John Vint Bentley & Annie Potter

This is Annie Potter and John Vint Bentley. I never thought to find a picture of them. It was taken on the porch of the home of their son, James Monroe Bentley.

Here is how I came across the picture.

I was in Kentucky a few years ago at Memorial Day. I went to go along with my Wright cousins who have a tradition of meeting on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend to visit the graves of their loved ones to clear them off and 'decorate' them. We used to call Memorial Day Decoration Day. On Monday, Memorial Day, I went to McRoberts to attend the Memorial Day services there. It was held in front of the church of Christ building at the Military Memorial for the soldiers from the are who lost their lives in various wars. The VFW post from Pound was doing the honors.

It was pouring rain that day. There was a room at the senior center next to the church which was being used to meet and sign in. I was with my Uncle D. V. . He was talking to folks he knew and I was standing by the sign in. One of the fellows in the VFW group came up to sign in and noticing his name tag said Bentley, I said, "Hello, Cousin". He grinned and we talked a bit. He said his family was from Virginia and he didn't believe we were related. I said, well, if you want to tell me your parents and grandparents, I sure will try to check it out. He just grinned.

After the service, we went in for cake and more chat. Jack Bentley came up to me and asked if I were serious about looking into his family. I said sure, got his parents and grandparents names and his email. I asked if he had any pictures and he said no.

I went to my files and he his grandfather was a son of James Monroe Bentley. I worked on this line and sent Jack a file giving him all the pictures, stories and info I had starting with him.

About a year later he wrote me and said he had lost the file, could I send him another since he wanted to print one. I said, sure, but give me a day or so to check just in case there is something more I can find. And I found this picture. I couldn't believe it. It was on an ancestry file and said it was used at a family reunion. The picture was so good, I just couldn't imagine it being the parents of James Monroe and John Martin because the picture of John Martin and Malinda Addington is awful quality wise. So I wrote the lady and asked her who identified it and how they had come across it.

In the meantime I took the name off the picture and emailed it to Jack and asked if he knew who it was. He wrote back right away -- it was one of his grandparents and it was on his wall. It seems when I asked if he had any family pictures and he said no, he meant none in an album or box, and hadn't thought about what was on his wall. The lady wrote me back and all matched. She said it was taken when they were in Virginia visiting James Monroe and all the Virginia Bentleys had the photo. I guess none of us still in Kentucky had gotten it.

So that is how I got the picture of John Martin and James Monroe Bentley's parents.

James Monroe Bentley

I originally had this photo with a story about John Martin Bentley. I had been given the picture by an aunt who said it was John Martin. Recently, my cousin, Janice, saw the picture and said she thought she had seen it and something wasn't right. She went through her mother, Edna Bentley's pictures and found it along with other pictures that were taken the same day. This is not John Martin Bentley, but his brother, James Monroe Bentley.

In the picture is Otho Bentley and Elbert Bentley, seated. They are nephews of James Monroe.

Standing is Laura Bell Bentley, a sister to Otho and Elbert and niece of James Monroe, James Monroe himself, Mary Webb Bentley wife of James Monroe, Caldonia Bentley Watkins sister of Otho Elbert & Laura and none of us could quite figure out who the last man was though he is very familiar looking.

What happened was Uncle Willie, Otho's son, and his wife, Edna Bentley took Poppy (Otho), Uncle Elbert, Aunt Laura, and Aunt Caldonia to visit their uncle and his great uncle. Here are the other pictures that were taken that day:

Aunt Laura Belle Bentley who married Sherman Bentley and Aunt Edna Bentley who married Willie Bentley. Laura was the daughter of John Martin Bentley and Malinda Addington. Edna was the daughter of Sherman Bentley and Ada Sergent.

James Monroe Bentley and Laura Belle Bentley.

James Monroe Bentley, son of John Vint Bentley and Annie Potter, and his wife, Mary Webb, daughter of Benjamin Webb and Eleander Pace.

James Monroe Bentley and Willie Bentley, son of Otho Bentley.

James Monroe & Mary Webb Bentley

James Monroe Bentley home with visitors on the porch.

Edna Bentley, wife of Willie Bentley, and Willie's aunt, Laura Bentley.