We are, in fact, in Kansas. Whether the stuff of folklore or fact, many believe that the trapped souls of these century-old ghosts continue to lurk at the site today. , Near here are the Bender Mounds, named for the infamous Bender family ~~ John, his wife, son, and daughter Kate ~~ who settled here in 1871. A decade after the gruesome killings, nothing was left of the cabin and outbuildings on the property. Kate then became abusive toward them, and shortly afterward the Bender men emerged from behind the cloth. Elvira was rumored to have murdered several husbands, but none of these rumors was ever proven. In its first three days of opening, it attracted more than 2,000 visitors. A number of researchers question the ready acceptance of the affidavit's authenticity and suggest that the county was unwilling to accept the expense of boarding the two women for an extended period. Fargo has won multiple Emmy Awards and Golden Globes Awards for outstanding work in television. The legend was debunked on June 8, 1966, when an EF-5 twister churned its way across the city, cutting a diagonal swath of destruction from S.W. 1619) December 1872: During the search, the bodies of four unidentified males were found in Drum Creek and the surrounds. [5], Detectives following wagon tracks discovered the Benders' wagon, abandoned with a starving team of horses with one of the mares lame, just outside the city limits of Thayer, 12mi (19km) north of the inn. A terrible smell inside the abandoned inn also met them. Their room is assigned based on Rabbis political and New Testament leanings, which place them in the west wing. The real one reads as follows: Near here are the Bender Mounds, named for the infamous Bender family--John, his wife, son, and daughter Kate--who settled here in 1871. Senator Samuel C. Pomeroy's bribery of state legislators in his bid for re-election. More gruesomely, though the little girls body was found to have multiple injuries, none of them would have caused death, and it was speculated that the poor lass may have been buried alive. A Look at Fargo- Season 4, Episode 9: "East/West" - What Else is on Bloody Benders - The Forgotten Story of a Family of Pioneer Kansas Serial Killers By: Justin Nobel | Date: Sat, November 16th, 2013 The Bender family lived in southeastern Kansas and murdered pioneers headed west during the late 1800s. Buried in the apple orchard. [5][18] When the vigilantegroup approached, the Benders fired on them, at which time, the judge lost part of his ear to a flying bullet. The next day, Rabbi goes back to the appliance store and recovers his remaining cash from the brothers at gunpoint. Much folklore and legend surrounds the Benders, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction. She watches (and recaps) a lot of TV, sees every Marvel movie on opening night and reads voraciously. Originally scheduled for February 1890, the trial was held over to May. This page was last edited on 2 March 2023, at 16:54. Kate's popularity became a large attraction for the Benders' inn. My grandfather, who is approaching 80 years old, is always full of great stories, but he assured me that his father, who passed this on to him, knew what happened. She soon found the lecture circuit profitable by distributing circulars that proclaimed her skills, including supernatural powers and the ability to cure illnesses and infirmities. He does not deliver his usual parting words to Satchel. White Settlers Buried the Truth About the Midwest's Mysterious Mound The Bloody Benders - Serial Killers of Kansas East/West may *look* like a detour into surrealist Midcentury Italian cinema when it opens, but the minute the wind starts blowing through black and white Kansas you know where you are. Along with her desire for fame, she also craved wealth and position. ASSOCIATED PRESS. Mrs. McCann's story came from dreams about her father's murder, which she discussed with Sarah Eliza. [7], A bad odor was noticed and traced to a trap door underneath a bed, nailed shut. A crude sign was hung above the front door that advertised Groceries to the many travelers along the Osage Trail. All four had crushed skulls and throats cut. [11] Whether John Flickinger was really John Bender is unknown. did phineas and ferb die in a car accident. Look for these with their cute sunflowers. 'Bloody Benders' property goes up for sale in Kansas | CNN mellon mounds kansas murdersduskull evolution arceus. The 4th United States Colored Infantry, 1863-1866, A History of the Ninth New Jersey Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, How . 