Leona Laurie is a Senior Contributor for Geek Girl Authority and co-host of the Marvel-Us podcast. 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. "The Bender Family Some New Light on Their Mysterious Disappearance". 37 20.932 N, 95 31.668 W. Marker is in Morehead, Kansas, in Montgomery County. 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. Nothing like this sickening series of crimes had ever been recorded in the whole history of the country.. Buried in the apple orchard. Kansas murderers list | Murderpedia Secretly, the four made a living through murder and robbery., Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. In The Wizard of Oz, things are in black and white in Kansas and turn color after the Cyclone drops Dorothy and Toto in Oz. what happened to johnny rodriguez country singervice president internal student council. State Senator Alexander York offered a $1,000 ($22,619 as of 2023) reward for the family's arrest. The Benders were not what they appeared. . Colonel York, leading a company of some 50 men, questioned every traveler along the trail and visited all the area homesteads. John Bender, Jr. was a tall, slender man of about 25 who was handsome with auburn hair and a mustache. Kathy Alexander/Legends of America, updated November 2022. He takes Satchel to a quirky (to say the least) boardinghouse, owned by feuding, deaf, elderly sisters. I used to have their Dahmer album way back. styled components as prop typescript; indie bands from austin, texas; dr pepper marketing strategy; barking and dagenham hmo register; famous belgian chocolate brands Satchel decides to keep her, without asking anyone in the building whose she is, and Rabbis only objection to this when he meets her is that she makes noise. Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Bender family is uncertain. No documentation or definitive proof of their relationships to one another, or where they were born, has ever been found. One may have been Jack Bogart, whose horse was purchased from a friend of the Benders after he went missing in 1872. It takes an English sentence and breaks it into words to determine if it is a phrase or a clause. Rabbi has a tailor-made response for each situation, but the active reminder of reality for black Americans in 1950 definitely adds to the tension of the episode. The for the guy who discovered Pluto? Upon further investigation, Captain James B. Bit by bit, the story of the Benders was pieced together. A cult-like group, the families, chose from several available claims and began to make their homes. 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.". 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. 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. The texts read "Johannah Bender. ", In May 1871, the body of a man named Jones, whose skull had been crushed and throat cut, was discovered in Drum Creek. Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. "[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. The breastbone had been driven in. the mellon mounds kansas murders - segiteknoloji.com The sensational tales and rumors of the Benders continued well into the 20th century, but what happened to them remains one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of the Old West. Phone: 620-624-3885 Fax: 620-626-7629 Manager: Nora Rubio Email: Email Mead Lumber of Liberal Hours: Cemetery. The right knee had been wrenched from its socket, and the leg doubled up under the body. Photo courtesy of the BCA. A mysterious murder site has a new owner. He's - Kansas Reflector [1] The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira and their son JohnJr. and daughter Kate. Will this theme continue next week? However, some of those men, who frequently carried large sums of cash with the intention of settling, buying stock, or purchasing a claim, began to go missing. It is conjectured[by whom?] Rock Chalk! 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. Though most of us know of Dodge Citys wicked ways, the deadly gunfight of the Daltons in Coffeyville, and the many outlaws and gunfighters who spent time in the Sunflower State, few are aware of a family of mass murderers, living a supposed quiet life near the small town of Cherryvale. 11) December 1872: Red Smith. 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 Bender cabin was ripped apart by gruesome souvenir hunters right down to the bloody bricks that lined the cellar. melon mounds liberal kansas python list memory allocation "[8] A Roman Catholic prayer book was found in the house with notes inside written in German, which were later translated. the mellon mounds kansas murders - tech4society.group Rabbi would not have been one of the Mellons.). melon mounds kansas murders By 1873, reports of missing people who had passed through the area had become so common that travelers began to avoid the trail. Carrie Nelson was beaten to death during an apparent robbery at Blue Mounds State Park in May 2001. 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. Also in residence on the east is a hero of Wounded Knee (as if there was such a thing) and his niece, a minor girl whos relationship to the old man is likely not familial. The parts did not belong to any of the other victims found and are believed to belong to at least three additional victims. