George W. Betts was born January 22, 1840, in Atlanta, Georgia, and came to Gonzales after the Civil War. Little is known about Betts’ early life except that he must have been an educated man because he taught school in several sections of Gonzales County. On September 4, 1870, he married Imogene Darst, born June 28, 1848, daughter of David Sterling Hughs Darst and Emaline Zumwalt Darst. David Darst was fifteen when the Alamo fell and his father, Jacob, died there. David and his mother witnessed the burning of Gonzales and participated in the “Runaway Scrape”.
Betts went to work as manager of the Darst cotton gin located across the avenue on St. Louis Street. George and Imogene built this Queen Anne style house in 1888. He died October 2, 1899, and Imogene died May 12, 1908. They are buried in the Gonzales Masonic Cemetery.
Residents claim existence of ghosts.
