Born: 3/21/1895, Died: 8/4/1980

Son of B. Franklin and Helen Furman Betts, F. Furman Betts received his early education in Philadelphia, attending the Germantown Friends School and Chestnut Hill Academy, where he graduated in 1913. Seeking an education in landscape architecture, he then attended Cornell University, and graduated in 1917 with a B.S. in Landscape Design. While at Cornell, he served as president of the senior class and was a member of Seal and Serpent Fraternity and the Helios Honor Society. After graduation, Betts joined the American Friends Reconstruction Unit of the American Friends Service Committee. He landed in France in 1917 with the Friends, but later enlisted in the U. S. Army Ambulance Service in France, serving from 1918 to 1919 (discharge 13 February 1919 at Winchester, England). Before returning home he traveled through England and Ireland and, serving his interest in landscape architecture, attended the Garden City and Town Planning Conference held at Oxford University in April 1919.

Upon his return to the States, Betts worked with E. Gorton Davis, a landscape architect in Ithaca, NY, but returned to Philadelphia to work with John D. Emack & Co. Eventually he worked in the offices of Heacock & Platt and Paul W. Longsdorf, Inc.

Written by Sandra L. Tatman.