18701873", Sheriff Saves the Neck of a Man Who Murdered His Own Daughter, "Dr William H. York (1840-1873) - Find a Grave", "The Bloody Benders: 140-year-old crime scene still fascinates today", "Selective Omissions, or, What Laura Ingalls Wilder left out of LITTLE HOUSE", "Little House on the Prairie, serial killers, and the nature of memoir", "They Bite: Anthony Boucher's Weirder Western", "Hitchcock's Birds, Hope Diamond, Phineas Gage", "One Red Dead Redemption 2 Side Quest Is Based On An Actual Serial Killer", 1873 map of Bender claim in Osage township of Labette County, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bloody_Benders&oldid=1142480623, "The old man was a repulsive, hideous brute, without a redeeming trait, dirty, profane and ill-tempered. What a uniquely weird unsolved mystery. So provocative was the Bender family tale that the Bender Museum was created in Cherryvale in 1961. Both knew of his travel plans, and when he failed to return home, an all-out search began for the missing doctor. Their story is unresolved and remains one of the great unsolved mysteries of the old west. John Bender, Sr. was from either Germany, Norway, or the Netherlands and may have been born John Flickinger. One arm was broken. Kansas Historical Society Historical Markers - hmdb.org If the terrible story of the Bender murders was not legend enough, another tale began to circulate regarding the property upon which the Benders had once lived. Catch up here! Judge Calvin dismissed Mary Gardei's affidavit as she was a "chip off the old block"; he found that other affidavits supporting Gardei's were sufficient proof that the women could never be convicted, however, and he discharged them both. Benders Mounds Cemetery in Kansas - Find a Grave Cemetery The Bender artifacts were eventually given to the Cherryvale Museum, where they remain in a wall-mounted display case. The desk clerk who shows them to their room warns them that the sisters dont care for colored people, a refrain echoed repeatedly through this episode. I'd need to check but my gut feeling is that its real. Despite the lack of identification, the man's skull was displayed as that of "Pa Bender" in a Salmon saloon until Prohibition forced its closure in 1920 and the skull disappeared. On March 28, 1873, Colonel York arrived at the Benders' inn with a Mr. Johnson, explaining to them that his brother had gone missing and asked if they had seen him. [2], Testimony from people who had stayed at the Benders' inn and managed to escape before they could be killed appeared to support the presumed execution method of the Benders. On May 17th, Governor Thomas Osborn added to that amount by offering a $2,000 reward for the apprehension of all four. Bug ID: JDK-8141210 Very slow loading of JavaScript file - Bug Database She also claimed to possess psychic powers, including communicating with the dead. When attempts were made to relocate the museum it became a point of controversy, some locals objecting to the town being known for the Bender murders. sdsu basketball recruiting 2021 - boztepeyapi.net Finally, unsolved murders in Shawnee County, Kansas, can be found among these lists. As Active Shooter incidents have increased, employers are tasked with training employees on how to escape, hide, or fight. Colonel York, leading a company of some 50 men, questioned every traveler along the trail and visited all the area homesteads. [1][2] A knife with a four-inch tapered blade was reportedly found hidden in a mantel clock in the Bender house by Colonel York. She is fun enough. melon mounds kansas murders. The body would then be buried in the garden behind the house during the night. HISTORICAL MARKER As they break for a Coke, Calamita arrives. The parts did not belong to any of the other victims found and are believed to belong to at least three additional victims. Thomas Jefferson was one of the first to excavate into a Native American burial mound, citing the disappearance of the "noble" Indianscaused by violence and the corruption of the encroaching white. Satchel tries looking for Rabbi, but a short conversation with the hospital man and a glimpse of the preacher and his mother folding a flag in their underwear (night wear?) The media speculated that some of the victims had attempted to fight back after being hit with the hammer. The victim was then dispatched from behind with a hammer, the body was dropped into a basement pit, later to be buried in an orchard. According to a breathless Daily Mail report, nursery-school teacher Inessa Tarverdiyeva and her husband, dentist Roman Podkopayev, were behind "a six-year reign of terror including at least 30. Marker is on the grounds of the rest area located northeast of the intersection of US Highways 189 and 400, about three miles south of Morehead. 'Wichita Massacre' Brothers Get Zero Sympathy From The - HuffPost I have heard my grandfather tell of this story since I was a boy and Grandpa swears that this is the real story of what happened to the Benders. Rabbi makes his way to the filling station in search of a cupcake or candy bar. Cherryvale, Kansas Museum by Kathy Alexander. Often two women traveling together were accused of being Kate Bender and her mother.