Records of the incarceration back up this affidavit. Then neighbors remembered finding additional bodies on the prairie the past winter that had been mutilated in much the same fashion. While the two women were certainly criminals and liars, as their own defense attorney admitted, the charges were weak and many people doubted their identification as the Benders. The Bloody Benders were a family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas, from May 1871 to December 1872. It is the first and only comprehensive story of the Bloody Benders; a terrible chapter in the annuals of crime on this lonely prairie Inn in the southeast Kansas. Relocating to Independence from, 7) December 1872: Johnny Boyle. In Fargo (Season 4, Episode 9), outside the entrance to The Barton Arms, a Kansas Historical Marker plaque for “The Mellon Mounds” recounts the story of the Mellon family, who lured unsuspecting travelers into their home, killed them with a hammer, and buried them out back. Mrs. Almira Griffith) and Mrs. Sarah Eliza Davis had been arrested in Niles, Michigan (often misreported as Detroit) several weeks earlier for larceny. Buried in the apple orchard. Their murders were carried out by use of a canvas curtain that divided the house into two rooms. Washington, D.C.: Photoduplication Service, Library of Congress,1913. ?," "big slaughter day, Jan eighth", and "hell departed. When the party arrived at the inn they found the cabin empty of food, clothing, and personal possessions. $38 (2021: $811) and a wagon with a team of horses missing. The township trustee called for volunteers, and several hundred turned out to form a search party that included Colonel York. that when a guest would stay at the Benders' bed and breakfast inn, the hosts would give the guest a seat of honor at the table which was positioned over a trap door that led into the cellar. Vol. [1][2] A knife with a four-inch tapered blade was reportedly found hidden in a mantel clock in the Bender house by Colonel York. Elvira was suspected[by whom?] ‎In this episode, we head to Kansas and explore the Wichita Troll, the Sallie House, and the Bloody Benders. A number of researchers question the ready acceptance of the affidavit's authenticity and suggest that the county was unwilling to accept the expense of boarding the two women for an extended period. McCrotty. The message is accompanied by a link of unknown origin—one that is likely an attempt to gather personal information. It covers the on-going investigation into the Bloody Benders. When attempts were made to relocate the museum it became a point of controversy, some locals objecting to the town being known for the Bender murders. [11] Whether John Flickinger was really John Bender is unknown. [1][2][3], The area was already widely known for "horse thieves and villains", and vigilance committees often "arrested" some for the disappearances, only for them to be later released by the authorities. 1) “The Bloody Benders” A gang of four so ferocious they have the catchy nickname to prove it, the Benders settled in isolated Labette County, Kansas, in the early 1870s. The Bender Family—Some New Light on Their Mysterious Disappearance. Some of the Benders' neighbors claimed that John and Kate were not brother and sister, but actually husband and wife. 10) December 1872: John Greary. The body was then dropped through the trap door. Colonel York agreed that this was possible and remained for dinner. She mentioned stopping at the inn, as well as recounting the rumors of the murders spreading through their community. Several groups of vigilantes were formed to search for the Benders. Marker Name: The Bloody Benders Marker Type: Rest Area Marker text: Near here are the Bender Mounds, named for the infamous Bender family--John, his wife, son, and daughter Kate--who settled here in 1871. With the exception of McKenzie and York,[17] who were buried in Independence; the Longcors, who were buried in Montgomery County; and McCrotty, who was buried in Parsons, Kansas, none of the other bodies were claimed, and they were reburied at the base of a small hill 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the Benders' orchard, one of several at the location now known as "The Benders Mounds". [2], Two men who had traveled to the inn to experience Kate Bender's psychic powers stayed on for dinner but had refused to sit at the table next to the cloth, instead preferring to eat their meal at the main shop counter. The owner of the Drum Creek claim was suspected, but no action was taken. [1] The family consisted of John Bender and his wife, Elvira, their son, John Jr., and daughter, Kate. By 1873, reports of missing people who had passed through the area had become so common that travelers began to avoid the trail. The Bloody Benders