Zechariah Lawrence Bettis (June 12, 1816 – September 23, 1879) was an American politician who served as the

Probate Judge A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts may be referred to as Orphans' Courts o ...

Clarke County, Alabama Clarke County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,087. The county seat is Grove Hill. The county's largest city is Jackson. The county was created by the leg ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. He was born in

Edgefield, South Carolina Edgefield is a town in Edgefield County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 4,750 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Edgefield County. Edgefield is part of the Augusta, Georgia metropolitan area. Geography Edgefield is l ...

and was a part of a migration from Edgefield County to Clarke County. In 1856, he was elected the Probate Judge of Clarke County. Under the constitution of the time, the Probate Judge was the chief executive official of an

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

county. He remained in this office until 1866. He died in

Grove Hill, Alabama Grove Hill is a town in Clarke County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 1,818. It is the county seat of Clarke County and home of the Clarke County Museum. History The area that is now Grove Hill was originally inha ...

in 1879. He was 1st cousins, once separated with John Cranford who served as President

Pro Tempore ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

of the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per cons ...

, later serving a term in

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. His wife, Elizabeth Talbert, was second cousins with

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

Congressman W. Jasper Talbert, who represented Edgefield in Congress, and he was third cousins, once separated with Reps.

Henry Swearingen Henry Swearingen ( ca. 1792–1849) was a U.S. Representative from Ohio. Born in the Northern Panhandle of Virginia (now West Virginia), Swearingen moved to Ohio and settled near Steubenville. He served as Sheriff of Jefferson County, Ohio ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and

Thomas Van Swearingen Thomas Van Swearingen (May 5, 1784 – August 19, 1822) was a U.S. Representative from Virginia. Biography Born near Shepherdstown, Virginia (now West Virginia), Van Swearingen attended the common schools. He served as member of the State H ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

. Bettis's son Alfred became a physician and later moved to

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

References

1816 births 1879 deaths People from Edgefield, South Carolina Alabama local politicians People from Grove Hill, Alabama Probate court judges in the United States 19th-century American judges {{Alabama-politician-stub