Thankless marriage comes to tragic end in Siloam Springs 42-years after they should have said "I don't"

Matthew Bentley

Life is a lot like marriage.

Sometimes it works out. Sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes it just ends.

Sadly, that was the case for a wealthy English immigrant and his wife who moved to Northwest Arkansas in the late 1910's in an effort to duplicate their business successes in both Nebraska and Iowa.

Matthew R. Bentley and Agnes Cooke we're married in late 1869 or early 1870 in Winneshiek County, Iowa. The county, which maintains a rich cultural history from Czech, Slovak, English Irish German Swiss and Norwegian immigrants that settled into the region after the Civil War was at that time, and still remains to this day, I largely rule and agriculture county in north- eastern Iowa.

Agnew Cooke Bentley

According to census information, the couple lived in or near the county seat of Decorah for a while after their marriage.  Matthew, who immigrated to the United States at a young age from England, was approximately 35 years old when the couple married.

Agnes, whose family were prominent residents of Winneshiek County was approximately five years younger than her new husband, whose modest beginning as a farmer would not foreshadow the tremendous wealth he amassed over their next 42 years whi;e in thee marriage.

According to an article in the Decorah Republican dated April 18' 1912, Matthew Bentley had a successful farm in the Madison area of the county and sold out before he moved to Decorah.

It was there he met Agnes, who was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs L.L, Cooke, prominent members of the community from one of the pioneer families in the region.

The Cooke family had moved to Iowa from New York and can be traced back to the Revolutionary War period. It is sad that the family came from wealthy New England stock.

An excerpt of the same article stated:

"He (Matthew Bentley)  was a money maker and money was always his God. He was constantly trying to accumulate it and always disliked spending any (money) even for the necessities of life. He was penurious with his wife, so much so that she for years made her own spending money by fancy work and painting rather than ask her husband for money."

"Penurious" is largely archaic phrase now but means "tight-fisted" or "penny pinching". In other words, Mattew was a miserly old coot who didn't want to spend a penny more than he had to on anything that was going to make him any money in the end.

Apparently, Matthew was in the business of "money lending". After apparently accumulating a decent net worth he and Agnes relocated to Red Cloud, Nebraska where  he continued to make strides in the business world, mostly thanks to his wife.

The pre-1883 move to Red Cloud was significant for a couple of reasons. Matthew Bentley was able to become extremely successful in the loan industry, and the couple built a house that stands to this day and is on the National Registery of Historic places.

The Matthew R.  Bentley house,  located at 845 North Cedar in Red Cloud,  was built in 1883 by Jay brubaker a local carpenter. Designed in the Gothic revival architectural style it was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places on August 12, 1892.

The home is open today for tours and is a museum piece that tells the story of late 1800's everyday life for a moderately wealthy family.

In addition, an early 20th century novelist by the name of Willa Sibert Cather, who penned a novel "The Song of the Lark", used the Matthew Remley home as a backdrop for one of the homes in her fictional tale. Although Cather set her novel in Colorado, she acknowledged the house, and the surrounding neighborhood was her inspiration for the Duke Block and Matthew and Agnes Bentley are both fictionalized in the tome.

Red Cloud, Nebraska -1896

Ironically, the success of Matthew Bentley in Red Cloud was built on the back of the hard work and talents of his wife. While the couple had enough money for the move, once they got to Red Cloud Agnes opened a millinery shop which provided the start up money for Matthew's business.

Most historical documents have the couple gone from Nebraska and residing in Siloam Springs by 1909. Matthew continued to find success in The lending business and Agnes continued to supplement their income and pay for the household necessities through her painting, sewing, needlepoint, and millinery efforts.

It is estimated before the couple made the move to Siloam Springs their net worth was just over $200,000. In 2023 dollars that would equal out to $6,330,948.45.

Sometime in 1912, Agnes had enough. She had persuaded Matthew to loan some of her family members approximately $30,000 and a couple of missed or slow payments had become a point of contention between the long-time married couple.

Matthew apparently wanted his money back with a good amount of interest in a short time, and Agnes felt that because the loan had been made to her family members that he should allow them more time to make good on the note.

The dispute escalated to the point that, after nearly 42 years of marriage, Agnes worked up enough gumption to ask Matthew for a divorce.. Matthew was more than willing to grant her wishes, but the splitting up of the assets between the couple hinged on one sticking point.

Matthew wanted Agnes to absorb the $30,000 loan to her family and he wanted to deduct that from her half of the assets before settling up and splitting he sheets.

 The couple remained under the same roof, mainly because Matthew's spendthrift ways would not allow him to seek a residence someplace else, nor would the "gentleman" in him just put his wife of so many years out on the streets.

The dividing of the assets remained a burning topic. On April 10, 1912, Matthew and Agnes were sitting in the dining room of their Siloam Spromgs discussing the situation.  At an impasse Agnes decided to go upstairs and retire for to a room for the evening.

Moments after she went upstairs, Matthew barged into the bedroom with a .38 caliber pistol in his hand. The investigation revealed that Matthew shot Agnes under her chin and as she fell he fired a second shot they went into her left ear. The doctor that investigated the scene said she was likely dead when she hit the floor.

Moments after doing the deadly deed Matthew walked into the adjacent room and put the pistol to his head, firing once.  The law enforcement officials investigating the scene said he was lying in the pool of blood the revolver on one side and a hand mirror on the other. The officers supposed he sat down on the floor and use the mirror to balance the weapon.

Matthew's brother John who was living nearby in the country was notified and he came immediately and took charge of the remains.

Matthew was buried in the Oak cemetery in Siloam springs. The Cook family arranged for Agnes's body to be returned to Decorah and she was buried in the Phelps cemetery next to her parents and one sibling.

In death, she had finally achieved what she had been looking for all along. Distance away from, all things considered, what was a horrible husband and a disaster of a marriage.