Welcome to the Bettis DNA Project. Family lore has long claimed that the Bettis families of Jefferson County, TN were descended from Joseph Emsley Bettis of Henrico County, VA. There are many branches of this family that spread through TN, and then throughout the rest of the country.

Closer scrutiny of the excellent records of Jefferson County seem to reveal that the Bettis family that settled there were really descendants of William Bettis, b. abt. 1791 in NC.