Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1873-05-27

have been recognized, Is follows Dr.. York,
H. Louchos and child, identified BY his father
in.law WE. MoCaFthy, q soldier Of COM
pany D, l23d Illinois volunteers; D. Brown,
Identified by silver ring OR 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 ham
mer, and the throats of all had been cut, ex-
cept 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 satisfactorily ascertained that
nothing further 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 indie
pendence, is now supposed to be accounted
for and the stories Of other similar disappear.
ances are being revived for the purpose of
tracing clews which may lead to the indenti
fication of the bodies.
The excitement on the discovery of the bod
les was SO intense that the crowd which had
gathered on the premises, seeing among them
man named Brockman, who was supposed
to know something about the murders, seized
him and strung him up to a beam until life
was nearly extinct when they cut him down
and called upon him to confess. Finding him
obstinately silent, again hung him up by the
neck until nearly dead, when he was once
more let down and restored. He now appear
ed TO have lost mental sensation, and did not
seem to understand what the furious crowd
wanted, as they again shouted for him to con-
fess. A third time he was hosted up to the
beam, and this time it was believed the stran-
gulation had proved fatal but upon being laid
on the ground in the open air he recovered,
and was allowed to stagger away.
The Bender family consisted of two broth.
ers, William and Thomas, and two women
reported TO be their wives. They were not
in intimate relations with their neighbors, as
there seemed to be something uncanny about
them, particularly in the case of johanna, bet
ter known as Katie, the wife of Thomas. She
is described as red-faced, repulsiye- looking
young woman, who professed to be a spirit
ualistic medium, and to cure all sorts Of dis
eases. She had issued circulars, advertising
to cure blindness, deafness and pretty much
everything. IL was generally believed that
she tyrannize ed over the other members of the
family by assuming to possess supernatural
powers.
The other woman is about II years old,
with iron-gray hair, hard and sinistci looking,
steel gray eyes, tall, angular form, and rcpul-
sive features. She also pretended to be a
spiritualist, and engaged extensively in the
distiliation of charms from the boiling of roots
and herbs. These strange and hideous women
had even offered to divine the whereabouts of
the missing persons, but the people in the vi
cinity felt little disposed to consult such ora
cles. The atrocities Of. these fends are no,
easily accounted for, tince the murder of the
little child stands opposed to the theory that
plumber was their object; and after murder
and robbery, if that was their purpose, why
they should proceed to mutilate and dsigure
the bodies OF their victims, is difficult of ex-
PLANTATION None of these suspected persons
have as yet been arrested, but large rewards
have been offered, and detectives are out in
every direction. The neighborhood is much
aroused for miles around, and all suspicious
parties are watched. The Reach family Of
LAHORE, seven miles from the place OF the
slaughter, consisting of an old man and his
wife and son and the latter's wife, have been
arrested, together with A. Stephenson, John
Harness and wife, Thomas Tyke and wife and
daughter. A. NJ. King, travelling district
preacher, has been arrested at Parsons and
a notorious murderer, once pardoned out of
the penitentary, named Major Mumford, and
woman who was with him, were arrested at
Fort Scott.