were a family of serial killers who owned an inn and small general store in Labette County of southeastern Kansas from 1871 to 1873. All four had crushed skulls and throats cut. "[7], Word of the murders spread quickly, and more than three thousand people, including reporters from as far away as New York City and Chicago, visited the site. "Prior to their ownership, which took place in the 1950s, there could have been an excavation that I'm not aware of.". The body of a young girl was found with no injuries sufficient to cause death. There’s a storm gate in Wichita, Kansas that has no plaque or indication, only a troll sculpture that waits for the unaware – it is the Wichita Troll. Once Kansas declared itself with the Union and the Civil War began to rage, the bloody battles continued. 11) December 1872: Red Smith. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. of murdering several husbands, but none of these rumors were ever proven. It was suspected that the Benders sat travelers near the curtain and used some sort of hammer to hit them in the back of the head, before they dropped their victim through the trap door and into the cellar below. The story of the Benders' escape spread, and the search continued on and off for the next 50 years. Try this feature for free with a MyRouteYou Plus trial subscription. [1][2] Although some of the victims had been quite wealthy, others had been carrying little of value on them, and it was surmised that the Benders had killed them simply for the sheer thrill. Before York left, Kate asked him to return alone the following Friday night, and she would use her clairvoyant abilities to help him find his brother. The stone slab floor was broken up with sledgehammers but no bodies were found, and it was determined that the smell was from blood that had soaked into the soil. As a family of psychopaths, the Bloody Benders often killed their victims simply for the sheer thrill of it, but they also profited well from the property they got from guests. "To my knowledge, there have been no efforts to excavate the property during the time my clients have owned the farm," Brent Wellings, auction manager for Schrader Real Estate and Auction Co., told CNN. Their attorney also produced a marriage certificate indicating that Mrs. Davis had been married in Michigan in 1872, the time when several of the murders were committed. The Bloody Benders Marker. In the spring of 1873, Longcor's former neighbor, Dr. William Henry York, went looking for them and questioned homesteaders along the trail. [1], One detective later claimed that he had traced the pair to the border, where he had found that John Jr. had died of apoplexy. The Bloody Benders were a German Immigrant family who lived in Southeast Kansas from 1869–1872. Its floor was covered in pools of blood. Later, she married William Stephen Griffith. Senator Samuel C. Pomeroy's bribery of state legislators in his bid for re-election. The affidavits and other papers are missing from the file in LaBette County, so further examination is impossible. [3] Also in 1884, an elderly man matching Pa Bender's description was arrested in Montana for a murder committed near Salmon, Idaho, where the victim had been killed by a hammer blow to the head. In the winter of 1872, George Newton Longcor and his infant daughter, Mary Ann, left Independence, Kansas, to resettle in Iowa and were never seen again. [5], Detectives following wagon tracks discovered the Benders' wagon, abandoned with a starving team of horses with one of the mares lame, just outside the city limits of Thayer, 12 mi (19 km) north of the inn. to be Elvira's fifth daughter. In 1992, Fern Morrow Wood, a Cherryvale teacher, wrote The Benders, Keepers of the Devil's Inn. [18], The Ingalls family, made famous in the books and television series Little House on the Prairie, lived near Independence, and Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned the Bender family in her writing and speeches. The Bloody Benders Historic Marker. It was speculated that she had been strangled or buried alive. But morbid mementos of the crime may still linger beneath the surface of the land. On this episode, TJ and I research Americas first serial killer family from the 1870's. Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. After opening the trap, the empty room beneath, 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 7 feet (2.1 m) square at the top by 3 feet (0.9 m) square at the bottom, was found to have clotted blood on the floor. Dec 12, 2019 - Explore Cari Knight's board "Bloody Benders", followed by 217 people on Pinterest. 