Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1873-05-23

enough for Identification, and a wound
at the back Of the head plainly indicated
the cause Of death. The skull had been
driven into the brain with blow from
some weapon like hammer. and in the
house were found two shoemaker's ham,
mers. The news of this discovery was
speedily conveyed to Senator York, who
soon visited the scene with coffin in
which to deposit the remains, which he
readily identified as those of his missing
brother, an injury to the knee proving
the matter beyond doubt.
This discovery, instead of satisfying
the searchers, only whetted their anxiety,
and the rod was again put in requisition.
In short time six more graves were
discovered, five containing single corpses,
and one an old man and little girl.
Some of the bodies were beyond recog-
milton, but others had enough of human
ity left to admit of Identification. 1t
was evident that all had been the vic
Tins of the murderers violence, and
there was no doubt but that the Bender
family had committed the butchery,
doubtless for the sake of plunder. Fur
ther search has since brought to light
three other graves, and of the thirteen
bodies which have been inferred, six
have been recognized as follows: DR..
York, III. Longchos and child, identified
by his father-in-law w. +. Mccarthy,
a soldier of Company ID, 123d Illinois
volunteers G. Brown, identified by
silver ring on his finger, and John Geary
Of Howard county, recognized by his
wife. All appear to have been killed by
blows on the back of the head with
hammer, and the throats of all had been
cut, except that of the little girl, who is
thought to have been thrown alive into
the grave with her father, The search
Of the grounds will be conducted with
great perseverance, until it has been sat
isfactorily ascertained that nothing fur
ther can be found. People are collecting
from different parts of the country in
order to ascertain if any of their missing
friends are among the dead. Three men
from Howard county have been missed,
and one has been found among the
murdered victims. The disappearance
of a stone-mason named Jones, who left
Usage Mission to go to Independence, is
now supposed to be accounted for, and
the stories of other similar disappearanees
are being revived for the purpose of
tracing clews which may lead to the iden-
tifcation Of the bodies.
| The excitement on the discovery of
the bodies was so intense that the crowd
which had gathered on the premises,
seeing among them man named Brock
man, who was supposed to know some
thing about the murders, seized him and
strung him up to beam until life was
nearly extinct, when they cut him down
and called upon him to confess. Find
ing him obstinately silent, they again
hung him up by the neck until nearly
dead, when he was once more let down
and restored. He now appeared to have
lost mental sensation, and did not seem
to understand what the furious crowd
wanted, as they again shouted for him
to confess. A third time he was hoistsd
upon the beam, and this time it was be.
lieved the strangulation had proved ia.
tai but upon being laid on the ground
in the open air he recovered, and was al
lowed to stagger away.
The Bender family consisted of two
brothers William and Thomas, and two
women reported to be their wives. They
we're not in intimate relations with theil
neighbors, as there seemed to be some
thing uncanny about them, particularly
in the case of Johanna, better known a:
Katie, the wife of Thomas. She is de
scribed as a red-faced, repuIsive-lookine
young woman, who professed to be 6
spiritualistic medium, and TO cure all
sorts of diseases. She had issued circu
lars, advertising to cure blindness, deaf
ness and pretty much everything. /
was generally believed that she tyranizet
over the other members of the family b,
assuming to possess supernatural powers
The other woman is about AZ year
old, with iron-gray hair, hard and SIMS
ter-lookiDg, steel-gray eyes, tall, angula
form, and repulsive features. She alst
pretended to be spiritualist, and en-
gagged extensively in the distillation 0
, charms from the boiling of roots an,
i herbs. These strange and hideous wo
men had even offered to divine tn
whereabouts of the missing persons, bu
the people in the vicinity felt little dis
} posed to consult such oracles. Tn
. atrocities of these fends are not easil,
accounted for, since the murder OF tn
little child stands opposed to the theor,
that plunder was their object; and afte
} murder and robbery, if that was thei
] purpose, why they should mutilate an,
; disfgure the bodies of their victims,
| difficult of explanation. None of thes
suspected persons have as yet been ar
| rested, but large rewards have been Of
fered, and detectives are out in ever
: direction. The neighborhood is thorough
, ly aroused for miles around, and all su:
/ picious parties are watched. The Roac
family of Ladore, seven miles from th
9 place of slaughter, consisting of an oil
: man and his wife and son and the Iat
' ter's wife, have been arrested, togethe
5 with A Stephenson, John Harness an
] wife, Thomas Tyke and wife and daugl
! ter. A. M. King, travelling distrie
f preacher, has been arrested at Parsons
} and notorious murderer, once pardon
ed out of the penitentiary, named Ma
l Mumford, and woman who was wit
: him, we're arrested at Fort Scott.
E On Sunday, Sabbath school teache
t was startled in the midst of an earnes
J. and eloquent exposition of Scripture h