Background is the Adacemia at Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Richard was christened 1 October 1820 in Aycliffe, Durham, England and married first 9 September 1843 in Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois, Elizabeth PRICE, the daughter of William PRICE and Mary Ann PRICE. She was born 28 June 1821 in Lea, Gloucestershire, England and died 6 December 1882 in Saomt George, Washington, Utah.
He married second 18 September 1883, Hannah Copp WEBSTER the daughter of David Simeon WEBSTER and Betsey BLAKE. She was born 7 August 1837, in Stanstead, Quebec, Canada and died 15 May 1907, in St George, Washington, Utah.
Richard died 24 March 1906 in Saint George, Washington, Utah.
When Richard was three the family moved to Alston Moor, England. His father rented a large four story house and building. He intalled machinery for making cloth of linen and wool. They did not have cotton at that time. He made domestic sheets and shirt material. The older boys helped. He made a good living.
At 8 years of age, Richard was sent to a free grammer school. He stayed there until he was 13 years old. The family belonged to the Presbyterian church. The minister Mr. Harper started a church school so Richard attended one year.
At 14 years, it was time to learn a trade. His father wanted him to be a machinist, but his mother opposed it because it was too dirty a trade. She wanted him to be a shop keeper. His brother got him a situation with a Mr. Brockbank, a wholesale and retail dealer. The Brockbank family were Quakers and very fine people. It was in another town, so Richard moved in with the family. They were very kind to him. He was homesick. His mother was a kind, gentle sweet woman and never spoke a cross word. He missed her very much. On Sunday, he would take a walk to the edge of town and look at the hills that stood between the two towns. It looked so near, but then again so far away. He wished he had wings to fly home and see his mother and loved ones. Richard worked for about a year. Then Mr. Brockbank sold the business and the new owner did not need him. Mr. Brockbank promised another position, but Richard wanted to go home. His older brother had a very good job in the tonw of Sunderland. The brother found a good job for Richard in a grocery store. So he left home the second time. The next year, his mother came to Sunderland to visit and she took sick and died. (6 July 1837). " My mother's death was a sorrow I thought I'd never get over".
The grocery store went broke soon after the death of his mother, so he returned to his father's home. His father did not like living alone so he sold his business and went to live with; his daughter Margret, who had married John Sanders. The mormon missionaries came to the Sanders home and Margret and John were the first to join the Church ;in that area. Richard was working for his brother, Thomas. He met with the missionaries at his sister's home and loved to hear them talk about the gospel and tell of the things that would happen in the last days.
The brother, Thomas, belonged to the Methodist church and was a teacher. He was very bitter against the Mormon missionaries. He would talk out against them. From that time on he began going downhill, got to associating with evil men, began drinking and soon lost everything.
Brother-in-law, John Sanders wrote a letter to Richard urgind him to come to America with Margret and him. He would pay all expenses. The ship was to sail 21st Sept 1841 at 1:00 p.m. Richard talked to his brother Abraham and his other brothers and they said go.
He packed a large chest with his clothes and other belongings and shipped it a week a head of time by freight train, directing them to take it to the ship tyrean in dock at Liverpool. He arrived at Liverpool at 9 a.m. His folks were on board. He enquired about his baggage and it was Not on ship. He immediately started for the railroad station. He found no one to help him. He was going to leave, but as he neared the door he saw a canvas cover and lifting it found his chest. He took it knowing that if anyone saw him he could be arrested for stealing. A passing drayman helped him get to the ship just as it was going through the gate. The man helped him and then Richard jumped on after it. The ship laid anchor in the river, Mercy until the next morning....
(continues to 1855, when Richard arrived in SLC).
I appreciate the opportunity to research the life of my maternal Great Grandfather; to come to know him better; and to cherish more fully the great heritage with which his posterity has been richly blessed.
Our earliest Mormon ancestor on my Mother’s Bentley line is Richard Bentley, the eighth child of Thomas Bentley and Ann Wood. Thomas, as well as his son Richard, was born in England, and died in America. Although four of his eight children were baptized into the Mormon faith, he never joined. Richard, the last of his children was born Oct. 1, 1820, in Great Aycliffe, Durham Cty. Eng. By this time his Father had become a well—to—do linen manufacturer and merchant.