16-19) December 1872: During the search, the bodies of four unidentified males were found in Drum Creek and the surrounds. The search of the cabin resulted in the recovery of three hammers: a shoe hammer, a claw hammer, and a sledgehammer that appeared to match indentations in some of the skulls. [7] Brockman would be arrested again 23 years later for the rape and murder of his own 18-year-old daughter.[8]. This page was last edited on 7 January 2021, at 03:06. [5][18] Mrs. McCann's story came from dreams that she had about her father's murder, which she discussed with Sarah Eliza. 1870-1873", Sheriff Saves the Neck of a Man Who Murdered His Own Daughter, http://www.murderbygaslight.com/2010/11/bloody-benders.html, Scan of Chicago Daily Tribune, October 31, 1889, "The Bloody Benders: 140-year-old crime scene still fascinates today", "Selective Omissions, or, What Laura Ingalls Wilder left out of LITTLE HOUSE", "Little House on the Prairie, serial killers, and the nature of memoir", "They Bite: Anthony Boucher's Weirder Western", "Hitchcock's Birds, Hope Diamond, Phineas Gage", "One Red Dead Redemption 2 Side Quest Is Based On An Actual Serial Killer", 1873 map of Bender claim in Osage township of Labette County, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bloody_Benders&oldid=998805091, Wikipedia articles needing rewrite from April 2020, Articles with specifically marked weasel-worded phrases from July 2019, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. While Bender mythology holds that John Jr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported that several of the Benders' neighbors had stated that they claimed to be married, possibly a common law marriage. After the Civil War the Osage Indians were moved from their home in Labette County to Oklahoma, in order to make the Kansas Territory available to European settlers. A Catholic priest claimed to have seen one of the Bender men concealing a large hammer, at which point he became uncomfortable and quickly departed. Though the bodies were found in the spring of 1894, the Mellons were never caught. [8] A Roman Catholic prayer book was found in the house with notes inside written in German, which were later translated. [1][2][3] Despite York's strong suspicions regarding the Benders since his visit several weeks earlier, no one had watched them, and it was not noticed for several days that they had fled. They were never found and later I formed my own conclusions why. Well, you're in luck. In mid-October, Deputy Sheriff LeRoy Dick, the Osage Township trustee who had headed the search of the Bender property, arrived in Michigan and arrested the couple on October 30, following their release on the larceny charges. According to contemporary newspapers, Elvira was born Almira Hill Mark (often misreported as "Meik") in the Adirondack Mountains; she married Simon Mark, with whom she claimed to have had 12 children. On May 17, Kansas Governor Thomas A. Osborn offered a $2,000 ($42,683 as of 2021) reward for the apprehension of all four. The 'Bloody Benders' are known as America's first family of serial killers. "Young Bender, seen when excited, recalled the grave-robbing hyena at once to mind." The Benders in Kansas. According to the Pittsburgh Dispatch, the daughter of one of the Benders' victims, Mrs. Frances E. McCann, had reported the pair to authorities in early October after tracking them down. The Benders’ cabin was demolished long ago, and the precise location of the home and its garden are not known. The search revealed a single-room timber cabin that had been divided into two by a curtain. In October 1870, five families of spiritualists homesteaded in and around the township of Osage in northwestern Labette County, approximately 7 mi (11 km) northeast of where Cherryvale would be established seven months later. The former property of the "Bloody Benders" is up for sale. The "Bloody Benders" were made up of John Bender Sr., his wife and two children. John Bender, Sr. was around 60 years old and spoke very little English. 20) May 1873: Dr William York. Located at the rest area at the junction of US Hwy 169 and 400 in NE Labette County, Kansas. Now that land is going up for auction. Despite the lack of identification, the man's skull was displayed as that of "Pa Bender" in a Salmon saloon until Prohibition forced its closure in 1920 and the skull disappeared. The "Bloody Benders" were a German family of four that settled a claim in southeastern Kansas in Labette County in 1871. Digging resumed the following morning; another eight bodies were found in seven of the nine suspected graves, while one was found in the well, along with a number of body parts. Coordinates: 37°20′56″N 95°29′10″W  /  37.349°N 95.486°W  / The Bloody Benders were an alleged family of serial killers who owned a small general store and inn in Osage township, Labette County, Kansas from 1871 to The inn was a simple one room house divided into living quarters