Betty Zane

Zane Grey’s first published work, Betty Zane (1903), depicts the legendary heroism of his ancestor, who braved gunfire to carry powder from an outlying cabin during that siege. In 1795 the site was chartered as a town called Zanesburg. Two years later the county seat was moved from West Liberty…

…central incident in the novel Betty Zane (1903) by Zane Grey, her descendant. Little is known of Betty Zane’s later life except that she married and moved to Martins Ferry, Ohio.

…a novel of pioneer life, Betty Zane, based on an ancestor’s journal. Deciding to abandon dentistry for full-time writing, he published in 1905 The Spirit of the Border—also based on Zane’s notes—which became a best-seller. Grey subsequently wrote more than 80 books, a number of which were published posthumously; more…