Jul 7, 2016 3 min read

Bentleyville residents last week marked their town’s 200th birthday. It was not a solemn celebration of local history, but a joyous one made with equal parts pride and humor, capped by a parade last Saturday.

The tone was set by T-shirts on sale that featured the grizzled, top-hatted image of founder Sheshbazzar Bentley and the slogan “Straight Outta Bentleyville,” a not-so-subtle reference to “Straight Outta Compton,” the 2015 film about a rap group in that California city. The shirts used the same graphic design as posters for that movie.

Amusing, too, was when a time capsule was opened containing a letter written by Bentleyville Courier publisher Guy W. Paul on Aug. 6, 1966, in which he predicted, “What were the communities of Bentleyville and Ellsworth will be known as the city of Bentworth, and the city of Bentworth will be the southern anchor of a vast industrial complex stretching from Monongahela … and you’ll be able to take a rocket ship to Paris in two hours.” We have to wonder if Paul envisioned those supersonic flights taking off from Bentworth International Airport.

Needless to say, no vast industrial complex happened (in fact, it nearly disappeared), and Bentleyville, with a population of just over 2,500, remains a borough. We can fly directly from Pittsburgh to Paris, but it takes eight hours. It was not transportation that advanced by leaps and bounds over half a century; it was communication, and no one foresaw that.

We have to wonder if any babies born to Bentleyvillians this year might be named in honor of the town’s founder. Granted, Sheshbazzar could cause a child problems with teasing classmates, but it would be his own.

Biblical names have always been popular, but many have fallen out of favor from overuse. No one seems to name their children Joseph or Mary anymore. And Noah, Jonah and Sarah have about reached their limit. Fortunately, the Bible is chock-full of names like Sheshbazzar that are rarely – if ever – used today.

Forget Abigail, Miriam, Ruth and Deborah, all common biblical names for girls. What’s wrong with Abishag, Bathsheba or Hephzibab, for instance? The last was the wife of King Hezekiah, another fine moniker. One name with a little zest is Zipporah, wife of Moses and daughter of Jethro, two boys’ names you don’t run across very much, either.

But back to Sheshbazzar. When Cyrus the king of Persia allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem, he gave back the articles of the house of the Lord that Nebuchadnezzar had taken. According to Ezra 1:8, Cyrus counted out into the hands of Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah the treasures Nebuchadnezzar had taken.

Now, some biblical scholars believe Sheshbazzar is just the court name for Zerrubbabel. Regardless, they’re both fine names. So is Nebuchadnezzar, and if you think that’s too many syllables, just nickname the kid Chad.

And let’s not forget Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.

It can be argued Bentleyville, with the closing of the nearby coal mines, is not what it used to be, nor is it what publisher Paul hoped it would be. But it is a place with a long history, hometown pride and, not least of all, a sense of humor.