Richard was enrolled in a free grammar school at age eight, which he attended until he was thirteen. It ~was decided then that he was old enough to learn a trade, which his Father wished to be that of a machinist. His Mother felt this would be too dirty, so they agreed that he would become a shopkeeper. He was trained by a Quaker friend, whose home he lived in at Brockbank, seven miles away. When he was seventeen his Mother came to visit him and took ill with jaundice. She died July 6, 1837 at the age of sixty. This was a sad blow to Richard, as he remembered her as always being kind and affectionate and indulgent.
About this time, the grocer who employed Richard went bankrupt, thus leaving him without a job. He then went to live with his brother Thomas to whom their Father had turned over the wool and carpet branch of the factory. As Thomas Sr. now wished to retire, he turned his entire business over to this son and his son-in-law William Atkin, and went to live with his second daughter Margaret, and her grocer husband John Saunders, in Alston. Richard enjoyed working in this family business. The Saunders couple were among the first to be baptized in this part of England.
In his autobiography quoted from Mother’ journal Richard writes: “I often visited at their home, and became acquainted with some of the first Elders who came to England to proclaim the Gospel. I was very much interested in hearing them talk about the signs of the times, and the predictions of the Prophet that had come to pass and those that were yet to come to pass. I never attended any of the meetings the Elders held, though I had a strong belief in the doctrines they taught. Religion was something I did not have much concern for at that time, and thot I could attend to it later in my life.”
Margaret’s baptism into this new and controversial church, created much family contention. Brother Thomas, along with running the mills was a part time preacher in the Wesleyan Methodist Society. He was very outspoken against the Mormons, condemning their doctrines at every opportunity. He began associating with ungodly men, neglecting his business until he lost it; thus leaving Richard once more unemployed. Searching unsuccessfully for work, he was reminded of the predictions of stress and tribulation in the last days the Elders related.
About this time Richard received a letter from Margaret and John Saunders stating that they were sailing to America, and would like him to accompany them. If he would do so they would pay all his expenses. After consulting with his brothers he eagerly agreed to meet them at the ship "Terian" docked at Liverpool to leave Sep. 22, 1841. From his autobiography we read: “ We were six weeks on the passage, the first part of which was rough and stormy. One night we were run into by another large ship and came very near having a bad accident. In this also I acknowledged the hand of the Lord. Elder Joseph Fielding was president of the company of Saints on board this ship. He was a kind good man, and treated me well. He called on me to assist in passing out the daily rations to the members. In fact few of them knew I did not belong to the Church. There were quite a number of young people on board, and when we got further out to sea and the storms had abated, we began to enjoy ourselves and have a pleasant time. I told the folks it was probably the happiest time we would see for a while.
Among the passengers were Mary Ann Price, and her sister Emma, with whom I became well acquainted. All in all, we had a very pleasant passage, landing in New Orleans about the first of Nov. 1841. Next day we took a steamboat for Nauvoo. At Warsaw, 16 miles below Nauvoo we were met by Apostle Willard Richards, who read to us an epistle from the Prophet Joseph Smith, counseling the Saints to disembark at Warsaw and commence to build a city already laid out a short distance below. The company landed from the boat in a heavy snow storm, and took shelter in an empty building formerly used for a hotel. A meeting was held that evening. Elder Richards spoke in regards to the design of the proposed city, and showed a plat of the same. The price of lots was from one to one thousand dollars. Next morning the ground was covered with snow about one foot deep. There was one small log cabin occupied by Brother Decker who was called Mayor. The brethren concluded they wanted no lots and began to make arrangements to go to Nauvoo.
On the third day a team arrived to take us to the city of the Saints. Brother Saunders had rented a log house on the river bank. I worked that winter in a brickyard, the first hard work I had ever done in my life, digging clay preparatory to making bricks the next summer. The yard belonged to Dr. Forster. I earned $1.12 a day, but never got any pay. In Feb,1842 I was baptized by Elder Fielding in the Mississippi River; the ice having to be cut to let us down to the water. I was confirmed by Elders Fielding and Saunders. I worked some that summer carrying bricks from the moulder. I wore out all my shoes, and went barefoot through the week. I managed to get a pair of low shoes in pay for my work. •Those I kept for Sunday. My brother—in—law was a hard working man. He and Bro. Peter Maryhew worked together. They had been miners in the Old Country, and in Nauvoo they took contracts for digging wells. They got plenty of work and good pay, so we were able to live well.”
