Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-05-20

garden should be examined, and all set to-
work boring the ground with rods. For an
hour the search was fruitless but at til end
of that time the point Of a rod toucheds,ome.
thing: Shovcs were called for, and the ground
opened, when the body of d man, face downs
ward, was found. Thsrewas no coffin, and a.
tprn and discolored shirt was all that covered
the body. With care the renlains were disin-.
tered, for aportion of the flesh had fallen
from the lower limbs; but whentthe body was
laid on its back, TO the horror of all present,
it was found to be that of DIR. York Ais
though very much swollen, the face was per-
fectenough for Identification, aud wound at
the back of the head plainly indicated the
cause Of death The skull. had been driven
into the brain with asbfoow from some weapon
like q hammer, and in the house were found
two shoemakefs hammers. The news of this
discovery was Speedily conveyed to Senator
York who soon visited the scene with coffin
10 which to deposit the remains, which he
readily identified as those of his missing:
brother, an injury to the knee proving the
matter beyond d, a doubt.
This discovery. instead of satisfying the
searchers, only whetted their anxiety, and
the rod was again put in reqisition En- a
short time six more graves were discovered,
five containing single corpses, and one an old
nTand little girl. Some of the Bodies
were beyond recognition, but others had
enough of humanity left to admit, Of iden.ifi-
cation. It was evident that l'had been the
victims of the murderers' violence, aud there
was no doubt but that the Bender family had
committedth butcl,ery, dourbtlcsss for the sake
of plumber. Darkness fell on the scene, but
the search continued; and before midnight
three other graves were discovered. At the
present writing these last have not been,
opened, but of the eight bodies which have
been disinterred, six have been recognized. as
follows Dr. York, III. Longchos and child :,
identified hy his father-in> law; w. +. Mc>
Carthy, soldier of Company d, One II un-
dred and Twenty third Illinois Volun teers :;
D. Brown, identified by silver ring on his
finger, and John Geary, Of Howard county,
recognized by his wife. The .hroats of all
had been cut; except that Of the little girl.
The excitement on the discovery of these
bodies was SO intense thaS the crowd which
had gathered on the premises, seeing among
them man named Brockman, who was sup>
posed to know something 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 by the neck until nearly dead, when he
was once more lot 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
hoisted upFto the beam, and this time it was
believed the strangulation had proved fatal !;
but upon being laid on the grouadsin the open
air he recovered, and was allowed TO stagger
away.
The search of the grounds will be conduct>
ed with great perseverance, until it has been
satisfactorily ascertaned that nothing further
can be found. People collecting from
different parts of the country, in order to as
certain 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 stonemason, named Jones,
who left Usage Mission togo to ndependeinice,
is now supposed to be accounted for, and the
stories of other similar disapnearances are
being revived for the purpose of tracing clues
which may lead to the Identification of the
bodies. There is but little doubt but that
these outlaws have been carrying on their
work of robbery and murder for long time,
and heavy rewards now being offered for
the capture of the murderers