Bentley Family Photographs

The Bentley family of Rochester, New York included multiple generations of prominent citizens. Its members were particularly prominent in the local legal community. The following brief biographies cover several members of the family represented by the photographs in this collection.

William Francis Cogswell was born September 26, 1824 in Perinton, New York, the child of early migrants to the area. He attended the common schools before studying law in Brighton and Rochester, passing the bar in 1846. In 1850, he sought a nomination as Monroe County district attorney; failing to receive it, he left all political aspirations behind and spent the rest of his life in law. Focusing on civil law, he was eminently successful and gained considerable wealth. He formed a partnership with James Breck Perkins from 1871 to 1881, followed by partnerships with his son in law Sardius Delancey Bentley and then, later still, with his son William N. Cogswell. He married Martha Breck, daughter of James Breck, with whom he had 1 son and 4 daughters before her passing in 1881. He was also active in the Third Presbyterian Church. William Francis Cogswell passed away on February 12, 1905.

Sardius Delancey Bentley was born November 9, 1843 in Lakewood, New York (Chatauqua County). He attended schools in Kingsville and Randolph, Ohio before matriculating at the University of Rochester, from which he graduated in 1870. He soon became principal of the academy at Kingsville, Ohio, before returning to Rochester to teach mathematics, Greek and Latin at the Collegiate Institute (a private academy). He studied law at the office of his father in law, William F.Cogswell, in Rochester, and passed the bar in 1873, practicing law thereafter until literally the day before his death. A member of Third Presbyterian Church his entire life in Rochester, Sardius Bentley was an elder emeritus at the time of his death on November 30, 1922. He married Martha Cogswell, with whom he had 6 sons: Cogswell, Delancey, Charles Raymond, Alexander, Harold and Livingston.

Martha Cogswell was born August 1, 1852 in Rochester, the daughter of William F. Cogswell and Martha Breck Cogswell, the daughter of some of Rochester's earliest settlers. She was educated at Rochester's Livingston Park Seminary and the Farmington School in Connecticut (staying active in the Farmington Society of Rochester her entire life). She was a noted music lover and lifelong member of the Third Presbyterian Church. She lived with her husband, Sardius, in a home at 7 Prince Street at a home given to the couple as a wedding gift by her father. They had 6 sons (listed above). She passed away on May 2, 1942, and is buried with her husband in Mt. Hope Cemetery.

Alexander Norton Bentley was born to Sardius DeLancey and Martha Cogswell Bentley in 1881. He attended the Rochester Free Academy, followed by the University of Rochester for one year, then Cornell University, from which he graduated in 1904 with a degree in electrical engineering. He was hired by the Exide Battery Company, first to manage their southern branch in Atlanta, Georgia, then moving to Toronto to establish their Canadian branch, which he managed for many years. He moved to Geneseo after retiring, and passed away on November 5, 1953. He left a wife, Miriam Lance Bentley, and his only child, Alexander Norton Bentley, Jr., of Wolcott - the father of the donor of this collection.