On Sep. 9th 1843, Elizabeth Price and Richard were married in Nauvoo, she being the daughter of Mary Ann and William Price. Elizabeth and her brothers had followed their Mother to America on a later ship. Shortly after their marriage they went to St.Louis to meet Father Thomas, Abraham, and her sister Jane with her husband and children. Here Richard obtained work in a flour mill, and Elizabeth sewed fine shirts for an outfitting store. While in St. Louis they received the sad news of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum. He wrote: “ I did not believe it. I did not believe the Lord would allow his servants to be killed. A few days after our Brother—in—law Orson Hyde called at our house and told us the particulars of the massacre.”
The mill where Richard worked was flooded, and as he attempted to get it functional he was taken down with malaria fever. They had saved enough money for a housekeeping outfit, so decided to return to Nauvoo in the winter of 1844. As Margaret’s husband John had passed away, they stayed with her to help her settle the estate. That winter he was ordained a Seventy, and enrolled in the 19th quorum.
In the spring of 1845 Richard secured a job, and a home, at the farm of a Mr. Pratt, three miles north of Nauvoo. Wagon making companies had been formed in the city to provide the means whereby the Saints could cross the plains. He joined the company under Captain Cox. Mr. Pratt gave him permission to use the timber from the farm in his spare time for this purpose. In this way he was able to earn a wagon of his own. A large company crossed the frozen river on Feb.6, 1846, joining those already settled at Sugar Creek in about eighteen inches of snow. Richard and other men returned the six miles to Nauvoo for several nights for the purpose of defending the city against threatening mobs. The families of William and Charles Price, along with their Mother, joined Richard’s outfit in July, departing for Winter Quarters at Hyde’s Park. Apostle Hyde had settled here with his wife, who was Elizabeth’s sister Mary Ann. Here they built a large house, six miles east of Council Point, on the Missouri River. They rented land and planted twenty acres of wheat in the spring. A good crop was threshed, having the oxen tread out the wheat on the ground and winnowing it in the wind.
In the winter of 1846—67 Mother Mary Ann Price died. On May 11, 1847 Elizabeth’s first baby, Emma Geneva was born, leaving her ill for many months. During that year the Twelve Apostles visited Apostle Hyde, and because Richard had a larger home the meeting was held in one of his rooms. N.B. Lundwall, in his book “Assorted Gems of Priceless Value” quotes Orson Hyde:”…We were in prayer, and in council, communing together, and whet took place on that occasion? The voice of God came from on high and spoke to that council. And what did it say unto us? “ Let my servant Brigham young step forward and receive the full power of the Presiding Priesthood in my Church and Kingdom.” This was the voice of the Almighty unto us at Council Bluffs. . . . I am one that was present, and there are others here that were also present on that occasion, and did hear and feel the voice from Heaven; and we were filled with the Power of God. This is my testimony; These are my declarations unto the Saints, unto the members of the Kingdom of God in the last days, and to all people.”
In the fall of 1848 Richard moved his family to Kanesville to clerk in the outfitting business of Needham. and Ferguson, who were well stocked to provide for the last stop needs of emigrants heading for the gold fields in California. Here their second daughter Mary Lavinia was born, June 8, 1849. That winter the entire family came down with smallpox. William Oscar was born 24 Aug. 1851. When recovered they traveled in the 2Oth company, Bro. Henry W. Miller being the Captain, heading for Salt Lake. This man was an excellent leader, and the Hyde family made good traveling companions. Elizabeth was fortunate on this difficult but historic trip, for she was invited to bring her three children and ride in the Hyde carriage with Mary Ann. The group arrived 24 Sep. 1952.
