By Tim Lambert
The Bloody Benders were a family of murderers in Kansas in the 1870s. Little is known about them; unfortunately, there are different versions of what happened. No doubt myths and legends have grown up.
It’s known for sure that the Benders were four people. They were German immigrants. Pa Bender was described as about 60 in 1873. Ma Bender was said to be about 50. John Bender was about 27. Kate Bender was about 24.
The Homestead Act of 1862 gave settlers the right to free land if they farmed it for five years. After the Civil War, the Osage Indians were moved to a reservation in Oklahoma, and their land was then given to homesteaders.
At the end of 1870, Benders claimed land in Kansas. They built a cabin about 2 miles from the town of Cherry Vale next to the Osage Trail. In the 1870s many people traveled along the trail by horse or wagon. The Benders let travelers stay the night. They also sold groceries to their neighbors. In the 1870s Spiritualism was popular in the USA. Kate Bender claimed to be a spiritual healer. She even called herself ‘Professor Kate Bender’.
The Bender’s ‘inn’ was divided into two rooms by a canvas curtain. Nobody witnessed their murders but the victims all had the back of their heads caved in and their throats cut. It’s believed the Benders would ask guests to sit with their backs to the curtain. Standing behind it was a man holding a hammer. At the right moment, he would smash the back of the guest’s head with the hammer. The Benders would then cut his throat and rob him. Under the Bender’s hut was a small ‘cellar’. It’s thought the dead body was hidden there until it could be disposed of. The Benders also sold victim’s horses and wagons.
The Benders killed at least 11 people. The first definite victim was a man named Jones who was murdered at the beginning of 1871. His body was found dumped in Drum Creek. His head had been smashed in and his throat was cut. Shortly after two unidentified men were found dumped on the prairie both of them had been killed in the same way as Mr Jones. The Benders then began burying their victims near their cabin rather than dumping them in the open.
The last victim of the Bloody Benders was Dr William H. York. Dr York had been an assistant surgeon in the Unionist army during the Civil War. He was in his early 30s at the time of his death.
In March 1873, Dr. York set out on horseback from Fort Scott, Kansas for Independence. He told someone that he planned to stay at the Bender’s place. He was never seen alive again. His brother Colonel Alexander York grew alarmed when his brother did not return and he set out with a party of men to look for him. The Benders admitted Dr York had stayed at their ‘inn’ but they claimed he had left normally. Colonel York and his men moved on but the trail went cold. When the Colonel returned to the Bender’s place he found it abandoned. The Benders had realized the game was up and they had fled.
On 6 May 1872 Colonel York’s men discovered a trapdoor in the Bender’s ‘inn’ with a ‘cellar’ below. They found it had dried blood in it. Then someone noticed a depression in the ground near the shack. On digging they found the body of Dr York. His head was smashed in and his throat was cut.
Several other victims were found buried near the Bender’s ‘inn’. Altogether seven graves were found. One of them contained two bodies.
Among the victims was Henry F. McKenzie from Indiana, who was relocating to Independence. He was about 29 at the time of his death. The body of William F. McCrotty from Cedar Vale was also found. Mr McCrotty had served in the Illinois infantry during the American Civil War.
Two victims were buried in the same grave. One of them was George Newton Longcor. Mr Longcor was a blacksmith and like Mr McCrotty he served in the American Civil War. He was 30 years old at the time of his death.
The other body was his infant daughter Mary Ann Longcor. She was only about 19 months old when she died. The child was either strangled or buried alive.
A victim named Benjamin M. Brown was identified by his silver ring. Mr Brown married in 1868 and was survived by his wife Mary Ann and his daughter Cora E. Brown. Mr Brown was aged 39 or 40 at the time of his death.
The bodies of two other men were never identified. Sadly the bodies were too decomposed to allow identification. Altogether the bodies of 7 men and a baby were found buried by the Bender’s shack but it seems almost certain the Benders also killed the three men found dumped in 1871.
Meanwhile, the Benders had fled with their wagon to the town of Thayer. They then escaped by train. What happened to them afterward is a mystery. A party of men pursued the Benders but the trail went cold. For years afterward, there were rumors that vigilantes had caught the Benders and killed them but no evidence was ever found to prove this. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. People didn’t want to believe that the Benders escaped and would like to think they were dead. However, you could easily create a new identity on the American frontier. As far as is known there were no photos of the Benders only vague descriptions. It’s quite possible the Benders escaped.
In the 1930s, the writer Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957) claimed that her father took part in a search for the Benders. When he returned, he supposedly said, ‘They will never be found.’ They never were, of course, but the story is almost certainly not true. The Ingalls family lived in Independence, Kansas from 1869 to 1871 but then returned to Wisconsin. The crimes of the Benders did not come to light until 1873 and by then the WIngalls were long gone.
There are also several stories about people who escaped from the Bloody Benders. For some reason, they became suspicious and either refused to sit with their back to the curtain or fled from the Bender’s ‘inn’. However, it’s impossible to say if any of the stories are true.
The governor of Kansas offered a reward of $2000 (a large sum of money at that time) to anyone who could provide information leading to the arrest of the Benders but nobody ever claimed it. The Bender’s shack was then broken up. People took pieces of it as souvenirs and it soon disappeared.
The grave of George Newton Longcor
