The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-17
T am John Bentley" said/the stranger, aand have c0rna to surrender myaeM 1


 T am John Bentley" said<the stranger. "and l. have come to surrender myself l escaped from here in 1885"
 Warden Rogers did not at first reoog- nize Bentley, who insisted~tha he had escaped from the mines. and must be put to work again.
 Before donning the convict clothes, Bentley arranged with lawyer to repay the Tennessee Coal. Iron and Railroad Company the $20o which the company had paid to the state because of his escape.
 Mrs. R. D. Johnston had been advised by Bentley of his resolve to return to Alabama and surrender himself. He told Mrs. Johnston in his letter that he had wife and babies, but he could nc. rest in peace until he had lifted the stigma which rested upon him in Alabama.
 In a letter to Governor Jelks pleading for the pardon of Bentley, Mrs. Johnston cites these statements as evidencee of the high character of Bentley. She says, al though she feels she did wrong, she ad- vised him to continue masquerading in his new home, and not to return to Ala bama, but that his decision was fxed and he came back to Alabama notvith- standing this advice.
 Soon after surrendering to the authori- ties at Pratt Mines. Bentley, with the assistance of a lawyer, prepared an earn est appeal to Governor Jelks for c par don. He did not conceal anything of the crime in which he participated, nor of his escape and subsequent position in the Missouri town. The Governor was told of his wedding, of his assumed name, and of the confidence which Is reposed in him by his neighbors who even now do rot suspect he has ever felt the shackles of the law.
 Your petitioner shows unto Your Ex- ceilency," the petition runs, that during his Imprisonment at Pratt Mines he came UT der the influence of good women; that since his escape he has been a law-abid- ing citizen, has held responsible posi- tions and won the confidence of all the officials of the County where he has lived for seven years: that he has married and has two small children and that his fam fly Is unaware of this difficulty; that he now returns and voluntarily gives him. self up, conscious that the falseness of his position and the precariousness of his present liberty are conditions that he cannot longer endure since they hamper every effort to lift himself and make bit ter every cup of happiness. And your pe- titioner trusts that the last seven years of his life, and this return to imprison- ment are satisfactory proofs of his high IcRdTQ ana SlDnflSStOll tO tdW anu Ol = der. He now appeals for justice and in this appeal is supported by all who were injured by or were acquainted with his misdeeds."
 The petition to the Governor is accom- panied by letters from distinguished men of the State in which Bentley has lived, in which they bear testimony to the in- tsgrity of Claude Martin" and commend him highly ta the public. These include a letter from the Governor of the State.
 Upon the receipt of the petition. Gov ernor Jelks referred the papers to Judge John H. Disaue, Presiding Judge of the Gadsden City Court. Judge Disque re- piled that heavy sentences were imposed upon the burglars in 1881 because their crimes hal been so fragrant that 1t was deemed necessary to make examples of them. He called attention, however, to the youthfulness of John Bentley at the time of his conviction. and the fact that his confederstes had been released from custody.
 Yesterday Governor Jelks issued par don to Bentley. In passing judgment up- on the case the Governor wrote this en- dorsement upon the application for elem ency
 This boy was 17 years old when he, in compsny with seVel grown men. commit 
 glaries, in Gadsden. He was convicted in 1891. He servedH nearly five years in Pratt Mines and then made his escape. The seven other men convicted with him have either been paroled, pardoned or have escaped the trial of prison life by death. After he escaped. he went to a distant State where he has led a life free from criticism. The secret he car. ried made him so unhappy that he re- solved to return to Alabama and give himself to the authorities. He Is now at Pratt Mines from which he escaped. His petition is signed by the best people of the Governor Of his adopted State join ing in their prayer. He is married and nas two children. The Board of Pardons recommend that he be granted a full pardon It Is so ordered"
 Tomorrow Claude Martin will reach his home in the quiet little Missouri town. He will have returned from his "trip to Alabama" and neither the wife of his bosom, the children of his heart nor his friends and neiRhboFs are ever to know that their popular citizen and honest minded neighbor is an Alabama ex-con- vict, or that his return to them within the prescribed time was dependent upon the mercy of the Governor of Alabama.
 Missouri is not the State in which Bent lev has made his home. nor Claude Mar tin the name he wears there. The hfs secret of John Bentley rests inviolate with Alabamas officials.