Bloody Benders

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The Bloody Benders

In 1870 the Kansas Territory was opened and large tracks of land were granted to settlers looking to establish new lives. This included the Bloody Benders who obtained a 160-acre property along the Osage Trail. The Bender family soon established a general supply store and inn for weary travelers. In 1871 the bodies of dead men were discovered nearby and the disappearance of a prominent doctor soon lead his family and the surrounding community to suspect that all was not right at The Bender Inn. Listen to the tale of how one “family” left their mark on Sunflower state.

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Homestead Act of 1962

After the Civil War, the Osage Indians were moved from their home in Labette County to Oklahoma, to make the Kansas Territory available to European settlers.

In October 1870, five families moved to this area of Osage, settling around seven miles from where the city of Cherryvale would be established. One of these families was the Benders, who moved onto a 160-acre property facing the Osage Trail.

The Bender Family

The Bender family consisted of John Sr, a 50 to 60-year-old German man who spoke broken English. John Jr (alias John Gebhart) was in his mid-20s and spoke English well but with a German accent. The men came first. They built a large cabin and a barn for some livestock.

Once the buildings were completed two women joined then, one was known as Ma and was in her mid-50s. She was described as blue-eyed, heavyset, and surly. She spoke little English and was so off-putting that neighbors called her She-Devil. Lastly, there was Kate, and Kate stood out quite starkly from the rest of her “family.”

It is not certain if or how the Bender family was related. Some thought that John and Kate were brother and sister, but neighbors reported that they were husband and wife. 

Kate was well-spoken and spoke English fluently without an accent. In addition, she was attractive and quite friendly. There was a Spiritualist movement in the area and Kate was part of that movement and even held seances. She claimed to be a healer and gave speeches teaching about spiritualism.

General Store

This 1873 photograph shows the infamous Bender Inn the day after the grave digging began.
This 1873 photograph shows the infamous Bender Inn the day after the grave-digging began.

Their cabin was intentionally built right along the road. They hung a canvas partition through the middle separating the family living quarters in the back from the grocer’s area in the front.

There was a general store, kitchen, and tables where travelers could stop and eat and rest. They even allowed folks to stay overnight in the front section of the cabin. The locals were not great fans of the Bender family. They would avoid them, but the road was well-traveled enough that they could run their business.

Missing Travelers

In May of 1871, a man was found in Drum Creek southeast of the Bender property. The man’s skull was crushed and his throat was slashed. Unfortunately, there were no leads on who he was or who had done this.

In February of 1872, 2 more men were found with similar injuries in the same county. By the fall of 1872 locals and local authorities began to notice a pattern of travelers going missing on the Osage Trail. Travelers began avoiding the route and some local groups investigated, trying to find who was responsible but came up empty.

One such missing traveler was George Newton Longcor. After the death of his wife, he and his daughter (some report 18 months, others 5 years old) began traveling from Independence, Kansas towards Iowa, but they never made it. Soon after, Dr. William Henry York, a former neighbor of Longcor, found that his wagon and horses had been abandoned near Fort Scott, Kansas. Dr. York had sold George the wagon and horses which is how they tracked him down.

Dr. York set out to claim the wagon and horses and search for George. When he arrived in Fort Scott he identified the horses and wagon along with clothing and belongings left behind. There is a dispute on whether Dr. York was searching for George and his daughter Mary Ann, or if he was headed back to Independence. In any case, he went missing on the Osage trail and was never heard from again.

Search Party

Dr. William York came from a prominent and somewhat local family. He had two brothers, Colonel Ed York and Alexander M. York, a member of the Kansas State Senate. Colonel York quickly organized a search party of 75 men who searched the area for Dr. York, and in March 1873 tracked him to the Bender Inn. In the initial meeting, the Benders denied any knowledge of Dr. York and suggested that the traveler may have met with foul play at a remote location near Drum Creek, where John, Jr. claimed to have been shot at around the same time as Dr. York disappeared. Without any proof they were involved in his brother’s disappearance, Colonel York had no choice but to leave the Bender Inn.

Colonel York continued the search and in April he found the story of a woman who had claims against the Benders. The woman was known as the local crazy, so her claims had not been taken seriously, but Colonel York was more than willing to listen.

She claimed that she went to the Bender residence to see Kate for a séance. Partway through Kate began saying that the spirits were telling her to kill the woman and she threatened her with knives. The woman fled from the home and never returned to the Bender residence.

Community Meeting

With this new information in hand Colonel York returned to the Bender’s with armed men.

