It would make for a fun season of the show that's for sure. A crude sign was hung above the front door that advertised Groceries to the many travelers along the Osage Trail. John Jr. was found to have been a man named John Gebhardt. Donald, his wife Karen and their three kids live a nice, comfortable life. On March 28, 1873, Colonel York arrived at the Benders' inn with a Mr. Johnson, explaining to them that his brother had gone missing and asked if they had seen him. The Benders remained silent when most of the attendees volunteered to have their premises searched. A Catholic priest said he fled when he saw one of the Bender men concealing a large hammer. Johnny Boyles body was found in the well. Elvira and Kate Bender also planted a 2-acre (0.81ha) vegetable garden and apple orchard north of the cabin. In the spring of 1873, Longcor's former neighbor, Dr. William Henry York, went looking for them and questioned homesteaders along the trail. Find links to our programs, locations, partners, staff members, and communications. [5][18] 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. ASSOCIATED PRESS. Later, Satchel awakens to find that hes fallen asleep and doesnt know where his friend has gone. [1][3] On April 3, Colonel York returned to the inn with armed men after being informed that a woman had fled from the inn after Elvira Bender had threatened her with knives. Mrs. Bender, a heavyset woman, was so unfriendly and had such sinister eyes that her neighbors began to call her a she-devil. To add to her fierce look, Ma Bender claimed to be a medium who could speak with the dead and boiled herbs and roots that she declared could be used to cast charms or wicked spells. McCrotty. So yeah, kind of obscure. However, there were no bodies in the hole. However, as more time passed, the disappearances became more frequent, and by the spring of 1873, the region had become strife with rumors, and travelers began to avoid the trail. 0 coins. [1][2] Although some of the victims were wealthy, others carried little of value on them, and it was surmised that the Benders had killed them simply for the sheer thrill. The body of a young girl was found with no injuries sufficient to cause death. 11) December 1872: Red Smith. Discover something new every day from News, Sports, Finance, Entertainment and more! A cult-like group, the families, chose from several available claims and began to make their homes. I wouldn't have imagined a crazier hotel story other than H H Holmes and The Murder Castle. Other bodies found in the garden were those of Henry McKenzies mutilated remains, three men by the names of Ben Brown, W.F. Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Mellon family was never discovered. He finally gets to eat that evening at a bizarre dinner of fish sticks and potatoes. 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.". Franks father, Jesse P. Smalley, and several men were joking with a local judge, teasing him about his missing ear. Senator Samuel C. Pomeroy's bribery of state legislators in his bid for re-election. Only a few days later, the homestead was found abandoned, and the search party began to discover the grisly remains of the bodies. Rounding out the boardinghouse crew (west side) is a young man on his way to make it rich on the Texas oil fields. Colonel A.M. York, leading a contingency of some 50 men, began questioning every traveler along the trail and stopping at the area homesteads. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira and their son John Jr. and daughter Kate. The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Legend has it that the family of four gruesomely murdered at least 11 patrons, scattering the bodies throughout their property and county. In the 19th century, Kansas was a bloody place, especially before the Civil War, as Free-Soilers and slavery advocates duked it out for control of the new territory. Look for these with their cute sunflowers. One vigilante group claimed to have shot down the men and Ma Bender and burned Kate alive as the witch they believed her to be. 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 family quickly ran away in the middle of the night never to be seen. So weird, this last weekend I was just reading about the Benders due to a similar encounter in Red Dead Redemption 2. Location. The body would then be buried in the garden behind the house during the night. When neighboring communities started to make slanderous insinuations, the Osage Township called a meeting held at the Harmony Grove schoolhouse in March to see what, if anything, could be done. Just after the Civil War ended, the United States government moved the Osage Indians from Labette County in southeast Kansas to the new Indian Territory in what would later become the state of Oklahoma. All Rights Reserved. As Active Shooter incidents have increased, employers are tasked with training employees on how to escape, hide, or fight. A terrible smell inside the abandoned inn also met them. What little he did speak was so guttural that it was usually unintelligible. Buried in the apple orchard. Attempts to capture the bloodthirsty family were immediately made by both law officers and vigilantes alike. 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. They were never found and later I formed my own conclusions why. Everywhere Satchel and Rabbi appear together, someone calls out the color of Satchels skin and questions their connection. After the Benders escape, one detective, who had closely followed all the leads, said that he had traced Gebhardt to the outlaw country along the Texas/New Mexico border, where he had found that the criminal had died of apoplexy. