A cult-like group, the families, chose from several available claims and began to make their homes. His family was from the Cherryvale, Kansas area, and the story involves a group of men that found the Benders and were in a gunfight with them, one of whom was a judge that lost part of his ear in the gun battle. Rounding out the boardinghouse crew (west side) is a young man on his way to make it rich on the Texas oil fields. John Bender, Jr. was a tall, slender man of about 25 who was handsome with auburn hair and a mustache. Prying it open, the men found a six-foot-deep hole filled with clotted blood, causing a terrible odor. Elvira Bender, who also allegedly spoke little English, was 55 years old and so unfriendly that her neighbors took to calling her a "she-devil.". From those who knew them and have written about the Benders:[4], She professed to be a medium of spiritualism, and delivered lectures on that subject. Seventy-five locals attended the meeting, including Colonel York and both John BenderSr. and John BenderJr. After discussing the disappearances, including that of William York, they agreed to obtain a warrant to search every homestead between Big Hill Creek and Drum Creek. [5], When York repeated the claim, Elvira became enraged, said the woman was a witch who had cursed her coffee, and ordered the men to leave her house, revealing for the first time that "her sense of the English language" was much better than was let on. The two arrive at The Mellon Mounds- a historical marker in Kansas. Inside the wooden cabin, the area was partitioned with a large canvas, creating living quarters in the back and a small inn and store in the front. At the site of a freshly stirred depression in the earth, they found the first body, buried head downward with its feet scarcely covered. A decade after the gruesome killings, nothing was left of the cabin and outbuildings on the property. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders. As they break for a Coke, Calamita arrives. An American Indian legend claimed any twister approaching Topeka from the southwest would have its tail clipped off by Burnett's Mound, a sacred burial ground. State Senator Alexander York offered a $1,000 ($22,619 as of 2023) reward for the family's arrest. Rabbi retreats to take cover behind his vehicle, and Calamita catches him with a bullet in the arm before hes in the clear, making it difficult to return fire. It was confirmed that the family had bought tickets on the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston Railroad for Humboldt. THE MELLON MOUNDS. If this really is Oz, then Satchel is Dorothy and Rabbit is Toto. She advocated "free love," and denounced all social regulations for the promotion of purity and the prevention of carnality, which she called "miserable requirements of self-constituted society." Judge Calvin dismissed Mary Gardei's affidavit as she was a "chip off the old block"; he found that other affidavits supporting Gardei's were sufficient proof that the women could never be convicted, however, and he discharged them both. In her lectures she publicly declared that murder might be a dictation for good; that in what the world might deem villainy, her soul might read bravery, nobility, and humanity. Their murders were carried out by use of a canvas curtain that divided the house into two rooms. Photo courtesy of the BCA. About 75 people attended the gathering, including both Bender men. "[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. She maintained carnal relations with her brother, and boldly proclaimed her right to do so in the following words found in her lecture manuscript: "Shall we confine ourselves to a single love, and deny our natures their proper sway?Even though it be a brother's passion for his own sister, I say it should not be smothered. Those most often reporting glowing apparitions on the property were those who came to the site in search of some long-lost souvenir of the grisly murders. Allegedly, while working at the Bender Inn, she earned her keep as a prostitute, adding an additional amount to the travelers bill for the privilege of laying with her. As they enter the location, named The Barton Arms, the clerk eventually gives Rabbi keys for the west side, though she lets him know that the sisters don't care much for Coloreds. ASSOCIATED PRESS. Many stories say that one vigilante group actually caught the Benders and shot all of them but Kate, whom they burned alive. This historical marker was erected by Kansas State Historical Society and Kansas Department of Transportation. [5][6], Around the same time, neighboring communities began to make accusations that the Osage community was responsible for the disappearances, and Osage township arranged a meeting in the Harmony Grove schoolhouse. Hunza Guides is Pakistan's top mountain destination management company offering full board tours, trekking and expeditions