On October 7, 1863, he married Persis Orilla Freeman and moved to Clinton, Iowa in 1866.

[1] Bentley served as city clerk, treasurer, and secretary of the board of education.

The first Prohibition state convention in Nebraska was held in 1884 and he was selected to serve as its chairman.

[2] At the 1896 Prohibition convention he supported the broad gauger faction that wanted to add women's suffrage and free silver to the party's platform, but after the narrow gauger faction successfully defeated those attempts Bentley, John St. John, and Helen M. Gougar led a walkout of the broad gaugers and created the breakaway National Party and nominated a rival ticket with Bentley as president and James H. Southgate as vice president.

On February 6, 1905, Bentley was visiting Los Angeles where he died from heart disease after being visited by an unknown woman and was found to be missing multiple valuables including his gold watch.