Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-05-22
THE KANSAS MURDERS.
"A Terrible Tale of Crime.


Beers, Of Independence, Kan, who has
done more than any one else to ferret out
the mystery, arrived yesterday morning,
having traced the Benders to st. Louis
A Times reporter called upon Mr.. Beers
during the day and obtained the inside
history and full particulars OF the Benders'
bloody career
For several months different persons
have been disappearing very mysterlously
on the route between independence and
Usage Mission. Nearly dozen people
had suddenly dropped out of sight in this
| way, and the matter was exciting great
deal OF talk throughout Southeast Kansas.
About month ago, Dr. William A.
York, brother of Senator York, disappear
ed in the same way, and efforts 10 find
him were in vain DR.. York lived in
| Fort Scott, and had gone out on collect
ing tour, riding valuable roadster lie
| finally rode down to Independence and
visited his father, then he started home,
passing along the treacherous route to
Usage Mission, and nothing more was
ever seen OF him.
The York family is one of considerable
influence in that part of Kansas, and the
affair caused great excitement. The other
disappearances were recalled to memory
and the people began to talk of the exist
| ence of gang of murderers and robbers
| somewhere between the Mission and In
dependence.
On the route between these places is a
dismal stretch Of prairie, sparsely settled.
Two Of the landmarks OF this prairie are
Drum Creek and Big Hill. Midway be-
| tween them lived the Bender family, con
sisting of the old man ana old woman, a
young man who passed as "A son Of Bender,
and a young woman who passed as the
| daughter OF the Old woman. The young
| people passed as married. although the
| Younger Mrs. Bender bore a very slippery
| character on the point Of morality.
Bender had frame house OF several
rooms, which he had built upon claim
| He professcd to keep grocery in the front
room of the house, and an eatingroom fol-
| travellers. The place was considered a
| kind of halfway stopping place The
house stood in the midst of a prairie, with
nothing to break the view for a mile
around.
The younger Mrs. Bender professed to
| be 4 spiritual medium, ana held occasion
al seances. She also had card III one or
two of the county papers, inviting calls
| from those who desired to have the future
| revealed.
About two weeks ago or more, Senator
! York organized party and secured the
! country far and wide 10 tind some trace OF
| his brother In the course Of their ride
they halted at the Bender place TO feed
| Young Bender, when he heard OF then
mission, volunteered his services TO aid in
the search The visit occurred on We'd
nesday The younger woman also called
Senator York aside and, telling of her
| to h,l ~,
| the next Friday night, saying that if he
bouts of his brother
York paid little or no attention to this,
and the party soon passed on.
| About two weeks ago, MIR. Thomas
| Beers, who has been Kansas detective
for ten years Or more, was urgently re-
| quested by Senator York to take hold OF
the case, and he did so.
Day and night he travelled the route
between Usage Mission and Independence
seeking TO solve the mystery. He soon
struck the trail of desperate with whom
he was acquainted. The man had served
several times in the penitentiary, and
there was nothing to show that he had re
formed. Beers found that this man was
travelling back and forth between the Mis-
sion and Independence, and he Swallowed
! him closely. Wherever the man stopped
| Beers waited and learned his conversation
! He found that the villain was talking free
ly about mysterious disappearance.
| At one place he told a woman about the
| murder OF little girl seven or eight years
cid, and when the Mortified listener ex-
claimed, How could they do it?' he ex-
CLAIMED, why, they stranglcd her" This
was told to Beers, and he knew he had a
clGe
At another place the disappearance OF
| FORK was the topic, and the man con
fidentally said they would never find
I DIRK, for he had been burned in corn
field and the ground had been plowed
over.
Beers heard this, too, and some other
things. Then he learned that the Blenders
had suddenly disappeared, and he began
to see light. He went back to Indepen
dence, told York his suspicious, asked
him to 90 with him in order to identify
anything that might be found, which had
belonged to his brother. York put but
| little confidence in the detectives suspic-
ions, and sent a younger brother with HIM.
Beers went from independence to Cher
ryvale by rail- and then taking wagon
rode out to the Bender claim, a few miles
off. The place had been deserted hastily,
| but there were plain evidences that efforts
| had been made to burn clothing, pieces OF
harness, and papers. There was a small
stock Of groceries in the front room. Be
| tween this and the next room only the
Jolsts had been put up, and a sheet was
| hung upon these for a screen.
| The Blenders had gone, apparently tax
ing nothing but a little wearing apparel
with them. As they searched the house,
Beers told young York to keep a sharp
| lookout for anything which might have
been his brothers. He did so, and before
they had gone far he picked up piece of
| his brothers bride.
Then the search began in earnest. In
| cropping about in the room back of the
| grocery, Beers found little trap door and
ralsedlt. There came up sickening stencil
| peculiar to decomposing human remains
Almost nauseated, Beers and his little
posse examined the place. The trap open
ed into pit about six feet deep, and this
had a passage opening out under the foun-
datlons. They made q careful eXamina
ton Of the pit, and found the soil saturat-
ed with what was plainly human gore
Back OF the house was a piece of ground
| perhaps an acre and half in extent which
had been broken up and apparently re-
Gently ploWed
Beers subsequently learned that Bender
had plowed this ground over the day after
Senator York and his friends had been
| there on their search.