The emigrants that season were counseled to settle in Southern Utah to strengthen the areas there against troublesome Indians. After Oct. Conference Richard accepted the offer of a Bro. from Parawan of a house to spend the winter in. The weather was stormy, and the rough muddy trails caused much difficulty with the heavily laden wagons. When they stopped at Nephi to find a blacksmith, Richard met an old friend who was now married to Joseph Heywood, the Stake President at Nephi. This couple was very solicitous, and offered the Bentley’s shelter for the night. An exceptionally heavy snow storm presented the need for them to remain in Nephi for the winter. Here he was employed as the school teacher. In the spring he rented 15 acres of land on which he planted a crop. When the wheat was about six inches high, grasshoppers descended like a cloud, and devastated everything before them. They totally consumed the ten acre crop, and advanced into the remaining portion. Marshall Heywood at this point was ordered to form a company of men who were to attend Apostle Hyde to Carson Valley where he had been appointed the Probate Judge. Richard joined this assignment, figuring the wage of $5.00 per day would compensate them for the destroyed grain. While he was in Carson Valley for about two months, he took out his citizen’s papers. On his return he found his family well, and with a big surprise for him. He discovered that Elizabeth had 100 bushels of wheat stored in the house. After he had left, she took the children, pigs, and chickens to the field each day to fight the hoppers. By this means she had rescued the last of their crop, which was the only wheat saved in Nephi that year.
On Jan.22, 1854 Elizabeth gave birth to Annie Elizabeth. At the October Conference Richard was called, along with about a hundred other men, to take their families south to colonize Carson Valley. There were over 100 wagons and a large herd of cattle in the company which left the following spring. After six weeks of traveling the company reached the Carson River in Nevada and was disorganized, with families settling along the Valley at adjacent points. Washua Valley was selected by Apostle Hyde to be the headquarters for the Mission. The town was surveyed and laid out in 5 acre lots. Richard built a house on the opposite side of a clear sparkling creek from the Hyde location. A log school was built, many improvements made; and they soon had a comfortable little settlement. Apostle Hyde and William Price sent to California for machinery to set up a Saw mill, which was soon in operation.
To the Bentley’s a son, Franklin Richard was born on Aug. 14th. Since he was the first white baby to be born here the town was called Franktown. At the organization of the Carson Valley Stake in the summer of 1856, Richard was set apart to be Bishop with Matthew Hamilton and George Billings as his counselors. The next spring consternation overcame the settlers when they received orders from Pres. Young for the settlement to be broken up and return to Salt Lake, as an extermination army was moving out from the United States. As it was late in the season it was necessary for the Saints to work with a will to dispose of their homes and property.
After their return to Salt Lake Richard built his family a small adobe home in the N. W. section of the city. On Aug. 31, 1859 their last child, my Grandfather Joseph Charles was born. In 1860, at the age of forty years Richard was called to serve in the British Mission. His faithful wife was faced with the responsibility of keeping their hone and growing family supplied with all their needs. The eldest child at this time was twelve years. She courageously persevered in overcoming all problems as they arose. She was of artistic temperament, and all her work was carefully and beautifully done. She taught school part time, as well as making and selling hair nets for ladies.
Richard arrived in the Mission in Liverpool on Dec. 12, 1860. He served for four years, part of this time as President of the London Conference. He returned on Nov. 13, 1964. While he was away 300 families were called to go to Southern Utah to settle the Dixie area. Here the climate was more moderate, producing cotton, silk, nuts, fruits, and a greater variety of vegetables. Pres. Young also felt this would open up to the Saints a safer line of journey to California. Goods were also cheaper sent from this thriving city than across the plains. On Richard’s return from England William S. Godbe, the husband of his niece, offered to set him up in the mercantile business in the newly established “Dixie Mission” city of St. George. Consequently, he traded his Salt Lake home for that of Orson Pratt, now released from his “Dixie” assignment. Although this move was a strenuous undertaking his son Oscar was a great help in the managing of one of the outfits. On arriving they found an almost completed commodious two story home which Richard Finished, furnishing one large room as the store and office. He soon opened up this mercantile business up, to become the first merchant in the city of St.George. He carried on here until 1875 when he sold out to his son—in—law and associates, Wooley, Lund, and Judd Mercantile Inst.
In 1877 Mayor Alex MacDonald resigned as Mayor to fill a mission call to Scotland. Richard was appointed to fill this unexpired term. Prior to this he had been actively involved on the school board; and as a Highcouncilman had energetically opposed the Anti—Polygamy Bill. In 1878 and again in 1880, and once more ten years later he was elected as Mayor. During this service he initiated many improvements and public works. During 1888 a rich vein of copper was found at the Grand Gulch Mine in the mountains of northern Arizona. Richard Bentley, Samuel Adams, and Henry Eyring owned stock and built a smelter in St.George. One of the greatest problems of the City Council was the water situation. An experimental rock lined ditch was built, which filtered out a good deal of the red sand. Rather than allowing the cattle to trample in the ditches there were watering troughs built in strategic areas. Not until 1932 did the Federal Govt. finally assist in piping drinking water to town and building a sewage system. Record indicate that in 1894 the Mayor received 36.00, and in 1896 the sum of 46.00 dollars in wages.
