William used Ben for breaking in gaited horses which he trained on his own track just south of Kalkaska. Frank Knox was Secretary of the Navy in 1942, and signed Jud Bentley's commission in the Navy as an Ensign. Jud is a grand­son of William and Addie. Jud's mother, Fannie, wrote to Knox and told him about Ben. She received a nice long letter from him saying he often wondered what happened to Ben, and was pleased that he had been in such good hands.

Elizabeth got the bright idea of raising a registered dairy herd and paid a big price to have a cow brought over direct from the Jersey Islands. By the time it got to the states it was evident that the cow was with calf, so it was held in New York until the calf was born. After lengthy haggling back and forth she had to pay the same price for the calf and by the time the two got to Kalkaska the calf was half grown. The state inspector showed up to take brucellosis tests and somehow the report came out that both were tubercular. The inspector showed up again to brand both as such and Elizabeth chased him off.

The man sneaked back later and had heated his irons and was about to brand the cows when Elizabeth showed up. She snatched the red hot iron from his hand and branded him real good with it. Nothing was ever done about it but that put the kibosh on her plans and both died of old age. They were the best butter content producers in those parts.

What happened to all the Getty land? After William died in 1902, probably most of it was disposed of from time to time to pay property taxes, and for income to live on. Elizabeth was a clunk when it came to anything other than horses and pure bred cows. When Rena died, Fannie handled the estate and whatever was left was funneled to Elizabeth. She couldn't get any cooperation out of Elizabeth but located a lot of "gasoline bonds" which Irene had invested in during the 1920’s during the heyday of stocks and bonds. They were in denom­inations of $1000 to $10,000 and had all of the coupons quite a stack of them.

When the "crash" hit in 1929, the bonds were left floating with no definite value. These bonds were all on the big oil companies of today and they were raising money for exploration by bond sales. By 1933 or 1934 Fannie found out that some of the companies were in a position to payoff the bonds at up to 10 cents on the dollar. Booze became legal in 1934 and the distilleries were looking for backing to store stocks of whiskey in warehouses.

Elizabeth was contacted by a distiller in Louisville, Kentucky, as owner of the bonds (all negotiable to holder) and they were referred to Fannie who took it up with them. Their proposal was that in return for getting possession of these bonds they would issue "warehouse receipts" for whiskey in storage and the receipts would be for full face value of the bonds (maybe $1.50). The whiskey was to be bonded and kept in warehouses to age and Elizabeth would receive the original cost plus a portion of the accrued value of the booze.

Fannie made the deal and a year or so later a couple of representatives of the distiller showed up in Kalkaska and actually talked her into going with them to Louisville to inspect her property and to check the registration numbers on the barrels with those on her receipts. Anyhow, they showed her all of the piles of barreled whiskey with her numbers on them and took her out on the town. They even let her taste some of her own liquor and her only comment was, "My! that's nice.

Will you give me the recipe?" Perhaps this investment might have produced a half million bucks. Sometime later couple of years two con men got Mold of her in Kalkaska and talked her out of her "warehouse receipts" and left her holding the bag.

Elizabeth never married. Village gossip was that her lover left her waiting at the altar. After Irene's death, Elizabeth lived alone in the decaying Getty mansion in downtown Kalkaska a recluse rarely seen by anyone; even leaving the money for the fuel oil deliveryman in a can on the porch. One day in 1955 when the boy came to deliver her groceries, he found her lying in the woodshed, badly beaten. Her assailant had ransacked and robbed the house, taking many priceless antiques. Elizabeth lived nearly a year after the beating. She died of heart failure in the Traverse City State Hospital August 26, 1956, at the age of 78 years.

Frances Florence Getty, called Fannie by her family and friends, was born in Forest Home, September 27, 1879. 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.

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.

In addition to her musical talent, she was artistically inclined, painting many still life pictures.

On March 4, 1909, she married Harry Everett Judson Bentley. They had two children: Francis Getty Bentley, born in 1910, and Everett Judson Bentley, born in 1915. They were both born in Kalkaska. Harry deserted his family when the children were small. His father, Judge Bentley, offered Frances the job of Clerk of Probate, which position she held at the time of her death, January 18, 1947. Fannie and Harry were divorced in 1930. Harry died in Rush City, Minnesota, July 2, 1950.

It was my good fortune to be given some old newspapers found in the Getty home after Elizabeth had died and the estate was settled.

William John Getty died very unexpectedly on February 22, 1902, at the age of 70 years. His sudden death shocked the community, for he was one of the oldest and most respected pioneers of Kalkaska and Antrim Counties. Following his death, several lengthy articles appeared in the local newspapers. Following is one taken from THE KALKASKIAN. It had previously been printed in the ANTRIM COUNTY SENTINEL. The newspaper was in excellent condition considering that it was eighty two years old.