Harry C. Bentley

Harry Clark Bentley (18771967) was an American businessman, entrepreneur, accountant, professor, and writer. He is best remembered as the founder, namesake, and first president of Bentley University. Prior to founding the school, Bentley worked as an accountant and professor. He also wrote two widely-respected books on accounting.

Early Life and Education Harry C. Bentley was born on February 28, 1877, in Harwinton, Connecticut, the son of Louisa and George Daniel Bentley and the youngest of six children. George Bentley (1837-1908) served as a wagon master for the Union in the Civil War, and afterwards, worked as an itinerant sharecropper and woodcutter. He suffered from schizophrenia, however, and when Harry was two, became so "violently insane" that he was incarcerated in the State Asylum for the Insane in Middleton, Connecticut, where he spent the remainder of his life. After George Bentley's breakdown, his wife Louisa (1839-1919) and their eldest son Daniel Bentley (1862-1953) provided for the family, she by sewing and he by sharecropping. The Bentley family was also aided by George's Army pension. The family was very poor and frequently moved around western Connecticut making it difficult for Bentley to attend school. Thus, Harry only completed seven precollegiate grades. Harry completed schoolwork to please his mother and helped his family to farm, but he performed poorly in both.