[10]. The captive makes a run for it, and Omie shoots him dead and drags his body out of sight. They broke up the stone slab floor with sledgehammers, but found no bodies, and determined that the smell was from blood that had soaked into the soil. In the end, the artifacts, including the hammers, photos, and newspaper clippings, were placed in the Cherryvale Museum and can still be seen today at 215 East 4th Street. While popular retelling of the story holds that John Jr. and Kate were siblings, contemporary newspapers reported . After a cabin, a barn with a corral, and a well were built, in the fall of 1871, Elvira Bender and daughter Kate arrived, and the cabin was divided into two rooms by a canvas wagon-cover. Though most of us know of Dodge Citys wicked ways, the deadly gunfight of the Daltons in Coffeyville, and the many outlaws and gunfighters who spent time in the Sunflower State, few are aware of a family of mass murderers, living a supposed quiet life near the small town of Cherryvale. About 75 people attended the gathering, including both Bender men. They were not pursued, as lawmen following outlaws into this region often never returned. Ransom, the trains conductor, said that John, Jr., and Kate disembarked at Chanute and took the Missouri, Kansas & Texas Railroad train south to the Red River country near Dennison, Texas, which was then the terminus of the railroad. Uncovered: Unsolved Kansas Murders The owner of the Drum Creek claim was suspected, but no action was taken. No documentation or definitive proof of their relationships to one another, or where they were born, has ever been found. Southeast Kansas, in particular, was known as a rough area. In the spring of 1873, Dr. York took it upon himself to look for the Lonchers, stopping at the homesteads along the trail to ask questions. And everything is in color! 6) December 1872: Henry McKenzie. A beautiful girl of about 23, she was quick to laugh and talk to strangers. Next to their room is a hospital man, an obese white man with bandages all over him and some kind of skin condition that makes him look monstrous to the passing child. The Bender cabin was ripped apart by gruesome souvenir hunters right down to the bloody bricks that lined the cellar. Speaking English fluently with a German accent, he was said to have been social, but he was prone to laughing aimlessly, which led many people to think of him as a half-wit. There is a lot of weird details, like the two children, Kate and John Jr Bender possibly being husband and wife, or the parents Elvira and John Sir being two nobodies who merely said they were family. The Bloody Benders Historical Marker The Version table provides details related to the release that this issue/RFE will be addressed. [7], They then probed the ground around the cabin with a metal rod, especially in the disturbed soil of the vegetable garden and orchard, where Dr. York's body was found later that evening, buried face down with his feet barely below the surface. Bit by bit, the story of the Benders was pieced together. Eyewitness testimony was given that Mrs. Monroe was Elvira Bender. In addition to the museum, southeast Kansas may be the only place where a state historical marker celebrates mass murder. mellon mounds kansas murders - indutecma.com THE KANSAS MURDER TRILOGY by Melvin Litton offers three stand-alone novels that spring from the heartland and mark three pivotal moments in our nation's life: the fall of Saigon and the loss of faith in the post-war construct, 1975; the brink of the Space Age and Civil Rights era, 1960; and the Great Depression, 1934. the mellon family kansas. that when a guest stayed at the Benders' bed and breakfast inn, the hosts would give the guest a seat of honor at the table that was positioned over a trap door into the cellar. The plaque was created for the show. Satchel walks down the road with his dog. She also conducted sances and gave lectures on spiritualism, for which she gained notoriety for advocating free love. Also a great song by Macabre about the Benders: https://youtu.be/NJpbxpbI8FA. However, some of those men, who frequently carried large sums of cash with the intention of settling, buying stock, or purchasing a claim, began to go missing. Some believe justice came to them in the end. ?," "big slaughter day, Jan eighth", and "hell departed. If this really is Oz, then Satchel is Dorothy and Rabbit is Toto. Elvira Bender, who also allegedly spoke little English, was 55 years old and so unfriendly that her neighbors took to calling her a "she-devil.". [citation needed], Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}372056N 952910W / 37.349N 95.486W / 37.349; -95.486, According to one of the myths that has grown around the murders, after dinner, Colonel York was sitting in the front room when he noticed a gold, List of fugitives from justice who disappeared, List of serial killers in the United States, "The Bloody Benders Serial Killers of Kansas", "The Bloody Benders, Kansas, ca. Yep the Abberdeens are very clearly based on the Benders, specifically Kate and John Jr. In total, 12 men "of bad repute in general" would be arrested, including Brockman. The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. The Bender cabin was destroyed by souvenir hunters who took everything, including the bricks that lined the cellar and the stones lining the well.[1][2]. