William Bentley (d. after 1819) rose from second lieutenant to captain in Virginia regiments of the Continental army and represented Powhatan County in the Virginia House of Delegates, 1791–96. On the recommendation of George Washington, President John Adams appointed him a lieutenant colonel commanding a regiment stationed in Richmond as part of an army expansion intended to meet the growing threat of war with France, and he served from early in 1799 until his unit was disbanded in June 1800 (The Pension Roll of 1835 [1835; indexed ed., 1992], 3:728; Heitman, U.S. Army description begins Francis B. Heitman, comp., Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army, 1903, 2 vols. description ends , 1:213; Leonard, General Assembly description begins Cynthia Miller Leonard, comp., The General Assembly of Virginia, July 30, 1619–January 11, 1978: A Bicentennial Register of Members, 1978 description ends ; Washington, Papers description begins W. W. Abbot, Dorothy Twohig, Philander D. Chase, and others, eds., The Papers of George Washington, 1983– , 46 vols.: Colonial Ser., 6 vols.; Confederation Ser., 10 vols.; Pres. Ser., 12 vols.; Retirement Ser., 4 vols. ; Rev. War Ser., 14 vols. description ends , Retirement Ser., 3:228, 240; JEP description begins Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States description ends , 1:299, 305 [31 Dec. 1798, 10 Jan. 1799]).

Bentley’s relations with TJ grew out of his role as administrator of the estate and guardian of the children of William Ronald (d. 1793). In 1790 Ronald bought TJ’s 1,076-acre Willis Creek property in Cumberland County. Bentley later purchased the tract from Ronald’s estate, and delays in paying the money due to TJ eventually led to a lawsuit in the Virginia High Court of Chancery. The court awarded TJ a favorable decision in 1797 and Bentley paid the bulk of what he owed by 1799, but the account was not completely settled until 1822 (PTJ description begins Julian P. Boyd, Charles T. Cullen, John Catanzariti, Barbara B. Oberg, and others, eds., The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, 1950– , 31 vols. description ends , 17:569–71 [mistakenly entitled “Agreement of Sale for Elk Hill”], 29:476–8; MB description begins James A. Bear Jr. and Lucia C. Stanton, eds., Jefferson’s Memorandum Books: Accounts, with Legal Records and Miscellany, 1767–1826, 1997, The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series description ends , 1:767–8, 2:1051, 1384; Marshall, Papers description begins Herbert A. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, Charles F. Hobson, and others, eds., The Papers of John Marshall, Chapel Hill, 1974–2006, 12 vols. description ends , 8:209–16).