Though Elvira initially pretended not to understand English, she began yelling about how the woman had cursed her coffee. When Colonel York repeated the accusation; Elvira kicked the men out. But it was too late—Elvira had already revealed both her mastery of the English language, as well as her true nature.

Hoping to diffuse the situation, Kate offered to use her psychic abilities to assist Colonel York in his search for his brother. She told him that if he returned that Friday night with fewer men, she would show him to Dr. York’s grave

Due to Colonel York’s persistence in the search for his brother, a community meeting was called in the local schoolhouse. It was decided to obtain search warrants for all properties between Big Hill Creek and Drum Creek. This of course would include the Bender Inn.  Colonel York and John Sr and Jr were in attendance.

A few days later, a local noticed that animals on the Bender property were dead or starving. Upon investigating, elected township officer Leroy Dick found that the property had been abandoned. There was a bad odor coming from a trap door nailed shut and underneath a bed. His subsequent call for a search party turned up hundreds of locals wielding shovels and pickaxes, ready to search the Bender Inn.

Bodies Found

The smell from the cellar was coming from old blood that was dried around the opening and was also soaking the soil. They searched but found no bodies in the house or right around the property. They then moved to the orchard where they could see fresh dirt.

The first victim to be found was Dr. William York. He was decomposing, but his brother was able to identify him. Next they found George Longco and Mary Ann buried together. As they searched the orchard they would come to find 10 bodies and some additional dismembered parts.

Mary Ann was the only female or child and the only victim with a different cause of death, appearing to have been suffocated or buried alive. All of the other victims had been hit in the back of the head with a blunt object (most likely a hammer) and had their throats slit.

Based on the evidence found in the home, it is believed that they would give their victim the seat at the head of the table, facing away from the canvas partition. When they were at the table one of the men would hit them through the canvas on the back of the head. Then someone else would slit their throat to ensure their death.

The trap door was positioned in the same spot so that they could easily be dropped down until nightfall when they could covertly bury the victim.

There were also bullet holes found in the cabin that are believed to be from victims fighting back.

Were the Bender’s Even Related?

One of the few items found in the cabin was a Bible with notes in German. The notes identified John, Jr. as one John Gebhardt. This, as well as reports from neighbors, suggest that John, Jr. and Kate may have actually been a couple instead of brother and sister. In fact, it is now believed that none of the four were actually named Bender. Only the mother and daughter were related. Elvira is thought to have been born Almira Mark in the Adirondack Mountains, and to have had multiple children and husbands—some say who died of head injuries—before she took up the Bender alias. John, Sr. was likely born John Flickinger before immigrating from either Germany or the Netherlands. Kate Bender was Elvira’s fifth child Eliza Griffith.

After the gruesome discoveries made on the Bender property, both State Senator Alexander York and Kansas Governor Thomas A. Osborn offered substantial rewards for the apprehension of the family. Detectives followed wagon tracks to find the family’s horses, who’d been abandoned outside of Thayer, just 12 miles north of the inn.

On The Run

Some say that John Jr. and Kate traveled by railroad to an outlaw colony near the border of Texas and New Mexico, where law enforcement wouldn’t go. One detective even claimed to have tracked John Jr. to the border and found that he’d died of apoplexy. Meanwhile, there were reports that Ma and Pa Bender had fled towards St. Louis, Missouri. For many years after the crimes, two women traveling together would be accused of being Kate and Elvira Bender. And though several vigilante groups would claim to have caught and killed the Benders, none provided evidence or claimed the cash reward.

In 1884, an elderly man who investigators said matched the description of Pa Bender was arrested in Idaho for a murder committed with a hammer. While waiting for more details from Kansas, the man tried to escape by severing his foot. He ended up bleeding to death and decomposed before an identification could be made. In 1889, a mother Almira, and daughter Sarah Elizabeth were arrested for larceny in Michigan and subsequently were accused of being Elvira and Kate Bender. But when they were brought to Kansas, a panel from Labette County meant to confirm their identity provided inconsistent results. With significant doubt of their identity as the Benders, the women were released and sent back to Michigan.

Why Did They Do It?

Part of the motivation for these crimes was to rob the travelers. While the Benders were nowhere to be found, they did have accomplices that helped fence these stolen goods. Twelve men in total were charged as accessories for helping dispose of the stolen goods. This included Mit Cherry, a member of the vigilante committee. It was later revealed that he forged a letter to a victim’s wife to make it appear as if he’d arrived safely.

The home of the Benders was infamous and people came from all around to loot the property. They even took bricks from the walls and trees from the grounds and orchards. Hammers allegedly from the home have been displayed at the Cherryvale Museum. while a stained knife thought to have been taken from the Bender Inn now belongs to the Kansas Historical Society.

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