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. No documentation or definitive proof of their relationships to one another, or where they were born, has ever been found. Some say they escaped, others that the were executed by a vengeful posse. Hes connected to a medical machine and has a hovering attendant with goggles on, ministering to him with a hypodermic needle. (In case you wondered after reading that, like I did, what year The Mulligan Concern arrived in Kansas City, it was 1920. The Benders were widely believed to be German immigrants. 6) December 1872: Henry McKenzie. 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. She alleged that her father, "Pa Ingalls," joined in a vigilante hunt for the killers, and when he spoke of later searches for them she recalled, "At such times Pa always said in a strange tone of finality, 'They will never be found.' John Bender, Jr. was a tall, slender man of about 25 who was handsome with auburn hair and a mustache. Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. When he pulls into the drive, he spots Calamitas empty car at the pump immediately. Later she married William Stephen Griffith. Fargo is a critically acclaimed series created by Noah Hawley, who is also the creator of FX's Legion. It was speculated that she had been strangled or buried alive. Their story is unresolved, and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the old West. Relocating to Independence from, 7) December 1872: Johnny Boyle. [2] The elder Benders did not leave the train at Humboldt, but instead continued north to Kansas City, where it is believed they purchased tickets for St. Louis, Missouri.[1]. Rabbi would not have been one of the Mellons.). The diggers were astounded to find what would become known as one of Americas first mass murder burial grounds as body after body was uncovered. When a traveler was seated at the table, his head was outlined against the curtain. Each season of Fargo stands alone - you can watch them all out of order and still be able to understand what's going on. Another group claimed they had caught the Benders while escaping to the south and lynched them before throwing their bodies into the Verdigris River. After Colonel Yorks visit and the meeting at the Harmony Grove schoolhouse, the Bender family fled. mellon mounds kansas murders. Yep that's the one from a book I have. Deputy Sheriff Dick, along with Mrs. McCann, escorted the pair to Oswego, Kansas, where seven members of a 13-member panel confirmed the identification and committed them for trial. Several groups of vigilantes were formed to search for the Benders. 2014. All four had crushed skulls and throats cut. [2], Testimony from people who had stayed at the Benders' inn and managed to escape before they could be killed appeared to support the presumed execution method of the Benders. After bearing him a dozen children, including Kate, Mr. Griffith suddenly died; some said of a bad place on his head, resembling a dent that might be made with a hammer. Kate Bender, who was around 23, was cultivated and attractive and spoke English well, with little accent. The men then physically lifted the cabin and moved it to the side to dig under it, but no bodies were found. The parts did not belong to any of the other victims found and are believed to belong to at least three additional victims. Secretly, the four made a living through murder and robbery. The Vicious Harpes First AmericanSerial Killers, The Bloody Benders If the terrible story of the Bender murders was not legend enough, another tale began to circulate regarding the property upon which the Benders had once lived. The "Bloody Benders" were a German family of four that settled a claim in southeastern Kansas in Labette County. Also a great song by Macabre about the Benders: https://youtu.be/NJpbxpbI8FA. [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. It was reported at the time that Kate was into free love, telling fortunes, and being a little too close to her brother. 2023 Geek Girl Authority. [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. There is a lot of weird details, like the two children, Kate and John Jr Bender possibly being husband and wife, or the parents Elvira and John Sir being two nobodies who merely said they were family. A self-proclaimed healer and psychic, she distributed flyers advertising her supernatural powers and her ability to cure illnesses. While popular retelling of the story holds that John Jr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported . A pity, it has quite a few quirks. These first few missing travelers did not raise an overall alarm in the area as it was not uncommon for men to continue their journey westward during those days. Yet another claimed to have killed the Benders during a gunfight and buried their bodies on the prairie. [1], One detective later claimed that he had traced the pair to the border, where he had found that JohnJr. had died of apoplexy. RELATED: Keep up with our Fargo Season Four recaps here! HISTORICAL MARKER 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. As they make their way up to the top floor, they peer in the open rooms of the other tenants. 18701873", Sheriff Saves the Neck of a Man Who Murdered His Own Daughter, "Dr William H. York (1840-1873) - Find a Grave", "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=1142480623, "The old man was a repulsive, hideous brute, without a redeeming trait, dirty, profane and ill-tempered.
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