services in Pakistan. A Catholic priest said he fled when he saw one of the Bender men concealing a large hammer. Other corpses found in the area and the many mysterious disappearances of other lonely travelers led the locals to believe that the Benders killed more than 20 people. The Benders family, of German descent, was one of the families who moved to the outskirts of Kansas. Across the hall from them, on the east side of the building, is an Old Testament preacher and his mother (whom the resident gabby salesman- west- mistakes for the preachers wife). [5], Three days after the township meeting, Billy Tole was driving cattle past the Bender property when he noticed that the inn was abandoned and the farm animals were unfed. Though the tales of what happened to the Benders can only be speculated as to their accuracy, the fact that ten bodies were found on the property is not disputed. Good info. While there is no definitive number, estimates report that the Benders killed at least a dozen travelers before their crimes were discovered. The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. The Benders tried to help by admitting that Dr. York had stopped at their place but convinced the search party that he had left and was probably waylaid by Indians. This unnamed man was one of the many who made the mistake of stopping at the Bender Inn. Each season of Fargo stands alone - you can watch them all out of order and still be able to understand what's going on. More gruesomely, though the little girls body was found to have multiple injuries, none of them would have caused death, and it was speculated that the poor lass may have been buried alive. The corpse was that of Dr. William H. York, his skull bludgeoned and his throat cut from ear to ear. Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History, Photographed By William Fischer, Jr., December 18, 2011, The Bloody Benders. John was prone to laughing aimlessly, which led many to consider him a "half-wit." Although the elder Benders kept to themselves, Kate and her brother regularly attended Sunday school in nearby Harmony Grove. Several weeks after the discovery of the bodies, Addison Roach and his son-in-law, William Buxton, were arrested as accessories. I wouldn't have imagined a crazier hotel story other than H H Holmes and The Murder Castle. They werent even a true family the only ones related were Ma and Kate Bender. The filling station attendant tells Omie that this is the only place for gas for miles, and that if Calamita hasnt been through yet, he definitely will. Marker is in this post office area: Cherryvale KS 67335, United States of America. As word of the grisly murders spread, more and more travelers came forward to tell their own stories of a narrow escape, including one gentleman named William Pickering. The Benders are believed to have killed about a dozen people, including one child., Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Bender family is uncertain. This is a list of notable male murderers who committed their murders in Kansas, USA. As the boy listened, the men continued to talk, relating the tale of how the judge had lost his ear. Of the discovery of her remains, the Kansas City Times reported: The little girl was probably eight years of age and had long, sunny hair and some traces of beauty on a countenance that was not yet entirely disfigured by decay. "[20][21] Some have cast doubt on the story, saying that Laura would have been only 4 when her family moved away from the area, and that the Benders were exposed in 1873, two years after the Ingalls family left. Fortunately, Rabbi returns in time to shut down the likely police shooting and receives a warning from the officer about keeping his colored boy out of sight in a town like that. Catch up here! Fact or fiction, no one knows, but Ive always enjoyed the tale and hope you will as well. By the way, said clerk is a Colored. After the third hanging, they released him and he staggered home "as one who was drunken or deranged. Their story is unresolved, and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the old West. The Bender cabin was destroyed by souvenir hunters who took everything, including the bricks that lined the cellar and the stones lining the well.[1][2]. The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. 