The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-07-17
BEATS ANY ROMANCE
PARDON FOR JOHN BENTLEY,
 LONG ESCAPED CONVICT.
Is Now a Prominent and Respected Citizen of Another State,
 Whither He Fled from
 the Mines.

Pratt Mines, marked the continuation of a story of real life which exceeds in in- terest any story of the imagination. {.
 In 1873 John M. Bentley was born in the hills of Georgia, of highly respectable parents. When he was a small boy, his father died, and he and his brother, Will liam F. Bentley, a few years older, were denied the guiding influence of a pater- nal parent.
 When a few years had passed after their fatheUs death, the mother of the two Georgia boys married W. H. Male, who removed the little family to Attalla, Eto- wah County, Alabama. Here, according to an affidavit made by Mrs. Hale., the step-father became habitual whiskey drinker, and grossly mistreated the two boys, and forced them out into the world.
 Driven from their home by a cruel stepfather, the boys at tender ages, were thrown with evil companions of maturer years.
 . For months daring gang of robbers had committed burglaries in Attalla and Gadsden, it's neighboring town. The sheriff of Etowah County and his depu- ties were alert, but they could not cap- ture the midnight marauders who had stricken terror to the hearts of the hon est folk thereabouts. One night in 1900, Andrew Johnson, ne 'er-do- well citizen of Etowah County,
 bore message to the sheriff, that the robbers had planned to enter the store of one MeCluskey, on Sand Mountain. Johnson, 1t Is said, admitted that he was | a member of the gang, but had decided to quit them and turn them over to the authorities.
 The sheriff and his deputies hurried to l 'McCluskey's store, and were prepared for the robbers when they approached. A fight ensued, in which one of tha deputies was wounded. and six of the gang were captured. They were James Cross, Harvey Thomas, Ulysses Kirkus and the two boys, John M. Bentley, William Bentley, and a man named Cagle. All of them except the Bentley lads were of mature ages. At this time John M. Bentley was less than IT years old. His brother was about 19 years of age. Every member of the gang, including Andrew Johnson, were indicted for bur- glary, but when the trial came on in the City Court of Gadsden at the spring term, 1901, Andrew Johnson and Ulysses
 Kirkus turned States evidence and were released.
 The evidence showed that John Bentley, mere boy, and his brother, had been | led into the lawless acts by the older men, The robbers had. however, commit
 ted many daring acts that the court gave them all the severest punishment, ana Cross, Cagle, Thomas and John Bentley | were convicted and sentenced to twenty years each in the penitentiary. William F. Bentley was sentenced to ten years. it | being shown that he was not with the gang when certain predatory acts were | committed.
 The nen were sent to the pententiary. After remaining three or four years,
 CaEIe Thomas and William F. Bentley
 were pardoned. Cross escaped and subse-
 quently met death by drowning.
 Meanwhile, John NJ. Bentley was pass
 ing through an eventful period at Pratt
 Mines, where he was leased by the State l as a convict to the Tennessee Coal. Iron
 and Railroad Company
 | To the mines each Sunday went band | of Birmingham women, led by Mrs. R. D.
 Johnston, whose work for the reclama-
 ton of wayward Alabama boys is known
 the length of the State. These women
 had organized a Sunday school class
 among the convicts at Pratt Mines, and
 John Bentley became attracted to the
 work.
 The women were quick to observe that
 behind the boys rough exterior of John
 Bentley there was the basis of high char
 acter, and they builded upon this basis l He became an enthusiastic Sunday
 school worker and he talked with eager ness of the time when he could strike off I
 into the world with Gods sunlight beam
 ing upon his brow-a free and honest l man.
 Sunday came around one day, and as l was their wont, the good women went to
 Pratt Mines. The Sunday school class
 assembled, but the face of John Bentley | was missed
 "Escaped," said a young convict fin re-
 sponse to the inquiry of the women who | fha Sunday school. This was
 in 1895,
 Nearly five years John Bentley had
 worn the convict's garb He had labored
 on faithfully the only ray of light which
 shone upon his dismal life being the re-
 curing Sunday visits of the good Bir-
 mlngham women who taught him of
 better and a higher life. teaching which
 caused him to recur to days in the hills
 of Georgia when he liSped at his moth- l CTS knee
 | The escape of convict Is merely an in-
 cident in a mining camp All effort to | locate John Bentley failed. He had ap- | parently been swallowed up in the great
 world. and no one knew his whereabouts According to law the contractors paid
 into the State treasury $2OO as forfeit
 for permitting a ward of the State to es- | cape the demands of an memorable stat
 ute.
 | In the autumn of 1895 a young man of
 prepossessing appearance. of intelligent l face and featureS arrived in little Mis- l souri town Saying he was from Alabama, | and was looking for work, he secured | a position. He worked hard. was honest and attentive to his duties. He told his
 new acuuaintances his name was say
 .'Claude Martin" As the years went by l Claude Martin became a factor in the It,
 tie town. Church work interested him. | and he also turned his attention to the l political welfare of the people His em- | blowers respected him because he was true
 to every trust reposed in him. Promotion | followed promotion until Claude Martin | held one of the most responsible positions
 within the gift of the quiet little town. | His popularity among the people was | marked
 / He declined to permit the hse of his
 name for public office. but his influence | in politics was manif ested in the cam | paigns to such a degree that he became | known not only In the little town which
 he had adopted as his home but the name was known at the capital of the State, and the Governor. himself, was in- terested in the young man. In this quiet Miss ouri town the little | God of Love came to Claude Martin, and whispered in his ear. He listened, and listening he was ensnared In the little church where he had spent many happy hours. Claude Martin became the husband of one of the sweetest and fairest girls in the Missouri town
 Two bright little babes came to the home of Claude Martin and his girl wife, and people said they were the happiest