Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1873-05-22

arrived from Cherryyale, having Salheu
! an inkling OF what was gong on. AhohS
| the newcomers was doctor VINO hau
been sent out by Senator York.
| The trench was lowered below the leVel
of the bottom of the grave, and the earth
! dug away carefully from the face ana
head of the body Then the detective,
seeing that from the condition OF the
| corpse the utmost care would be necessary
| in order to insure recognition, told the
| doctor he must detach the head from the
| trunk. 1t was done and having been
carefully cleaned, was lifted out ana
! placed on sheet brought from the house
! The countenance was exposed TO view,
and in an instant the features OF Dr.. York
were recognized
Some of the men there sat down and
| cried like children, others turned away
sickened while with others the sight only
nerved them to continue the search.
While the detective was telling this
| notwithstanding story to the Times report
er, he would stop as he came to this horrl-
bic scene, at the finding of DR., York 8
! body and seem to forget the present and
90 back, in his agitation, to that terrible
morning of the 5th Of May.
The work went on and other bodies
were found, until, in ALL nine had been
unearthed when Beers left. In every case,
except that Of the little girl, the skull was
broken in at the back Of the head
The detective is of the opinion that the
murders were done in the following man
ner:
The parties either came or were enticed
to the house where the young woman en-
gagged them in conversation, for she had
the reputation in all parts Of the county OF
being a good tallcr. Then one of the men
would strike the visitor on the back Of the
head, telling him to the floor, when the
other would strike him with heavier
sledgelibe instrument Then it would be
but the work of an instant to drag the vic
tim to the trap and cut his throat. In
every case, except that of the child, these
terrible wounds were found in the back Of
the head, and the throats were gashed from
ear to ear. Two hammers were found IN
the house which had evidently been used
iii the manner described.
There was also something very peculiar
about the manner Of burial. The graves
were all from three to five feet deep. The
bodies were straightcncd out with the
right hand drawn up and laid flat upon
the right breast The left arm and hand
were stretched straight beside the body.
This Nr. Beers informed the reporter has
been pass-sign between a large gang Of
| cut-throats and horse-thicves working
along the route from the Mission to hide
| pendenCc.
The news Of the finding of York's body
spread like wildtirc, and before night
! scores OF men had focked to the place to
aid in the search. Among them came a
German, wholly innocent of wrong, but
because he happened to be Of the same ma
tionality az the Blenders, the crowd strung
him up three times to make him confess,
and finally desisted upon Beers declara-
! ton that the man was innocent.
About u year ago there was another
member of the Bender family, a young
man, but he all at once disappeared. The
supposition is that, in attempting to dis
pose of some victim, this Bender was
either killed or mOrtally wounded, and
| then secretly buried.
OF the bodies found thus far nearly all
have been missed since last October. II.
/ Lonchor, one Of the victims, was a farmer
in Howard County He sold out his claim,
and, taking his little girl eight years old,
he started for Iowa with his team. The
| last known of him was when he Campcd
on Drum Creek He could be traced no
farther and the finding of his body in
Bender's field with the remains Of the
child little way oil, solved the mystery.
| A day Or two after Longchor was lost, his
| team was found about sixteen miles south
of the Bender place. 1t had evidently
been driven there in great haste and aban-
dOned. At several points on the line be
tween the Bender place and the spot
| where the team was found, several persons
| were told Of seeing the team 90 past at a
| furious rate, and on this line were found,
at intervals, the endboard of Longchor's
| wagon and his guns, which had fallen out
| IN the hasty drive.
The Benders talked boldly about this
disappearance, and insinuated that the
man must have been shot down on Drum
| Creek.
w F. Mccarthy, another of the victims,
was a Howard County farmer He was
formerly in the One Hundred and Twenty
third Illinois Infantry. He had had a long
dispute about his claim with man who
belonged to the Bender gang. The latter
had taken him away to have settlement,
and he was never seen alterWard till his
body was unearthed. The suppostiou is
that he was entccd to Bender's, and muir
dered in the same manner as the others.
b. f. Mckenzie was farmer from Ohio,
who was looking about for lands. He had
$1,000 OF s. 600 and disappeared as mys-
teriOusly as the others. His body was
found also.
Another man named Boyle, who started
from Independence to Mission with 500
| in his possession, was found also.
Two others were identified, but the rest
of the bodies were not recognizable,
Nearly all of the victims had teams or
saddlehorses. In two instances the wag-
ons were found on the prairie, and in one
instance a horse which had been peculiar
" marked was left with the wagon.
In the other cases the horses were run
off by some members of the gang, and
disappeared as mysteriously as their own
crs. DR.. York, when he disappeared, had
with him a very fleet and valuable road
| Ster.
1t seems that after the visit of Senator
York and his party, the Benders took the
alarm. The next morning the old man
plowed the field, and shortly afterwards
they hitched up and drove to Thayer, q
station on the Gulf road, twenty or twenty
five miles away, where they were not
known arriving there in time to take a
night train. 1t seems that they stopped a
little way out of town, embarrassed the
horses and tied them to the wagon. Then
leaving the dog with the team, they went
to the depot and left
The team remained out Of town two or
three days, no one knowing to whom it
belonged. Finally, the Town Marshal
| went ont and hrOuUht il in