Hugh Bentley was born in Phenix City, Alabama on August 13, 1909. According to his obituary in the Columbus Ledger Enquirer, he was a successful merchant (owning Bentley Sporting Goods Store at 1242 Broadway in Columbus, Georgia) and was active in the local Kiwanis Club, the Merchants Association, the YMCA, the Valley Rescue Mission and the Boys Club. In 1951 he was elected president of the Russell Betterment Association, a group of citizens who banded together to try to do something about the gangster element that had a stranglehold on Phenix City and Russell County. Before he was through, Bentley’s home had been bombed, he had been severely beaten, an attorney general-elect of Alabama had been murdered and Phenix City had been put under martial law, not to mention his financial suffering. He persevered, leaving a legacy of a much improved Phenix City. He died there on April 13, 1984.