Green Bentley, Sr.

A Patriot of the American Revolution for NEW YORK with the rank of PRIVATE. DAR Ancestor # A009441

Green Bentley married Dinah Straight in about 1760.

DAR established children include:

1. Benjamin m: Mary Kenney & 2. Jane Otterson
2. Eunice m: Thaddeus Bennett
3. Green M m: Olive Hopper
4. Hannah m: Ephriam Bennett
5. Rhoda m: Jacob Teeples
6. Sarah m: Daniel Coryell

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From page 8 of Criddle, Marlin G. (November 28, 2014). Life histories of Green Bentley (1741-1820), and Diana Straight (about 1745 - ). < PDF >; (document attached)

Children:

• 1. Hannah Humility Bentley
• 2. Sheba Eunice Bentley
• 3. Deborah Sarah Bentley
• 4. Benjamin Bentley
• 5. Green Bentley, Jr.
• 6. Rhoda Bentley
• 7. Mary Elizabeth Bentley
• 8. Phebe Bentley
• 9. Dianna Bentley

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Summary

https://www.familysearch.org/memories/memory/68074033?cid=mem_copy

This is a summary of the other documents and memories and facts listed in Family Search for Greene Bentley including the thorough document by Marlin G. Criddle.

Green(e) Main Bentley was born on the 23rd of March in 1741 in Westerly, Washington, Rhode Island, United States. When he was 19 years old his father died and he was married about a month later to Diana Straight who was possibly only 12 at the time. They went on to have 11 children - 8 girls, 6 of whom lived to adulthood, and 3 boys, one died as a baby.

A cane in the possession of his grandson indicated that he was a very tall man. He was also said to have had red or light hair. He was by trade a tailor.

At age 37, he served for 7 years with the Patriots in the Revolutionary War in the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign. It is also said that he also served in the French and Indian War and was ever after known as Sergeant Bentley.

In 1788 Green Bentley and about twenty other families built a boat upon which they placed their effects and pushed and poled up the Susquehanna and Chemung Rivers. All men not engaged in propelling the boat, and children old enough to walk, drove the livestock along the river banks. After a tiring journey of 30 days, the group reached a site known as Wellsburg. Green Bentley and his group were the first European-American settlers of the area. The local history states that the first settler of Veteran township was Green Bentley, who built a log house in 1794 on the banks of the creek that now bears his name. From his known character for patriotism when the town was organized it was called, in his honor, "Veteran" to signalize his valor by being a veteran in two wars and a veteran pioneer.

On 2 September 1789 the settlers organized the Wellsburg Baptist Church, which was an important event to them. Separation of church and state was a gradual process and for a long time, people in various states were required to pay taxes to the Congressional Church and those who refused or held other religious meetings were often fined or imprisoned. It was probably in Connecticut that Green Bentley encountered his difficulties with the authorities over his Baptist faith. He suffered religious persecution and was arrested and subjected to fines. Bentley decided to leave. When he started westward, the sheriff overtook him and proposed to detain him. Backed by his musket, Bentley safely guided his party over the Connecticut-New York state line.

He died at the age of 79 and is now buried in the Old Bentley Cemetery in Millport, New York.

Notes

Tailor, Soldier, Pioneer

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LBXN-D49

These people were Baptist and lived where there was no church making it impossible to obtain birth dates of the children. The locality where born is listed as place the family was at that time. According to the newspaper clipping for the dedication of his state marker at the cemetery in Millport, “Green Bently emigrated from Rhode Island to Warwick in Orange County in 1775, just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. There he joined the patriots and served as an officer during that long struggle, and was ever after known as Sergeant Bently. It is said that he also served in the French War.” (17) According to the “Rhode Island War Servicemen,” posted at ancestry.com, Greene Bentley served in the Old French & Indian War in the campaign of 1762, as noted in the 1925 “”A List of Rhode Island Soldiers and Sailors in the Old French and Indian War” by Howard M. Chaplin. E.T. Bentley claimed of his grandfather: “At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1775 he enlisted and served seven years.” (15) If this is accurate, it means Greene served from about 1775 to about the end of the war in 1783. Greene initially served as a private in Capt. Richard Baly’s company of the 4th Regiment of the Orange County Militia (Florida,NY and Warwick, NY) districts. (8, 6) Stephen Beers Bennett (16) questioned in his 1899 book whether Greene was an officer, Criddle wrote in reference to this: “It was said that Green Bentley was a major in the Revolutionary Army, but it does not appear that he rose above the rank of private. Often ex-soldiers would naturally secure prominent places in local militias and have applied to them the term of their rank. Later it would be assumed that they were of the same rank during the war, an assumption that the soldiers were not quick to correct, and after their deaths the error would be perpetuated. No record has been found relating to Green Bentley’s affiliation or rank within a local militia.” Cowan: “Whatever active military service Greene or his unit may have seen is unreported. There were battles fought in the area of Orange County (at Tappen on December 07, 1776 and September 28, 1778. Also at Tarrytown August 30, 1779 and July 15, 1781). He (evidently) never made a claim for a pension or bounty land but this does not mean he was not entitled to these benefits. His service was probably typical of that of most soldiers who were not members of the regular Continental Army but who fought for short periods, not far from there homes as the tide of war ebbed and flowed across the Colonies.”

NOTE: Robert H. Glover, ggg gg grandson of Greene Bentley, Sr., lives in Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow, Westchester Co., NY.

References

1. https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LBXN-D49
2. Criddle, Marlin G. (November 28, 2014). Life histories of Green Bentley (1741-1820), and Diana Straight (about 1745 - ). < PDF >; (document attached)
3. Mr. Shannon Rathbun, 2679 S. Canal Rd., Eaton Rapids, MI, (10 Feb 2000), Bennett booklet;
4. Pioneers of the Southern Tier, Chemung County, NY, by Doris R. Hoiland;
5. Served in Sullivan-Clinton Campaign and was a pioneer in Mllport,
6. Dedicated sign by Boy Scouts of Millport, Chemung, NY;
7. Green Bentley & Diana Strait;
8. Familysearch Family Tree 2013;
9. Parents: William Bentley, Jr., & Bathsheba Green;
10. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/88198900/green-bentley
11. WikiTree contributors, "Green Bentley Sr (1735-1823)," WikiTree: The Free Family Tree, (https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bentley-815 : accessed 23 May 2024). Cites
    1. Fernow, Documents related to the Colonial History of the State of New York, New York in the Revolutionary War, Vol 15, pg 324 < Archive.Org >
    2. This information comes from the book "The Bennett, Bently and Beers Families" by S. B. Bennett [1899] according to section of family tree at JerryConley.com
    3. Info from FindAGrave
    4. "Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:V2HC-N24 : 6 December 2014), William Bentley, 29 May 1735; citing WESTERLY,WASHINGTON,RHODE ISLAND, reference ; FHL microfilm 930,814.
    5. DAR Ancestor #: A009441 http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search_adb/?action=full...
    6. North America, Family Histories, 1500-2000 for Green Bentley, Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Book : NSDAR : Volume 102 : 1913
    7. "United States Census, 1790," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHKG-PYZ : accessed 24 December 2016), Green Bently, Chemung, Montgomery, New York, United States; citing p. 74, NARA microfilm publication M637, (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 6; FHL microfilm 568,146.
    8. "United States Census, 1810," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XH2Z-KTR : accessed 24 December 2016), Green Bentley, Catherine, Tioga, New York, United States; citing p. 638, NARA microfilm publication M252 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 37; FHL microfilm 181,391.