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2022 with funding from Kahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/washingtonhistor0014unse The CAashington Historical . mellon mounds kansas murders - lavamusic.is melon mounds liberal kansas Bender Mounds, Kansas by Kathy Alexander. The two arrive at The Mellon Mounds- a historical marker in Kansas. Yet another claimed to have killed the Benders during a gunfight and buried their bodies on the prairie. When friends and family began to look for them, they could trace them as far as the Big Hill Country of southeast Kansas before finding no trace of the lost traveler. Prairie Ghosts, Byways & Historic Trails Great Drives in America, Soldiers and Officers in American History, Washington-on-the-Brazos, Texas Declaring Independence, Stanley, Ks Extinct but Still Here (LOK), Black Bob Reservation in Johnson County (LOK). Later she married William Stephen Griffith. These 10 Kansas Serial Killers' Stories Will Chill You To The Bone Even with her clairvoyant abilities, Kate attempted to search for the missing doctor to throw any suspicion off herself. Body found in Drum Creek with a crushed skull and throat cut. Site of 1870s 'Bloody Benders' serial killings is for sale | The Serial killer music is a genre unto itself. As they break for a Coke, Calamita arrives. read the excerpt from part 1 of the odyssey Located on a main road, the Benders sold meals and supplies to travelers. (AP) - A man already in prison . did phineas and ferb die in a car accident. Like others, he was hit over the head as he sat at the table. Some say they escaped, others that the were executed by a vengeful posse. A self-proclaimed healer and psychic, she distributed flyers advertising her supernatural powers and her ability to cure illnesses. (In case you wondered after reading that, like I did, what year The Mulligan Concern arrived in Kansas City, it was 1920. Guess well have to wait to find out . They were never found and later I formed my own conclusions why. When the party arrived at the inn they found the cabin empty of food, clothing, and personal possessions. All but one had their heads bashed with a hammer and throats cut, and newspapers reported that all were "indecently mutilated. All of the bizarre characters in the house sit around the table, except the hospital man and his companion, and the table (like the whole house) is split into two meals, two styles of dcor and two serving staffs in accordance with the sisters feud. Advertisement Coins. Kate's popularity became a large attraction for the Benders' inn. They return to their room, where Rabbi informs Satchel that theyll be leaving that night as he counts his money. Ma Bender was born Almira Meik in the Adirondacks and married as a teenager to a man named George Griffith. Several days later, the Benders team and wagon were found a short distance away, and the horses nearly starved. melon mounds kansas murders. If not accosted by road agents, travelers also had to be concerned about Indian attacks. 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. 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. [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. 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. In 1967, three of the Bender hammers were gifted to the museum by the Dick family. Later, Satchel awakens to find that hes fallen asleep and doesnt know where his friend has gone. Allegedly, the pair then fled to a tough outlaw colony along the border of Texas and New Mexico. Unresolved: Release in which this issue/RFE will be addressed. but many still live in fear of their bloody hammer. 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. [18] The hammers were displayed at the Bender Museum in Cherryvale, Kansas from 1967 to 1978, when the site was acquired for a fire station. While popular retelling of the story holds that John Jr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported . With the full realization that there was a major problem in their township, the group decided to search every farmstead between Big Hill Creek and Drum Creek. Mrs. Monroe resisted, declaring that she would not be taken alive, but was subdued by local deputies. When he refused to sit with his back to the canvas because of its disgusting stains, Pickering said that Kate Bender threatened him with a knife, so he fled the premises. 20) May 1873: Dr William York. The affidavits and other papers are missing from the file in LaBette County, so further examination is impossible. All had been involved in disposing of the victims' stolen goods with Mit Cherry, a member of the vigilance committee, implicated for forging a letter from one of the victims, informing the man's wife that he had arrived safely at his destination in Illinois. If you live in that town in Kansas today, oh yeah you know about it. They buried their victims in a neighboring orchard, unbeknownst to the townspeople. Benders Mounds Cemetery in Kansas - Find a Grave Cemetery Word of the gruesome murders spread fast, and thousands of people flocked to the site, including news reporters from as far away as New York and Chicago. 