23) February 1872: Two unidentified men found on the prairie in February 1872 with crushed skulls and throats cut. They buried their victims in a neighboring orchard, unbeknownst to the townspeople. Standing over six feet tall, John was a giant of a man who, because of his piercing black eyes set deeply under huge bushy brows, earned him the nickname of old beetle-browed John. His ruddy face, mostly covered by a heavy beard, sullen expression, and long hair often led to him being described as a wild and wooly-looking man.. The 4th United States Colored Infantry, 1863-1866, A History of the Ninth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, How . , Near here are the Bender Mounds, named for the infamous Bender family ~~ John, his wife, son, and daughter Kate ~~ who settled here in 1871. While popular retelling of the story holds that JohnJr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported that several of the Benders' neighbors had stated that they claimed to be married, possibly in a common law marriage. When the war was over, pioneers began to head westward along the many trails through Kansas; murder and mayhem persisted as hardened men from the battlefields, grown used to the violence, continued their violent ways along the overland trails in the many cow towns. Season 4 Episode 22 (1961) of the TV series, Season 1, episode 15 (2006) of the TV series, The "Hitchcock's Birds, Hope Diamond, Phineas Gang" episode of the Travel Channel's show, The Bender Family is mentioned in episode 94 of the podcast, The story was recounted on Investigation Discovery's, The metal pioneers Macabre have a song about the Benders, who are said to be of Norwegian ancestry -. Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Mellon family was never discovered. It takes an English sentence and breaks it into words to determine if it is a phrase or a clause. [3] Also in 1884, an elderly man matching John Bender Sr.'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. Once in the cellar, the body would be stripped and later buried somewhere on the property, often in the orchard. why i quit civil engineering; goo goo gaga family net worth; how to make homemade biscuits without baking powder; The reason theyre heading toward Liberal is that Rabbi spent enough time there at some point to have stashed $5000 in a feed store in case he needed it. The Benders then stripped him of his clothes and went to bury him when the man suddenly awoke. They buried their victims in a neighboring orchard, unbeknownst to the townspeople. His son chose a narrow piece of land just north of his fathers; however, he never lived on his claim nor made any improvements. Fargo has won multiple Emmy Awards and Golden Globes Awards for outstanding work in television. The texts read "Johannah Bender. The 162-acre tract of cropland known as the "Bender Farm" will be sold off to. Also a great song by Macabre about the Benders: https://youtu.be/NJpbxpbI8FA. They were never caugnt. Daughter Kate was the friendliest of the bunch, speaking good English with just a slight accent and bore cultivated social skills. When his father (my great grandfather), Frank Smalley, was a boy, he was hiding in the hayloft of the family barn when he overheard a group of men below talking and laughing. She soon found the lecture circuit profitable by distributing circulars that proclaimed her skills, including supernatural powers and the ability to cure illnesses and infirmities. So weird, this last weekend I was just reading about the Benders due to a similar encounter in Red Dead Redemption 2. Kate soon gained notoriety as a self proclaimed healer and spiritualist. No documentation or definitive proof of their relationships to one another, or where they were born, has ever been found. Buried in the apple orchard. The book "Hell's Half-Acre: The Untold Story of the Benders, a Serial Killer Family on the American Frontier", by Susan Jonusas, published in 2022. My grandfather, who is approaching 80 years old, is always full of great stories, but he assured me that his father, who passed this on to him, knew what happened. Instead, we downshift hard into the side story ofSatchel (Rodney L Jones III) andRabbi (Ben Whishaw) on the lam, withConstant Calamita (Gaetano Bruno) on their tail. She is fun enough. The house sits alone in a barren landscape composed of post-harvest fields coated halfheartedly with snow. betty crocker net worth 2020; vietnamese culture relationships; pastillas para dormir durante el embarazo; what does modern fit mean in men's shirts? Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Bender family is uncertain. Relocating to Independence from, 7) December 1872: Johnny Boyle. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. 37 20.932 N, 95 31.668 W. Marker is in Morehead, Kansas, in Montgomery County. This one would make a great show/movie, but we keep seeing remakes and reboots. Kate soon gained notoriety as a self proclaimed healer and . It says this home used to be run by the infamous Mellon Family, who lured travelers in before killing them with a hammer. When the vigilantegroup approached, the Benders fired on them, at which time, the judge lost part of his ear to a flying bullet. He finally gets to eat that evening at a bizarre dinner of fish sticks and potatoes. 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. She watches (and recaps) a lot of TV, sees every Marvel movie on opening night and reads voraciously.
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