The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1880-08-19
OMAHA. NEE. Anr. 2 M


family is upon everybody's lrs. The
greatest crime of the century Is likely,
in SMALL measure at least, to be atoned
for, But the most horrible death that
old John Bender could be put TO would
but in q slight degree avenge the suffer-
ings Of his many victims. In the iai! at
Fremont, in Dodge County, a man is
Locked up who is supposed to be the fiend
that the authorities of Kansas have been
looking for for seven years. There hard
iiy seems doubt of his identity. With
him j. woman-repnlsive, hard -fis.ed
aud old. She may be the original rs.
Bender or she MAY be his mistress.
Opinions differ on this point. When
they reach Kansas the authorities viii
have hard work to guard the couple from
the attacks of the populace, who are
thirstiug for their blood. In 1873, old
Bender aud.his wife and their aon John
and his,sWife lived near Cherryyale.
Labette County, Kansas.. Their house
was about two miles out of town. It
was rude frame structure, standing in O
lot two acres. The old woman called
heIaelf q medium. She had a way of
boiling herbs and roots. that were sup
posed to kave CHARMS and spells about
them, aud che dealt in incantations. She
was renulsive in aspect-tall, angular
and serawny, with hard, steetgray eyes,
and thin5 ragged gray hair struggling
over her ;tempSes. The family sseem 70
have been totally under the influence of
this ungainly creature. Her word with
them was law. The Benders ostensibly
kept grocery. A sign was displayed In
front of their rude dwelling to attract
visitors, but the stock in trade consisted
principally of sort of cheap wine.
Th.re were only two rooms in The house.
One was q dining room and kitchen
combined. In the other the four Ben
ders slept.
MANY SUDDEN DIsAPPEARANCEs.
In 1873 number of persons travelling
in the direction OF Cnerryvuie myste.
rionsly disappeared. No traces of them
could be found. The first disappearance
that attracted public attention was TINT
of au old man and his granddaughter.
who left Cherryvale in February, 1878,
In two.hoTS5 wagon, to GO 10 Fort Scott,
but whc never reached that place. Ali
inquiries failed to elicit clue to their
disappearance until, about the beginning
of March, DR.. William Fl. York recog.
nized the wagon and team at Fort Scott.
He ascertained that the wagon had been
purchased as the fort from SOME person
who had come from Cherryvale, ard he
determined to ferret out the mystery.
He left Fort Scott on March 9, and he,
too, disappeared. DR.. York was we'll
known, and the greatest efforts were
made 10 discover traces Of him. A large
reward was offered, rivers were dragged.
spots fit for ambush were probed foot by
foot, lonesome places were qnesfed az e
keen mound scents q trail Fiat is cold.
and still no traces Of the lost man were
discoyered. Not q shadow ofye7idence
rested anywhere to say that DR.. York
had been murdered q sign anywhere
told how he came to his death, If, indeed,
death had oyortaken him nnawares. He
was traced to Cherryvale, in Labette
County, but no further. There all track
and trace of him ceased. The excite
ment was at o high pitch. One day an
exploring party stopped at the house of
the Benders. Had they seen ANYTHING
of DR.. York; No, the answer came.
they had not. They knew nothing what
ever concerning him. But this visit had
q strange effect. The next day the Ben
der family disappeared. and almost as
mysteriously as had DIR. York. This
suspicious circumstance aroused curios-
itty. A man riding into Cherryyale frcrn
the country one day was impressed by
the deserted appearance of the Bender
place. He entered the yard. To the
stable he found n dead calf. There was
every indication from the appearance OF
the miserable creature that it had starved
TO Death The man walked up to the
mouse, opened the door and looked in.
Not an article of household furniture
had been removed, but the dust Law
heavy on everything, The man went. tc
CherT5Sale aud told; his story. Sen ator
a, ;1Is York, 5thai brother OF tho nissifiir.
man, was there. TO his suspicious mind
the sudden and strange flight of the
Bender family was a'reSelation. HS fiati
found the first clue to his lost brother.
He divulged hia suspicious, aud hnnd
of men accompanied him TO tho Bender
farm. The front room of the horse was
carefully searched, every crack and crev-
ica being. minutety looked into and sub
jected to the application of rods and
levers TO see if the fiooring was either
mellow Or loose. Ndtiing came Of Il.
No blood spots appeared. The floor was
solid. Tho wallis were aolid. Next the
party searched tie back room. The beds
were removed. Ia their flight the Ben
ders had left everything untouched.
"a HORRIBLE DISCOVERY.
The explorers were about to retire
when they noticed o depression in the
floor, a trap door was revealed. Is was
lifted up, and in che gloom q pit outlined
itself forbidding cavernous, unknown.
n1s::;s-i... s.satet rad and sntan inf the
mon deicsnded! 1sh5y found themselves
in an abyss like n vel, six feet deep. and
five feet iR diameter. Here and there
little damp places could be seen, as
though water had come up from the bot.
tom or been poured down from above.
Tseys gr0ped around and around over
these splotches, and held d handful ta the
iighs The ooze smearsd itself over their
! palnis and dFibbied through theirfin
It was blood. Every suspicion was real.
ized. The fnlrderers had fed, leaving
behind damuing evidences Of their hids
eons guilt But where were the bodies
of the victims? For an hour the party
OF excited people traversad the lonely
garden la the rear OF that human,
slaughter pen, prodding tho earth with q
loEg iron rod ALI sae opSe4 tits /. iron
seemed 70 strike q heahy matter. In n
moments Tins i DOZEN m cagsr spades had
resurrected from It's shallow Craze the
decaying body of d human being. Il
had been buried face down. They turned
Z il to sth0sunlight. A cry of terror went
up from the crowd. It vas yorkia
corpse. Although far advanced ia the
stage OF decomposition the features Here
plainly recognizable. How the murder
= 4. y. 4