The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-08-26
WHAT BECAME OF THE RENDERS.
A True Account OF How the Notorious Ben
ders Were Disposed of-Their Pursuit.,
Capture and Death.

=
ders Were Disposed of-TheIr Pursuit.,
Capture and Death
A correspondent of the Chicago
Times, writing from Oswego, Labette
County, Kan, in reference to the arrest
of the McGregor tramps and their claim
to be members of the murderous Bender
family, says:
1.-The Blenders are dead. / speak thus de-
cisively because know whereof | speak. II
is not customary for one to boast of acts OF
| lawleSsness, and it is not in that spirit that
enter upon the recital of the last chapter of
the bloody career of the british Blenders.
1t is not necessary to go into detailed
I account of the murders. In point of fact,
very little is actually known on that point No
one in the land OF the living will have the hard
hood TO say that he saw the deeds done, and
the Blenders themselves never made 4 con-
| fession that know of. The McGregor hars
were little off in their description Of the muir
ders. They always had Kate, or Maggie, her
cousin, or John, cutting the heads OF the VIC
| Tins to pieces with hatchets, whereas they
were invariably Drained with hammer and
| their throats cut.
two children, Kate and John, kept "a wayside
tavern about a mile and half southeast of
/ MOrehead Station on the road leading from In
! dependence to the Usage Mission They were
| there when moved into the county two years
| before the discovery of the butcheries, and
! were well known then. Kate was a red-faced,
] lON-DfOWeu, SlludfN-SEOuluereQA amazon,
! enough TO throw u bull by the tail and every
| body stood in awe of her. She made u pre-
! tense of practicing the healing art, and was
known far and wide as "spiritualistic
| doctor" Her cures were permanent,
and her remedy was a hammer. Decent
people avoided the Bender tavern. As the
| country hereabouts harbored good many deS-
peradoeS about this time, no one cared to
raise a row, and the protest went no further
! than avoidance. When search was instituted
! for the body of Dr. York, in April, 1873, sus-
piciOn was directed against the Benders, and
contrary to the general belief close watch
was kept on them for while. They must
/ have been aware Of the surveillance, for at
| the first opportunity they decamped- The re-
| port that they took the train at Thayer, II sta
/ ton few miles north of Cherryvale, and went
/ to Humboldt, from which place they took
/ passage for Texas, is mistake. They simply
bundled their goods into two wagons ana start
| ed hr Indian Territory. They did not pro-
! coed at once to their destination, if, indeed,
/ they had any destination marked out, but
crossed over into Montgomery County, and
/ squatted near Verdigris River to await devel-
| Opments. The distance from their farm was
| something like twenty miles. John, Jr., or
John, ST., made daily trips back to the vicinity
| of Cherryvale and took observations. 1t was
/ their intention to return if the excitement
| should blow over, but If it continued warm
| they would go on as originally planned. They
knew of the discovery of their crime within
an hour after the bodies were dug out of their
shallow graves, and they lost no time in striz-
! ing their tents They struck out for the west
Dduh Oh tue rlNeT anu puHJ
haste. Their flight soon became a panic, and
to add to their discontinue one of their
wagons broke down. Packing what they
could of the load on their horses they piled up
what was left, set fire to it, and hurried on.
In the meantime q vigilance committee
had been formed. This move was taken with
the greatest secrecy, and none but trusty men
were admitted to the organization. The ut
most circumspection was used, for the reason
that in new community like this the doubt
full assistance of suspicious characters was a
] fk1f glnA lgTNfn
number more than one hundred men all
told, but they meant business, as the sequel
proved. 1t was my good or bad fortune TO be
one of the elect. Scouts were sent out in all
directions and within fOrty-eght hours Of the
departure of the Blenders from their camp in
the next county, the fact was duly reported
to us.
ABOUT forty of us organized into pursu-
ing party and started after the butchers. Once
on their trail. we had no difficulty in following
it. The murderOus quartet had taken to the
open country west of the river, but were keep
ing within convenient distance of the thick
timber that grows in the valley watered by the
stream. They were expecting pursuit, and
hoped TO escape by losing themselves in this
timber if il came to the worst As we pro-
ceeded the trail freShened, and ere long we
came across the ha.f-cOnsumed ruins of the
wagon left by the Blenders in their flight.