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira and their son John Jr. and daughter Kate. ", "Old Mrs. Bender was a dirty old Dutch crone. The book "All the Blood We Share: A Novel of the Bloody Benders of Kansas", by Camilla Bruce, published in 2022. From those who knew them and have written about the Benders:[4], She professed to be a medium of spiritualism, and delivered lectures on that subject. In February 1872, the bodies of two men were found with the same injuries as Jones. Home TV & Streaming Recaps & Reviews FARGO Recap: (S04E09) East/West, Posted by Leona Laurie | Nov 16, 2020 | Recaps & Reviews, TV & Streaming | 0. Though her beauty and social skills gained popularity with the locals, her actions began to cause them to say she was satanic. It was to be this diminutive Bender family member that would take most of the blame for what was soon to be found out about this infamous family. When a traveler was seated at the table, his head was outlined against the curtain. Across the hall from them, on the east side of the building, is an Old Testament preacher and his mother (whom the resident gabby salesman- west- mistakes for the preachers wife). Copyright20062023,Somerightsreserved. In 1923 it was donated to the Kansas Museum of History by York's wife but is not on display; still bearing reddish-brown stains on the blade, it can be seen upon request. In the winter of 1872, George Newton Longcor left Independence, Kansas with his infant daughter Mary Ann to resettle in Iowa; they were never seen again. THE MELLON MOUNDS. She advocated "free love," and denounced all social regulations for the promotion of purity and the prevention of carnality, which she called "miserable requirements of self-constituted society." From there, they traveled to an outlaw colony thought to be in the border region between Texas and New Mexico. When he wakes alone again in the morning, Satchel takes Rabbit for a walk down the lane to where a man has finished building a cryptic billboard featuring a white man in a suit and hat smiling expectantly in front of a ranch style house. melon mounds liberal kansas For years, sightings of Ma Bender and Kate were reported, and in 1889, two women were extradited from Michigan on the charge. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_Benders. However, by the time the men arrived at the Benders cabin very early the next morning, they found them gone. betty crocker net worth 2020; vietnamese culture relationships; pastillas para dormir durante el embarazo; what does modern fit mean in men's shirts? Menu So yeah, kind of obscure. After opening the trap, the party found clotted blood on the floor of the empty room underneath, 6 feet (1.8m) deep and 7 feet (2.1m) square at the top by 3 feet (0.9m) square at the bottom. The story of the Benders' escape spread, and the search continued on and off for the next 50 years. When neighboring communities started to make slanderous insinuations, the Osage Township called a meeting held at the Harmony Grove schoolhouse in March to see what, if anything, could be done. After Colonel Yorks visit and the meeting at the Harmony Grove schoolhouse, the Bender family fled. Wikizero - Bloody Benders Shortly after theyve settled, Rabbi leaves Satchel alone with his usual goodbye of, If I dont come back, Im dead or in jail. He drives into Liberal to see about the money he left behind, only to discover that the feed store was sold at auction and has been converted to an appliance store by a pair of brothers. Of the family, Pa Bender was found to have been a man named John Flickinger, from either Germany or Holland. Though the tales of what happened to the Benders can only be speculated as to their accuracy, the fact that ten bodies were found on the property is not disputed. Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Mellon family was never discovered. These 10 Kansas Serial Killers' Stories Will Chill You To The Bone The Benders were not what they appeared. Afterward, she reportedly remarried several times, killing those husbands and three of her older children so they could not testify against her. This tugs his heartstrings, inspiring him to leave the boardinghouse in search of some kind of birthday treat for his ward. "[7], Word of the murders spread quickly, and more than three thousand people, including reporters from as far away as New York City and Chicago, visited the site. These hammers were given to the Bender Museum in 1967 by the son of LeRoy Dick, the Osage Township trustee who headed the search of the Bender property. Finally, the men physically moved the entire cabin to the side and began to search beneath, but no bodies were found there either. They were released after being found not guilty, but were then immediately re-arrested for the Bender murders. Premium Powerups . She and her brother John often attended Sunday School nearby Harmony Grove and were readily accepted in the community. I believe I read this year that the land where the house once stood got sold to someone. Another of Mrs. Monroe's daughters, Mary Gardei, later provided an affidavit claiming that her mother (then Almira Shearer), under the name of Almira Marks, was actually serving two years in the Detroit House of Corrections in 1872 for the manslaughter of her daughter-in-law, Emily Mark. The family quickly ran away in the middle of the night never to be seen. An American Indian legend claimed any twister approaching Topeka from the southwest would have its tail clipped off by Burnett's Mound, a sacred burial ground. ", In May 1871, the body of a man named Jones, whose skull had been crushed and throat cut, was discovered in Drum Creek. After