg Girl Star of Metropolitan Tourney. May 16, 1916. The Sun. New York. July 24, 2019. 9. Newspapers.com.
  5. News: Miss Guthrie Gains Title. March 3, 1917. The Evening Star. Washington, D.C.. July 24, 2019. 9. Newspapers.com.
  6. News: Garland Beats Alexander in Patriotic Tennis Match. September 29, 1917. The Gazette Times. Pittsburgh. July 24, 2019. 9. Newspapers.com.
  7. News: Crowd Witnesses Classy Matches. September 30, 1917. The Pittsburgh Press. July 24, 2019. 23. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Martha Guthrie, A Noted Tennis Player, to Wed. December 30, 1916. The Indianapolis Star. July 24, 2019. 42. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: Wife's Two-Fisted Drinking Shamed Him, Clubman Says. May 2, 1937. The Pittsburgh Press. July 24, 2019. 47. Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Mrs. Hingst Former Local Tennis Champion. August 18, 1941. Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph. July 24, 2019. 15. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Ex-Socialite Dies in Houseboat Fire. August 18, 1941. The Pittsburgh Press. July 24, 2019. 1. Newspapers.com.