The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-05-31
the dog for SO a number OF times to relic
hunters. and each time he returned to the

In the barn tied with a rope, and II was
that the animal had persisted from
The dead calf aroused curiosity. then
and finally Senator York was
He came at once and a crowd of
more than two hundred people quickly as
about the Bender house. A farm
er happened TO be walking about the small
plot of plowed ground at the rear OF the
house with the rod from the endgate of a
wagon in his hand. which he was using as
a walking stick. 1t struck a soft spot and
sank in easily. Spades were at once pro-
cured and a short time spent in rapid dig
ging opened a deep grave and revealed the
body OF DIR. York. a thorough search of
the plowed and narrowed ground revealed
ceased nine bodies were taken from the
wet and sticky clay. The surface soil was
black loan, and 1t was evident that the
had removed this before digging
in the clay and then carefully replaced the
soil upon the grave. There was nothing
upon DR.. York but an undershirt.
but then a deputy sheriff in Labette county.
was an eye witness of the scene. and he
thus describes it:
the house was pried up and rolled from
over it. but no bodies were found The
stencil arose from the blood that had &C
cumulated during the winter. Win put
wounds on the bodies were the same. All
were naked except an undershirt. A Mole
about an inch in diameter was crushed
through into the brain on the right tenn
pie and the throat cut two-thirds around
and TO the neck bone. In the back room
was found a small hammer, with an ocua-
gon face and a long, tough hickory handle.
This had been the instrument of death.
Everything indicated that the manner of
killing had been about as follows:
HOW 1T WAS DONE.
when a victim entered the front room
he was invited to TAX a seat and warm.
A chair was placed for him back of the
stove. Thus he was facing north, with the
back of his head against the thin partition
and flush with the west side OF the door
in the partition. Then the murderer would
step to the pack door and look up and
down the road a mile either way; hnding
the hammer and from behind the partition
administer, through the doorway. a terri
BILE blow on the victims temple a little
above and in front of the right ear. AS
the victim sank in a heap the body was
pulled back until the head came over the
aperture, then the throat was cut, the
was then rolled up In an old tent cloth,
thrown into a corner and some bedding
carelessly thrown over IL until night, when
ii was buried. or If the ground was frozen
hauled off and thrown into the creek. If
the victim had a horse or team John Gel
ger would boldly take his place. ride or
was done with Lonquor's. Thus the horrid
trade went on for months.
The first body found was that of DIR.
York. Then Mckenzie, then an unknown.
Next poor Brown was found, then Boyd.
who had been the first victim. His head
ed out and his throat cut. His body was
crammed into a nearly round hole, with all
his clothes left on except his coat, and was
of great assistance to his wife in identifying
the body, which she did. / presume to her
satisfaction. as / saw her mar
ried to another husband in the probate court
rnnn1 nf Lpfn 10 frA IANl'1 h~l., -.-
discovered ii was some time before some
one said. Here is another Again the rod
vent down and soon aaother CHASTITY find.
Not one, but two bodies In one grave-Lon-
quor and his little baby girl.
"Lonquor, like the others, had been
stripped; The grave was full seven feet deep,
due north and south, and very narrow. He
was wedged in on his side, head to the
south. The little girl was at the north end,
head against the end of the grave. One of
ing on her body. When the child's body
was lifted from the grave a cry of horror
escaped from the people. who had probably
the fiends had not the heart to rob her of
her clothing. The little WOODEN scarf was
stu tied over her ears and in a knot under
Some thought she had been choked that
way. On her hands were the little wooden
mits tied with strings. with tassels on the
END, prepare by a loving mothers hands
ere she died.
I'm each of her hands. that were tightly
itPPcA. was Ildyr w tile UdnQS MAD
been clinched as the cruel clay fell upon
her. clearly Indicating the child had been
buried alive. There was not a mark of any
violence upon the body. Had her heartless
murderers been there then their fate would
undoubtedly have been as terrible as had
been hers. In all, nine bodies were discov-
cred In the orchard and the creek. There
may have been more. probably were, that
Like the query, What became of GUAM
trell?' the question of what became of the
Blenders will probably always remain un-
answered. Many stories lave been written
in reply to this luery, and for the most
popular one Is that a vigilance mmit
overlook the Blenders and slaughtered the
entire family. In regard to this, Mr.. Brunt.
who probably knows more about the matter
than any other living man, says.
WHAT BECAME OF THEM.
"My opinion is they made good their es-
cape, probably returned TO Germany or
went TO some South American country. or
may have remained i'm the United States,
living as they did in Kansas, as with them
selves, making no friends or enemies, but
quietly in some out-of-the-way place, or
even in a large city, where no one thinks or
cares from whence his neighbor came. My
reason for this belief Is simply this, they
were gone at least ten days before a body
was discovered. Thus they had a long start;
they took the train at Thayer, bought tick
cts for Humboldt, but did not go to that
EL@1Ns LhNJ ans S"te "a ldAiA dAll
went south on the NJ, K. & T., which runs
into Texas direct TO the gulf. On the NJ, K.
& L. all traces were lost. That is all. They
had no occasion to get off in reach of a
vigilance committee and wait ten days for
the bodies to be found. which was the first
anyone knew if they were the murderers.
Il remained in the sherifs office for six
years after the discovery OF the murders.
A large reward was standing for their APP
prehenSion, and L noted carefully all that
took place relative to them, and | an salts
fed they got off scot free. The Bender muir
ders became of worldwide notoriety; were
written of and illustrated in Harper's and
other papers, and thousands visited the
place. Every particle of the house and
barn, even to the foundation stones. was
carried away as mementoes. The apple
trees did not escape. Everything was taken
away.
When / was there there was much from
which TO select a memento. A little Ger
man Bible, with John Bender's name in 1t,
lay on the counter. Many articles we're
in the house. l pulled the cleats from the
joists and saw the blood stains between
the little girl that was left in the grave
when the body was lifted out, but l wa1ted
none of them. / needed nothing to remind
me of that horror. i could never forget II.
Many arrests have been made OF parties
thought to be the Benders but proved not
to be them. Some years ago an ola man
and woman away in the Northwest. in
Idaho, L believe, went 70 the authorities
and gave themselves up-said they were
old Bender and wife. An off1cer went from
Labette county, Kansas, ana Drought tnem
back with him. Hundreds or people gath
cred at the stations TO see them as they
passed through the State. thousands went
they were brought before those. who knew
tho Renders they utterly repudial ted them.