the third hanging, they released him and he staggered home "as one who was drunken or deranged. Benders Mounds Cemetery Labette County , Kansas , USA - *Estimated location First Name Middle Name Last Name (s) Search this cemetery More search options Search tips About Photos 0 Map About No location information available Add Location Cemetery ID: 2728705 Members have Contributed 6 Memorials 100% photographed Hes connected to a medical machine and has a hovering attendant with goggles on, ministering to him with a hypodermic needle. Does that mean that Satchel has just landed in Oz now? Somehow, he escaped, appearing naked in the middle of the night at Jesse Smalleys doorstep. Buried in the apple orchard. Mrs. Monroe resisted, declaring that she would not be taken alive, but was subdued by local deputies. Several days later, the Benders team and wagon were found a short distance away, and the horses nearly starved. Quickly, the scavengers were frightened away by the dead souls to spread their ghostly tales. royston crow obituaries As more and more travelers vanished, suspicion began to circle the Mellons. The family soon built a small one-room framed cabin, a barn, and a corral and dug a well. Tole reported the news to Leroy F Dick, the Township Trustee, and a search party was soon formed, which included Dr. Yorks brother, Colonel A.M. York, of Fort Scott. A Catholic priest said he fled when he saw one of the Bender men concealing a large hammer. Another group claimed they had caught the Benders and lynched them before throwing their bodies into the Verdigris River. At this point the customers felt uneasy and decided to leave, a move that almost certainly saved their lives. In the 19th century, Kansas was a bloody place, especially before the Civil War, as " Free-Soilers " and slavery advocates "duked" it out for control of the new territory. Rabbi retreats to take cover behind his vehicle, and Calamita catches him with a bullet in the arm before hes in the clear, making it difficult to return fire. Kansas Muskmelon, 2 g. $2.75 Out of Stock Item #52106 (Orange flesh) 90 days. hunzaguides.com Informacin detallada del sitio web y la empresa [1][3] On April 3, Colonel York returned to the inn with armed men after being informed that a woman had fled from the inn after Elvira Bender had threatened her with knives. At her hearing, Mrs. Monroe denied any knowledge of Shearer or the manslaughter charge and remained incarcerated with her daughter. [1][11][12][13][14][15][16], By including the recovered body parts not matched to the bodies found, the finds are speculated to represent the remains of more than 20 victims. This unnamed man was one of the many who made the mistake of stopping at the Bender Inn. barry mcguigan, daughter funeral; mellon mounds kansas murders They killed as many as 26 people, I believe there is a museum that stills has a bloody knife they used. The women's identities were later confirmed by two Osage township witnesses from a tintype photograph. The little store carried a few supplies such as powder, shot, groceries, liquor, and tobacco, sold meals, and provided a safe overnight resting place to the strangers along the road. why i quit civil engineering; goo goo gaga family net worth; how to make homemade biscuits without baking powder; Although stories abound, the ultimate fate of the murderous Bender family is uncertain. Their murders were carried out by use of a canvas curtain that divided the house into two rooms. Along with an old episode of Death Valley Days. Markers of the Kansas state historical markers program administered by the Kansas Historical Society and Kansas Department of Transportation. It first seems like Rabbi might escape, but ultimately he raises his hands in surrender and flies up into the clouds. At the site of a freshly stirred depression in the earth, they found the first body, buried head downward with its feet scarcely covered. [1], One detective later claimed that he had traced the pair to the border, where he had found that JohnJr. had died of apoplexy. 1315) December 1872: Various body parts. They werent even a true family the only ones related were Ma and Kate Bender. Colonel A.M. York, leading a contingency of some 50 men, began questioning every traveler along the trail and stopping at the area homesteads. Last night, I listened to a story from my grandfather, Emerson Smalley, about the Benders and their supposed end. 37 20.932 N, 95 31.668 W. Marker is in Morehead, Kansas, in Montgomery County. Though he reached Fort Scott unscathed and started to return to Independence on March 8, he never reached home. The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Yep that's the one from a book I have. They disappeared in the spring of 1873, shortly before inquisitive neighbors discovered the victims' bodies. In 1967, three of the Bender hammers were gifted to the museum by the Dick family. Later, Satchel awakens to find that hes fallen asleep and doesnt know where his friend has gone. The burial site was christened Hells Half-Acre, and another brother of Dr. York, a lawyer and State Senator residing in Independence offered a $1,000 reward for information leading to the Bender familys arrest.