From the direction they we're taking, it be-
came evident to the mind of those acquainted
with the country that they were pointing for
that paradise of cutthrOats located near the
mouth OF the heu 1ulk OF the AThullSaS.
The country hereabOutS is Il bleak and
dcsOlate region, infested by horse-thieves,
half-brecd Greeks, PawneeS and CherUkeeS.
Once there they knew they would be safe from
pursuit. Even the United States troops have
never been able to penetrate that terra fHcOg-
nitd. ltiS safe retreat for the border ruilians,
and is known to be such all through this sec
ton of the country. This haven for the wick
ed is distant about one hundred and forty
miles from the point where the Nerdigris
River enters Indian Territory. The murder
ers had about forty miles TO travel before
reaching the boundary of the Territory, and
they were probably twenty miles beyond
the line when our scouts caught sight
of them. Burdened as they were with
much cumbrous baggage, they had
not been able to make very great
speed but they used every possible effort to
put space behind them. 1t was about three
O'Clock on hot, sutTy May afternoon that we
came in sight of the party. They saw us as
soon as we came from cover, and abandoning
everything they broke for the forest. They
plunged into the woods and scattered. We
were close upon their heels, however, and they
did not succeed in Guiding us long. The old
man and his wife and Kate were under arr est
in less than an hour. John, Jr., was more for
tunate than the other members of the tribe,
for he contrived to evade us for an hour
longer, but he was at length run to cover and
forced to surrender.
Every one of them showed fight, but with
the exception of Kate they all weakened when
il came 10 the scratch. This charming border
beauty emptied every chamber of her revolver
into our races, out neF ann was D;lu ana SDe
did no serious damage beyond manning one of
our horses and clipping lock of hair from
my temple. The bullet raised ridge along
the skin, the work of which shows to this day.
she finally succumbed TO superior strength,
but TO the last maintained the same daredevil,
reckless demeanOT.
Having captured the assassins the ques-
ton now arose. What are we to do with thcmY
Some were for taking them back and letting
the law take its course. The advocates of
this line of policy were largely in the minori-
~. There were those amongst US whose rela-
uVcS had fallen victims to the deadly hammers
and knives of the wretCheS, and they would
not listen to the SuggC StiOns of the COnServa-
tive element. They threatened to do some
killing then and there if their demands for in
slant vengeance were not regarded No one
would have offered very strenuous OppOSi-
ton if they had carried out their threats, but
il was thought best to do the job up after the
most approved form obtaining in the courts
presided over by Judge Lynch.
The prisoners were ccOrdingly arralgned
and asked what they had to say in their de-
feESe. The old woman was suIlen and ugly,
but the two men showed signs of faterlng.
Had they been left to themselves, they would
have made full confessions, beyond doubt.
Tine amiahle Kate perceived this, and, think
isg it would please the vigilants too much
to hear confessions, she fell to curSing her
brother and father for their cowardice. Foul
err language was never ut cred than came from
the lips of this tiend. No term was too vile
to app.s 10 her relatives. They took 1t sullen-
ly N first, but soon something of her reckless
spirit infused them, and they too joined in
the TRADE. The chorus of basphemy that
went up from that hardened lot caused
shudder to run through our party. With death
staring them in the lace, they united in ours.
ing us and lamenting their inability to do us
harm. Such maignity never saw equaled,
Even tie old woman Clipped in occasionally,
and her appearance indicated that she wholly
approved of the family demonstration.
"Our court went through with the form pre-
scrbed and then pronounced a sentence of
death. The announcement was received with
jeers from the hardened criminals, who had
determined to brave it out TO the last. 1t was
decided that the murderers should be shot, as
it would take too much time to hang them.
The sun was already nearly down, and the
shadows of approaching night were deepening.
There on the borders of the forest the cruel
killers we're tied to saplngs and told to pre-
pare for death. One of our number, who had
not quite forgotten his early education, I'M