The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1873-05-16
THE TRAVELLERS LAST INN"
A Series of Mysterious Murders IN
Kansas-Eight Dead Bodies Found
Under a House near Parsons.

KANSAS CITY, No, May S.-The journal Of
Commerce publishes the following: "Dr. Will
liam York. brother of Senator York, OF Kan
sas disappeared on tbe8th of last March, and
there has been q continued anxious search Tor
him since that time. A few days since, as the
public has been advised by telegraph dis
patches, his body was found buried on iarm
about six miles north Of Cherry Vale by \ ork,
q brother of the deceased. The remains OF the
murdered man, for it is evident that he had
beeu murdered, were thrown into a hole
foot deep and a foot and half wide, face
downward The grave was in plowed field
adioinidg the house formerly occupied by
Bender. The particulars of the discovery are
described as follows, in a correspondence OF
tbe Lawrence Evening Standard The farm
ON which the body was found is about six
miles northeast Of Cherry Vale. 1t Is rail-
wav claim settled on about two years ago by
family by the name of Bender, consisting OF
an old man named Bender, his son, wife and
daughter. Both are understood to have chill
dren from a former marriage. Upon examin-
alton the head was found to be badly broken,
with an indenture on the back part OF the
skull, and both temples smashed. One eye
had been bursted out by the force of the blow,
and the face had been cut. shoe hammer
had been found in the house which fitted the
indenturs on the back of the head. 1t Is sup
posed he was stricken from behind, anu the
temples broken by hammer. The grave was
about two hundred yards from the house, ana
the main plowed furrow crosswise from II.
The sides and middle had settled somewhat
aad an iron rod taken from the end board OF
wagon was run down the sides of the grave
digging il. The house is to be moved on MS
foundation to-day, and it is supposed from the
ef1uyia arising from underneath it thatanoth-
er body or bodies are buried. The clothing
had been stripped from the body, excepting
WOODEN undershirt. 1t had not become so
badly decomposed but that it was easy to
identify it. The hair, face and whiskers were
in a fair state of preservation, and the remains
we're easily identified by Ed. York. A colin
was brought from Independence, the body
placed in the same, and the remains taken to
Independence, passing through here ABOUT
three o'clock this morning"
The Journal of Commerce received from a
special correspondent the following develop
ments: 'Besides the discovery of the body OF
York there have already been discovered and
exhumed six others fromlbeneath the house,
one of them being a child. In addition to
these new evidences of damnable murder and
wholesale crime, three more graves were
found. and at the writing of our correspond
ent were to be speedily opened and examined.
The bodies exhumed gave Evidence Of having
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been struck by some heavy Instruments
hammer or hatchet-on the back and lower
part of the skull. Some of the bodies were
stripped entirely of the clothing. The Bend.
er family, to whom the crime is attributed,
were Spiritualists, and occupied the premises,
but had fed before the discovery. It was
found, upon seeking their whereabouts, that
they had secured tickets and gone to Hum
boldt, which is the last trace of them. II
transpires that during the search for the mis-
sing persons one Of the Bender family, q
young woman named Kate, who represented
ed herself as Spiritualist and a medium, was
appealed to for information, when the victims
were traced to the Bender premises as she re-
piled that she would consult the spirits if time
wonld be given her to do so, and would
| through their agency be able to disclose the
whereabouts of the missing persons. The
| time was grantsd, and in the meantime the
family took opportunity to decamp, since
which time nothing has been learned of them
other than their buying the tickets for Hum
boldt. The family kept an eating saloon al
this place, and although there seems to be nc
apparent motive for the horrible murder, it is
more than likely it was perpetrated for the
gain plundered from travellers along the main
road leading from OswegO to Independence
Kansas. Altogether the murders are with
out parallel"