5) December 1872: W.F. They broker an arrangement wherein Omie and his captive paint the building in exchange for being allowed to lie in wait. Quickly, the scavengers were frightened away by the dead souls to spread their ghostly tales. Eyewitness testimony was given that Mrs. Monroe was Elvira Bender. barry mcguigan, daughter funeral; mellon mounds kansas murders [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. When the vigilantegroup approached, the Benders fired on them, at which time, the judge lost part of his ear to a flying bullet. Some say that they escaped, others that they were executed by a vengeful posse. William Pickering said that when he had refused to sit near the wagon cloth because of the stains on it, Kate Bender had threatened him with a knife, whereupon he fled the premises. The next day, Rabbi goes back to the appliance store and recovers his remaining cash from the brothers at gunpoint. [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. 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. Franks father, Jesse P. Smalley, and several men were joking with a local judge, teasing him about his missing ear. James, John Towner; The Benders of Kansas; Kan-Okla Publishing, Wichita, KS, 1913, reprinted 1995. The notorious "Bloody Benders" were a German immigrant family who owned both a general store and small inn in the early 1870s in Labette County. However, there were no bodies in the hole. Menu Catch up here! Suspect charged in 2001 state park killing | MPR News The family, John and Elvira and their two children John Jr. and Kate, ultimately settled down near Cherryvale city on a 160-acre property, intending to run an inn. kansas historical marker the mellon mounds Orchard Park Police Blotter 2021 , Fran Mccaffery Daughter , How Much Does Bronny Average? A roadside sign now marks their murderous exploits. 215 East 4th Street 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. In 1923 it was donated to the Kansas Museum of History by York's wife but is not on display; still bearing reddish-brown stains on the blade, it can be seen upon request. According to a breathless Daily Mail report, nursery-school teacher Inessa Tarverdiyeva and her husband, dentist Roman Podkopayev, were behind "a six-year reign of terror including at least 30. 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 (1.6km) southeast of the Benders' orchard, one of several at the location now known as "The Benders Mounds". The "Bloody Benders" were a German family of four that settled a claim in southeastern Kansas in Labette County. Mrs. Davis claimed that Mrs. Monroe was Elvira Bender, but that she herself was not Kate, but her sister Sarah; she later signed an affidavit to that effect, while Monroe continued to deny the identification and in turn accused Sarah Eliza of being the real Kate Bender. Yep the Abberdeens are very clearly based on the Benders, specifically Kate and John Jr. They then began to follow a wagon trail left by the Benders that took them down as far south as Tulsa, Oklahoma, before circling back into Kansas. The story of the Benders' escape spread, and the search continued on and off for the next 50 years. After Colonel Yorks visit and the meeting at the Harmony Grove schoolhouse, the Bender family fled. We are, in fact, in Kansas. 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. ia904708.us.archive.org 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. 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. 0 coins. The fate of the family remains unknown, with theories ranging from a lynching of the family to a successful escape. 1) May 1871: Mr. Jones. . The Bloody Benders - Serial Killers of Kansas Elvira and Kate Bender also planted a 2-acre (0.81ha) vegetable garden and apple orchard north of the cabin. Often two women traveling together were accused of being Kate Bender and her mother.[10]. Many stories say that one vigilante group actually caught the Benders and shot all of them but Kate, whom they burned alive. that when a guest stayed at the Benders' bed and breakfast inn, the hosts would give the guest a seat of honor at the table that was positioned over a trap door into the cellar. John Bender, Sr. chose a 160-acre section on the western slopes of the mounds that continue to bear their name today. Satchel walks down the road with his dog. 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 -. The Lawrence Kansas Subreddit. 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. Though most were led to believe John and Kate were sister and brother, others said that they sometimes passed as man and wife. $38 (2023: $860) and a wagon with a team of horses missing. From these depths allegedly came the souls of those murdered on the site, wandering about the property and making moaning sounds that passersby could hear. This is blatantly a reference to the Bender Family, a family of serial killers from late 1800s Kansas. A crude sign was hung above the front door that advertised Groceries to the many travelers along the Osage Trail. Donald's family owns successful McDonald's franchises in their home town of Phoenix, Arizona. At Chanute, JohnJr. and Kate left the train and caught the MK&T train south to the terminus in Red River County near Denison, Texas. The men then physically lifted the cabin and moved it to the side to dig under it, but no bodies were found. [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.