George Payne Bent was born in Illinois in 1854, the son of George and Mary Priscilla Payne Bent. He married Clara Ames Wingate, who was the daughter of Henry and Charity Emeline Willsie Wingate. George Payne Bent manufactured George P. Bent Pianos (later called Crown Pianos) in Chicago from about 1890 to 1920. The George P. Bent family had a summer home called "The Boulders" in Wisconsin near Lake Geneva, and close to the Harris' summer estate, "Wadsworth Hall." George Payne and Clara Bent had six children: George H. ("Harry"), Charity M., (who died at age 21 of typhoid fever), Muriel (who married Stanley Gale Harris), Dorothy A. (who married Clayton Lane), Charles Matchett, and Barbara B. The Bent family materials contain a great deal of genealogical material, due to Clara's interest in family history and her many applications to genealogical societies, such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Colonial Wars, etc.

George P. Bent wrote a memoir entitled "Tales of Travel, Life and Love," which contains photographs and genealogical information about the Bent and related families, and about Iowa where the Bent and Wingate families were based. (At Newberry Library, Call Number E 7 .B44625)