Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-05-22

apparently died of starvation. This
excited his suspicion, and he gallOped
over to Cherryville with the news.
The town soon became excited, and it
WAS then remembered that William
Bender had, about April 24th, sold
watch, some clothing, two mules, and
some property. All became impressed
with the idea that the Bender family
had, from some good cause, taken a
hasty leave of their residence. This
looked suspicious, and Il party went
out from CherryVale to make some in
quiries.
On arriving at the place the out
house or stable was first examined, and
the next the larger room of the cabin.
| Everything was exactly as the Benders
had left them. and there was nothing
to indicate murder or foul play. Even
in the rear room there We're was moth
ing suspicious at the first glance; but on
removing one of the two beds a slight
depression in the floor led to the dis
cOYery OF Il trap door upon hinges.
Raising this trap, well, about six feet
! deep and five ieet wide, was uncovered,
and upon descending into it the ground
was found 10 be saturated with thick,
fetid blood, which stuck to the fingers
of those who had been cropping about
at the bottom of the we'll. The horror
excited by this discovery may well be
imagined, and the clue to many of the
mysterious disappearance was thought
to be near. The soft ground at the
bottom of the we'll was bored with
rods, but nothing rewarded the search
of the now excited party. There was
no doubt that murder had been COM
mitted, and that the bleeding bodies
had been thrust into this well; but
what afterwards been done with them
was as yet a mystery. Ii was then Sug-
geste1 that the garden should be eX-
amined, and all set to work boring the
ground with rods. For an hour the
search was fruitIess; but at the end of
that time the point of Il rod touched
something. ShOValS were called for,
and the ground opened, when the body
of man, face dOWnWardS, was found.
There was no coffin, and a torn and
discOlOred shirt was all that covered
the body. With care the remains were
disinterred, for portion of the flesh
had fallen from the lower limbs; but
when the body was laid on its back, to
the horror of ali present, it was found
to be that of DR.. York. Although very
much swollen, the face was perfect
enough for Identification, and "a wound
at tbs back of the head plainly indi-
Gated the cause of death. The skull
had been driven into the brain with a
blow from some weapon like hammer
and in the house were found two shoe
makers hammers. The news of this
| RI; s-r,aol.Ixv fo
Senator York, who soon visited the
scene with coffin in which to deposit
the remains, which he readily identi-
fled rs those of his missing brother, an
injury to the knee proving the matter
beyond doubt.
This discovery, instead of satisfying
the searchers, only whetted their an
Xiety, and the rod was again put in
requisition. IN short time six more
graves were discovered, five containing
single cUrpSes' and one an old man and
little girl. Some of the bodies were
beyond recognition, but others had
eaOugh of humanity left to admit OF
Identification. 1t was evident that all
had been the victims of the murderer
violence, and there was no doubt but
that the Bender family had committed
the butchery, doubtless for the sake OF
piunder. Darkness fell on the scene
but the search continued; and before
midnight three other graves were dis
covered. At the ptesert writing these
last have not been opened, but of the
eight bodies which have been diSinter.
red. six have been recognized, as fol
lows: Df. York, H. Longchos and
child, identified by his father-in-law
w. +. Mccarthy, a soldier of Company
D. One Hundred and Twenty-third
Illinois Volunteers; d. Brown, identi.
fieG by silver ring ON his finger, and
John Geary, of Howard county, recOg
nized Dy his wife. The throats of all
had been cut, except that of the little
girl.
The excitement of the discovery Of
these bodies 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 8
beam until life was nearly extinct
when they cut him down and called
upon him to confess. Finding him
obstinately silent, they again hung
him by the neck until nearly dead
when he was once more let 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 to him to
confess. \ third time he was hOiSted UP
to the beam, and this time it was be-
lieved the stranguation had proved IA
tai; but upon being laid on the ground
in the open air he recovered, and was
allowed TO stagger away.
The search Of the grounds will be
conducted with great perseverance,
until it has been satisfactorily ascer-
tanned that nothing further can be
found. People ale collecting from diff
ferent 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 Dren found among the mur-
dered victims. The disappearance ofla
stonemason named Jones, who left
Usage Mission to go to Independence,
is now supposed to be accounted for,
and the stories of other similar diSap-
pearances 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 are now be-
ing offered for the capture of the mur-
dererS.
THE ALASKA PURCHAsE.-"Two
small, rocky islands in the Behring
Sea-" says the London Globe, twill
soon have paid back to the. U. States
Treasury the whole sum expended up