On Dec 6, 1882 while Richard was in Beaver assisting in holding Court he received word that his wife Elizabeth had passed away. He was truly grief stricken, and unused to caring for his household needs. From his journal we read: “I met a lady from the Eastern States, a descendant of the Daniel Webster family and a trained practical Doctor. Her name was Hannah Copp Webster. We were married Sep.9, 1888 and sealed in the St. George Temple. On Sep. 13, 1897 I was ordained a Patriarch in the St.George Stake; and to the best of my ability acted in that capacity for the remaining years of my life.. In my later years I was handicapped with deafness, to the extent that I had to withdraw from all public offices: and the asthmatic attacks I had suffered for years took much pleasure from the social life I might have enjoyed. However I was still quite comfortable in the good solid home in which I had lived all my years in Dixie.”
Richard Bentley died on March 24, 1906., at his home in St. George, at the age of eighty six. He was survived by his second wife and the six children born to him by Elizabeth. A year later, on May 15, 1907 his wife Hannah. From the journal of my Mother, Ellice Bentley LeBaron I quote: “ Grandfather married a widow. Hannah Copp Webster, whom we called Auntie Bentley. I remember Grandfather as a dignified old man with white hair and bushy white brows. He always had a lovely garden, of which I remember best his prolific asparagus beds. One of my bright childhood memories is of a party he gave for his grandchildren. We had gone back from Mexico to St. George to spend the winter, when I was seven. I can recall the long table at which we sat, the children all of varying ages, and Grandfather the only adult at the table, with Auntie Bentley serving us. We had a wonderful time, and that is my last memory of seeing him, although I corresponded with him quite often for the next 12 years. I looked forward to visiting him on our way to Salt Lake in 1906, where I was to meet and marry Willie, but we learned that he had already passed away.”
Having been blessed with the opportunity of compiling this record of this formerly considered austere man who is the father of my adored Grandfather, Joseph Charles Bentley, the last child of Richard and Elizabeth; I have received a greatly increased testimony and love for the rich heritage with which Great Grandfather Richard Bentley has enriched each of our lives.
CHILDREN of Richard BENTLEY and Elizabeth PRICE:
1. EMMA GENEVA b: 11 May 1847; Winter Quarters, Pottawattamie,
Iowa.
md: 9 Mar 1867; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
Edwin Dilworth WOOLLEY
d: 13 May 1922; Kanab, Kane, Utah.
2. MARY LAVINIA b: 8 Jun 1849; Kanesville, Pottawattamie, Iowa.
md: 8 Oct 1869; , , .
Edwin Gordon WOOLLEY
d: 23 Jul 1918; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
3. WILLIAM OSCAR Sr b: 24 Aug 1851; Kanesville, Pottawattamie, Iowa.
md: 5 Mar 1879; Saint George, Washington, Utah.
Mary Ann MANSFIELD
d: 15 Mar 1920; Saint George, Washington, Utah.
4. ANNIE ELIZABETH b: 22 Jan 1854; Nephi, Juab, Utah.
md: 25 Jan 1877; , , .
Thomas Nelson TERRY
d: 30 Nov 1925; , , .
5. FRANKLIN RICHARD b: 14 Aug 1856; Franktown, Washoe, Nevada.
md: 8 Nov 1877; Saint George, Washington, Utah.
Marion CARTER
d: 18 Aug 1923; Saint George, Washington, Utah.
+ 6. JOSEPH CHARLES b: 31 Aug 1859; Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah.
md: 30 Jun 1886; Saint George, Washington, Utah.
Margaret McKean IVANS
md: 1894; Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Gladys Elizabeth WOODMANSEE
md: 23 Sep 1901; Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Maud Mary TAYLOR
d: 7 Mar 1942; Colonia Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.
Back to Thomas BENTLEY Jr's Family PageBack to Our Genealogy Home Page.
Back to Pedigree Charts Page.
To reach me by e-mail click on mailbox
This Web Page was created on 10/30/2006 with 
Web-O-Rama or E-Mail Kevin Gunn