Unknown Bentley (bef. 1760 - aft. 1778)

Born before 1760 in Southern Colonial America [uncertain]

Died after 1778 after age 18 in Wilkes County, Georgia, United States [uncertain]

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Sherry Duval [send private message]

Bibliography

Pickett Wisely Bentley was the Unknown Bentley who grew up in mid-18th century Colonial America and in 1779 fathered James Bentley, believed to have lived and died in Georgia.

Unknown Bentley was probably born in one of the Southern Colonies. A late 19th century descendant, Edgar Johnson, was a practicing Texas lawyer in the early 20th century and later served in many parts of Texas and New Mexico as an ordained Methodist minister. In a letter written circa 1962, Rev. Johnson expressed his belief that this Unknown Bentley's father was William Larkin Bentley. Note that the primary hypothesis in the ensuing analysis assumes only the given name William. His alleged middle name, Larkin, may or may not have genealogical significance; however, any such assertion or lack thereof is immaterial in the argument presented below.

Research Notes

To simplify the ensuing analysis, without risking too much impropriety with the facts, it is assumed herein that this Unknown Bentley was born in Colonial America and died in Georgia.

Efficient use of the Search capabilities available on Wiki Tree is achieved by making the additional assumption that James Bentley's father was born between 1734 and 1758. This restriction puts his father's age between 21 and 45 when James was born. Should a legitimate concern arise, the set of admissible birth years can be expanded. However, the stated range suffices for a systematic initial attempt to identify the father of James Bentley b.1779.

H1: Primary Hypothesis

The primary hypothesis considered here asserts that all preceding assumptions stated herein are valid. On the basis of this hypothesis, three possible Wiki Tree matches for this Unknown Bentley profile are listed below, arranged by place of birth:

• New York: NY
• Pennsylvania: PA
• New Jersey: NJ
• Delaware: DE
• Maryland: MD
• Virginia: VA
  • John Bentley bc.1750 VA
    • s/o William Bentley b.1721 VA
      • s/o Daniel Bentley bc.1685 VA dc.1723 VA
    • Wife: Unknown
    • Children: Unknown
  • Solomon Bentley b.1750 VA
    • s/o William Bentley b.1724 PA
      • s/o John Bentley bc.1705 PA
    • Wife: Rebecca Wood b.1759 MD m.1781
    • Son: William Bentley b.1788 d.1870
    • no other known children
• North Carolina: NC
  • William Bentley III bc.1749 NC d.>1774
    • s/o William Bentley II bc.1729 dc.1792 GA
      • s/o William W. Bentley b.1702 d.1779 NC
    • Wife: Unknown ... [ possibly Jane Hammond b.1741 VA m.1774 NC ]
    • Children: Unknown
• South Carolina: SC
• Georgia: GA
• Southern Colonial America: SCA = { MD, VA, NC, SC, GA }

Rebecca Wood of Maryland and Solomon Bentley were married in 1781. Unless Solomon had a son James through an earlier undisclosed marriage, or else previously fathered a natural son named James, the said Solomon Bentley cannot be the father of James Bentley born 1779. Accordingly,

• John Bentley of Virginia
• William Bentley III of North Carolina

are the remaining primary Wiki Tree candidates to be the father of James Bentley. The Wiki Tree Biographies of these gentlemen currently reveal nothing material about their wives or descendants, and solely on the basis of the a priori analysis given here, neither of the aforesaid candidates is better suited to be the father of James than the other.

H0: Default Hypothesis

For the requisite default hypothesis, a secondary net is thrown by simply opposing the given name William in our primary hypothesis. The number of additional potential matches thereby obtained is significant but not prohibitive: viz.

• New York
  • Eldred Bentley-1235, d.1853, NY
    • Father of twelve children, no son named James
  • Joseph Bentley-3570, d.1832, NY
    • Father of Joseph II, no other children listed
  • Joshua Bentley-4872, d.1836, NY
    • Father of son Joshua Jr, no other children listed
• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• Delaware
• Maryland
  • Benjamin Bentley d.<1840, NC
    • 1st Wife: Sarah
    • 2nd Wife:, Elizabeth Laws d? 1809 NC.
    • Son: James Martin Bentley b.1789 NC dc.1880 KY
• Virginia (VA)
  • Samuel Bentley Jr.
  • Samuel Bentley
  • John Bentley
  • William Bentley
  • William Weldon Bentley
  • Daniel Bentley
  • Unknown Bentley
• North Carolina
  • Daniel Bentley d. 1839, Kentucky
    • four sons: none named James
• South Carolina
• Georgia

Primary Hypothesis

A closer examination of the relevant Wiki Tree profiles reveals that the parentage of John Bentley of VA is actually proven, whereas the parental line of William Bentley III of NC has been postulated, stipulated, asserted or otherwise assumed, but without any substantive supporting evidence. While this observation clearly makes John Bentley the stronger of the two primary candidates, the outcome of this investigation is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Alternative Hypothesis

Work is still in progress for alternative candidates. Stay tuned ...

Rejected WikiTree Candidates for Father of James Bentley b.1779

• James Bentley abt 1725 North Carolina -
  • Bentley-1510 d. ? managed by John Bentley
• James Bentley abt 1755 Southern Colonial America - abt 1798
  • Bentley-1507 d, Georgia managed by John Bentley

• Jesse .Martin. Bentley bef 1748 Virginia - 23 May 1836
  • Bentley-5465 d. Georgia managed by Russell Johnson

• John Bentley abt 1724 North Carolina - 1754
  • Bentley-1509 d. North Carolina managed by John Bentley
• John .Daniel. Bentley abt 1743 Virginia
  • Bentley-5519 d. Georgia managed by Russell Johnson
• John Bentley abt 1750 Richmond Co or Brunswick Co Virginia -
  • Bentley-5112 d. ? managed by George F. Bentley
• John Bentley Sr. abt 1759 Southern Colonial America - abt 1809
  • Bentley-1517 d. Georgia managed by John Bentley

• Robert Bentley abt 1723 North Carolina -
  • Bentley-1514 d. ? managed by John Bentley

• William Bentley II abt 1729 Fairfax County, Virginia - abt 1792
  • Bentley-5669 d. Georgia managed by John Bentley
• William Bentley III abt 1749 Onslow Co., North Carolina - aft 1784
  • Bentley-1515 d. Georgia managed by John Bentley

Sources

• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/2:2:3QKT-JZV