Biography

06/03/1870 - 08/19/1946

William Irvin Betts, Sr. (D34) Centre and Clearfield Counties 1923-1926

Early Life:

William Irvin Betts, Sr., born June 3, 1870, Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania; son of William Wilson and Margaret Johnson Irvin Betts; received, education, Clearfield, Greenwich, Connecticut, Peekskill, New York schools; entered his father's office in 1889, and at age 20 became a pioneer sales representative for a sewing machine company; married, Isabel Holt Murray, 1904, children, William I. Betts, Jr., Dorothy Betts Kurtz, Thomas M., Donald; president, Conestoga Coal Company; president, Clearfield Quarrying Company; president, director, Clearfield Colliery Company; director, Clearfield National Bank; burgess of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, 1906; elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1923-1926; died, August 19, 1946, Miller Nursing Home, (patient, since November, 1944) Wilkinsburg, Allegheny, Pennsylvania; interment, Hillcrest Cemetery, Clearfield, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania.

Professional titles; business ownership; board memberships; local government; club memberships:

President, Conestoga Coal Company; president, Clearfield Quarrying Company; president, director, Clearfield Colliery Company; director, Clearfield National Bank; vice president, member, Board of Governors, Clearfield-Curwensville Country Club; director, Young Men's Christian Association of Clearfield; trustee, Presbyterian Church of Clearfield; chairman, Liberty Loan Committee of Clearfield County, Philipsburg District; first presidency, Clearfield County Council Boy Scouts of America; president, Clearfield Chamber of Commerce; member, American National Red Cross; member, Racquet Club of Philadelphia; member, Board of Governors, Clearfield Chamber of Commerce.

Service without compensation and at his own expense, Young Men's Christian Association, 37th Infantry Division and Brigade (Buckeye) Division, overseas, First World War.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Burgess of Clearfield, Pennsylvania, 1906.

Elected, Democrat, Pennsylvania State Senate, 34thn district, Centre and Clearfield Counties, 1923-1926; committee assignments, Banks and Building and Loan Associations, Canals and Inland Navigation, Congressional Apportionment, Education, Exposition Affairs, Forestry, Game and Fisheries, Public Health and Sanitation, Public Roads Highways, Public Supply of Light, Heat and Water.

Legacy:

Father, Pennsylvania State Senator William Wilson Betts, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton Counties, 1887-1890.

William Wilson Betts  - Pennsylvania Senate Library (pasen.gov)

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

The Pennsylvania Manual, (1923-1924). Whitmore, R.E., (Compiler). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 983, 988, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 961.

The Progress (Clearfield, Pennsylvania) Tuesday, August 20, 1946.  

William Irvin Betts (1870-1946) - Find a Grave Memorial