The Wichita city eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1872-1883, 1873-05-15
THE CHERRYvALE HORROR
A Den Of Thieves and Murderers
Eleven Bodies In all Found

The readers of the EAGLE will re-
member an item published, giving an
account of DR.. York, of Montgomery
county, being missing, and as it was
supposed murdered, and of the after
fact that several men had been missing
from the locality where he was last
seen. The governor Of Kansas offered
reward for the detection of the MUIR
derers, and last week his body, to-
gcthcr with several others, was I'M
earthcd. The excitement is still at a
fever heat, but up TO Sunday morning
last no more bodies had been found,
although one hundred men were dill
gently searching. There have been
several arrests made of families and
individuals, although up to this writ
ing nothing has been heard Of the Ben
der family, in whose yard and house
the bodies were found. The Kansas
City Times contains a lengthy detailed
account of the fiendish and sickening
disclosures, obtained from reliable
person just from the scene of the
crime. We extract the following from
the Times report:
William Bender. the eldest of the
brothers, had wife who was a spirit
ualist. The balance of the Blenders
called her a medium. the neighbors a
hn hn fnc h
iron-gray hair, ragged at the ends and
steel-gray and hard. The light that
came from them was sinister ard for
bidding. She had not single prepos-
sessing feature. Her form. angu-
lar and tall, seemed to lift itself
up when the spiritual influence took
possession of it, and to become not
only gigantic in height, but supernat-
ural as well. AT times she dealt in
incantatiODs aud the boiling Of herbs
and roots that had charms and spells
about them. Her will was indomita-
bic. All the household feared her,
dreaded her, obeyed her, and, as the
sequal proves, did the devils work for
her beyond all the atrocious devils
work ever done in Kansas.
Ii would seem as if the visit Of the
Cherryvale party alarmed the Benders.
William Bender. now that the terrible
secrets have come to light, ami now
that the shallow graves have given up
their ghosily and mutilatcd occupants,
can be remembered as having acted
very strangely. Twice he had come
INTO Cherryvale and had been noticed,
q L. L., 80 L.
ter upon the outside of crowds, SEEM
ingly having no business, but eagerly
intent all the time in listening to every
thing that was said.
Time went slowly by, and a man rid
ing in one day from the prairies saw no
smoke arising from Bender's chimney.
The windows were down, the doors
were closed, there was no sign of life
anywhere. These evidences of emf
grafton did not even interest him. So
absolute was the stupor over the dis
appearance of DR.. York that an awak-
ening had to depend upon an absolute
discovery. This man, however, i'll rid
ing by pen to the left of the house
saw dead calf in the lot. and upon
further investigation and with the
practical eyes ola practical farmer used
to guessing the weight of live stock
upon the hOof, he knew that the calf
had died of starvation.
Then the truth came, as an overflow
comes often to Kansas creek, all Of
sudden and overwhelming. Such a
death suggested flight, flight meant
guilt, and the nature of the guilt was
surely murder. He galloped into
Cherryvale and related what he had
seen. The town aroused itself. A
party was organized instantly and set
out for the Bender mansion. Then it
was remembered that about two weeks
before this-say somewhere near the
oath of April-William Bender had
sold to some person either in or near
Cherryvale watch. some clothing of
fine character, two mules, and per-
haps shotgun or two and some pis-
tolls. How did he come by them 1.-THE
dead could speak the question might
be readily answered.
The party from Cherryvale arrived
at the house CAY which is marked in
the diagram rs located directly upon
the Usage Mission road, having the
clubhouse OBJ in the rear aud to the
south Off
Usage MISSION ROAD-North.