Frances Florence "Fannie" (Getty) Bentley was born September 27, 1879 in Forest Home Township, Antrim County, Michigan. Her parents were William, Sr and Adeline (Baird) Getty. 

Frances graduated from the Boston Conservatory and then taught piano and violin, and toured the United States with a ladies orchestra.

She operated a music studio, taught French, organized and directed the Kalkaska Ladies' Concert Band which existed from 1905 to 1912, traveled with the Boston Ladies' Symphony Orchestra, playing the violin, and was a member of the Bay View Orchestra, Petoskey, Michigan. Frances also played with the New York and Chicago Symphonies, and the Navassar Band of Texas and New York.

On March 4, 1909, she married Harry Everett Judson Bentley and they had two children:

1. Francis Getty Bentley (1910- )

2. Everett Judson Bentley (1915- )

Frances operated a music studio in Kalkaska which caught fire burning her entire music library.

Harry's father, Judge Bentley, offered Frances the job of  Clerk of Probate in Hancock in Michigan's upper peninsula  which she held the rest of her life. She and Harry were divorced in 1930.

Frances died on January 18, 1947 at the age of 67.

"It is fair to say that Fannie was in a class by herself when it came to understanding, composing and interpretation of music and this talent was recognized by the top people in that field but she was a woman, struggling for recognition in a man's world. For this reason alone, she organized her own all-girl concert orchestra in Kalkaska, as there was no place for her in the men's bands.

When she finished her advanced music schooling, she took a rigorous test and was granted a Life Certificate to teach music, which was, in itself, a mark of distinction. Her basic instrument was the piano, although she taught each and every member of her own band to play their individual instruments and she played the clarinet. The violin was one of her favorite instruments.

She was pretty much a pioneer in all-girl music units and apparently others took the cue sometime later. She learned there was such a unit called the Boston Ladies' Symphony Orchestra and she contacted them for a place in this unit (clarinet) and left Kalkaska to join them. The organizer and director was a man. She consulted the director and asked permission to direct the unit, which was granted on a trial basis. She did very well.

In addition to traveling all over the United States with the Boston Ladies' Symphony Orchestra, she also played with the New York and Chicago Symphonies, and the Navassar Band of Texas and New York."