and the kitchen and store area. ISBN 978-1-5368-9341-0. According to the May 23, 1873 edition of The Emporia News, he was identified with the name of William Bender. [7], A bad odor was noticed and traced to a trap door underneath a bed, nailed shut. Newspapers: The Kansas Murders - New York TImes, May 13, 1873 Says They're Not the Benders - New York Times, January 11, 1890 Website: The Bloody Benders … The Sally House was built in Atchison,… 6) December 1872: Henry McKenzie. The Benders used the smaller room at the rear for living quarters, while the front room was converted into a "general store" where a few dry goods were sold. [7], A Kansas newspaper reported that the crowd was so incensed after finding the bodies that a friend of the Benders named Brockman, who was among the onlookers, was hanged from a beam in the inn until unconscious, revived and interrogated as to what he knew, then hanged again. A self-proclaimed healer and psychic, she distributed flyers advertising her supernatural powers and her ability to cure illnesses. The timber cabin where the murders were committed no longer exists, and there are no structures or buildings that remain on the property. It is unknown if the Bender family committed any other murders there. When he did speak it, it was so guttural that it was usually unintelligible. Dr. York reached Fort Scott, and on March 9 began the return journey to Independence but never arrived home. The media speculated that some of the victims had attempted to fight back after being hit with the hammer. [18], A historical marker describing the Benders’ crimes is located in the rest area at the junction of U.S. Route 400 and U.S. Route 169 north of Cherryvale. After the gruesome murders, it's believed that the Benders had fled the area and were never found, according to the KHS. The parts did not belong to any of the other victims found and are believed to belong to at least three additional victims. In total, 12 men "of bad repute in general" would be arrested, including Brockman. Inscription. Page 1. All but one had had their heads bashed with a hammer and their throats cut, and it was reported in newspapers that all had been "indecently mutilated". State Senator Alexander York offered a $1,000 ($21,342 as of 2021) reward for the Bender family's arrest. Yet another claimed to have killed the Benders during a gunfight and buried their bodies on the prairie. Another of Mrs. Monroe's daughters, Mary Gardei, later provided an affidavit claiming that her mother (then Almira Shearer), under the name of Almira Marks, was actually serving two years in the Detroit House of Corrections in 1872 for the manslaughter of her daughter-in-law, Emily Mark. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira Bender, son John, Jr., and daughter Kate. With the victim's back to the curtain Kate would distract the guest, while John Bender or his son would come from behind the curtain and strike the guest on the right side of the skull with a hammer. One might have been Jack Bogart, whose horse was purchased from a friend of the Benders after he went missing in 1872. They admitted Dr. York had stayed with them and suggested the possibility that he had run into trouble with Indians. Co D 123rd Ill Infantry. Much folklore and legend surrounds the Benders, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. But in the spring of 1873, on the frontier prairie where the field is now, the Benders lived in a little wood-sided house that doubled as a general store near the Osage Trail. Both knew of William's travel plans and, when he failed to return home, an all-out search began for the missing doctor. At this point, the customers began to feel uneasy and decided to leave, a move that almost certainly saved their lives. Mrs. Monroe now admitted she had married a Mr. Shearer in 1872 and claimed she had previously denied it, as she did not want the court to know that her name was Shearer at that time and that she had a conviction for manslaughter. Tole reported the fact to the township trustee, but because of inclement weather, several days lapsed before the abandonment could be investigated. By the time a deputy from Cherryvale arrived, identification was impossible due to decomposition. Kate then became abusive toward them, and a short while later the two Bender men emerged from behind the cloth. Several weeks after the discovery of the bodies, Addison Roach and his son-in-law, William Buxton, were arrested as accessories. $ 42,683 ) missing under suspicion were also run out of the had! During the search, the customers began to rage, the four made living. Locals began scouring the area after reports of missing people who had the same fashion her brother regularly Sunday! 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