Between 1871 and 1873, travelers heading west across southeast Kansas began disappearing. Many of them had one thing in common: a stop at a small inn and store beside the Great Osage Trail, run by a family named Bender.
By the time anyone looked closely, the family had vanished. What searchers found in their apple orchard made them the “Bloody Benders,” one of the most infamous families in the history of the American frontier.
Who Were The Benders?
The family settled in Osage Township in Labette County, Kansas, about seven miles northeast of the town of Cherryvale. There were four of them.
- John Bender Sr., about 60, who spoke little English.
- Elvira Bender, about 55, whom neighbors reportedly called a “she-devil.”
- John Bender Jr., about 25, who spoke English with a German accent.
- Kate Bender, about 23, who was charming and outgoing. She advertised herself as a healer and a spiritualist who could contact the dead.
Some people at the time suspected that the younger John and Kate were a married couple rather than brother and sister.
The Inn On The Osage Trail
The Benders divided their one-room cabin with a canvas wagon cover. The back half was their living space. The front was a small general store and dining area where travelers could buy supplies, eat a meal or stay the night.
According to later investigations, the family followed a pattern. A guest was seated at the table over a trapdoor, with his back to the canvas. While Kate kept him distracted, one of the Bender men attacked him from behind the curtain. The victim was killed, robbed of his valuables, and hidden through the trapdoor before being buried on the property.
Some visitors seem to have had lucky escapes. One man, William Pickering, reportedly refused to sit with his back to the stained canvas. When Kate threatened him with a knife, he left.
The Missing Doctor
The Benders’ downfall began with a disappearance. In the winter of 1872, George Longcor set out from Independence, Kansas, with his 18-month-old daughter, Mary Ann. They never arrived. His former neighbor, Dr. William York, went looking for them.
On March 9, 1873, Dr. York left Fort Scott to ride home to Independence. He never made it.
His brother, Colonel Alexander York, was a Civil War veteran and a Kansas state senator. He led a search party along the trail. When he stopped at the Bender inn, the family admitted his brother had stayed there but suggested he might have run into trouble on the road.
The Empty Cabin
Suspicion around the Benders grew. At a community meeting in the township, residents agreed to get a warrant to search every homestead in the area. Days later, a neighbor noticed the Bender inn was deserted and the farm animals had gone unfed.
In May 1873, a large search party arrived. Inside the cabin, they found the trapdoor, nailed shut, and signs of what had happened in the cellar below. They probed the garden and orchard with metal rods, looking for loose soil.
The first body they found was Dr. William York’s. By the next morning, they had recovered more victims from the orchard and another from the well. Among them, sadly, was a little girl believed to be Mary Ann Longcor.
Estimates of the Benders’ victims start at about a dozen and run as high as 20 or more.
Where Did The Benders Go?
Detectives found the family’s abandoned wagon near the town of Thayer and learned the Benders had bought train tickets. After that, the trail grows uncertain. According to later accounts, the younger pair headed south toward Texas and the older pair went north toward Kansas City.
Governor Thomas A. Osborn offered a $2,000 reward, on top of a reward from Colonel York. It was never collected. Thousands of curious visitors came to see the site and carried away the cabin piece by piece as souvenirs.
In 1889, two women were arrested in Michigan on suspicion of being Elvira and Kate Bender. They were brought to Kansas, but a judge released them after the evidence of their identity was judged too weak to lead to a conviction. No member of the family was ever tried.
Today, items said to have been recovered from the Bender property are displayed at a museum in Cherryvale, where the story still draws curious visitors.
After reading about the Bloody Benders, learn about Belle Gunness, the Indiana widow whose suitors vanished on her pig farm. Then, read about H. H. Holmes and the truth behind his “murder castle.”