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MURRAY COUNTRY FAMILIES

The John S. Bettis Family


Immediately following the end of the Civil War, the John S. Bettis family moved from Tennessee into Murray County, Georgia, near Gladden Springs.

By 1880 the family had grown to include six children. The Census listed Jno. S. Bettis, age 48, who had been born in Tennessee. Both his parents had also been born in Tennessee. Lizzie J. Bettis, age 45, and both her parents had been born in Tennessee. Daughter Mattie E., age 20, had been born in Tennessee. Next daughter, Dolly A., age 18, had been born in North Carolina. Hattie, age 13, was the first to have been born in Georgia. The remaining three children were all born in Georgia. These were Florence, age 11; John S, age 7, and William G., age 6.

Mr. Bettis built a school on two acres in land lot 184. It was called the Bettis School and is thought to have existed for about a dozen years. Known teachers include L. D. Bettis in 1877; Miss Bettis in 1881, and Mrs. Gideons in 1884. Bettis School is thought to have operated until 1888.

This school might have used the same building as Bethel Church. Both were located on property where the George McHan family moved in the early 1930s. One of the McHan daughters said that she remembered playing in the school house, by then badly deteriorated but still standing.

John Bettis was buried in the Morris H. Varnell Cemetery, very near his home. His grave stone reads: J. S. Bettis, May 9, 1832. February 13, 1918.

Although it is thought that other members of this family were buried in the same cemetery, the father's grave is the only one marked. More than 100 graves are not marked.

 



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