The Bloody Benders of Labette County, Kansas
February 1873 - a young woman is running terrified through the dirt roads of Labette County, Kansas. Her feet bare and bleeding, she's finally found by a man who takes her into his home with his family in an attempt to calm her.
Wiping away tears she tells them of her harrowing experience two miles back. On her way to Independence, Kansas she stopped off at a cabin that offered a meal and a place to rest. It was also a quaint general store, appearing to be run by an equally pleasant family.
As she waited for the meal to be prepared, she decided to lie down and rest a short bit. After some time she was awoken by the matriarch of the family but instead of presenting her with a warm meal, she was instead shown a table of bloody knives and hammers.
Somehow she was able to escape the cabin without harm, running away barefoot into the dark without aim. For the first few minutes, she would turn back every so often to ensure she wasn’t being pursued but all she saw was a flickering light coming from the cabin.
The cabin and the land below it would eventually become known as “Hell’s Half-Acre” and the devils owning the land would earn the infamous name of “The Bloody Benders”.
PART 1 - The Benders
Following the United States civil war, the U.S. entered a period of Reconstruction passing multiple amendments and laws one of which was an updated version of the Homestead Act.
This act gave citizens and those who had applied for citizenship up to 160 acres of land in order to build and own a farm. After five years and a small registration fee the land became theirs to do whatever they pleased, no strings attached.
One of the purposes of the act was to continue expansion westward in the United States and improve on the lands that had been widely affected by the battles of the civil war. Though the act gained far more traction in the 1900’s several families took up the offer in the late 1800s.
Meet the Bloody Benders
One such family was the Benders who in late 1870 along with four other families joined together to acquire land in Labette County, Kansas.
The Benders were led by 60 and 55-year-old John Bender and Elvira Bender who was often just called Ma Bender and their two kids 25-year-old John Bender Junior and 23-year-old Kate Bender. They were thought to be German immigrants but no actual proof of this was ever found, nonetheless, with the exception of Kate, the family spoke with an accent.
John Senior and Elvira were also thought to not understand much English. The over six-foot tall bearded John Senior often spoke in a guttural accent and was described as a “wild and wooly looking man”. Those who feared talking to John Senior made the mistake of speaking with Ma Bender who was later described as a “she-devil” for her temper and unfriendliness towards all.
In juxtaposition to the parents, John Jr and Kate were thought to be friendly and attractive though John Jr would often burst into random fits of laughter for no apparent reason and was called a “half-wit” because of this. Kate was the most social and open-minded of the group. She often spoke of free love and even gave lectures at the local school in Osage Township.
As this was also the height of the spiritualism movement where many believed it was possible to communicate with spirits through seances, it was no surprise Kate would tout herself and her mother as powerful psychics and healers. She would even create her own pamphlets and give them out to passersby and those in town in order to earn more money and gain the trust of travelers.
Settling In Labette County
Arriving in northwest Labette County the Benders had other plans than just building a farm, they wanted to make extra money by making their small cabin into a general store where they could sell items a traveler may need along the way. To do this, they chose a perfect spot along the Great Osage Trail where other travelers looking to make their way west would have to pass by.
They also dug a well, built a farm, and a barn, and set up a small apple orchard on their land. In late 1871, they put up a canvas wagon cover to separate the back half of their cabin from the front half to create their general store and they finally opened for business.
It wouldn’t take long before they saw another opportunity for extra money by charging weary travelers for a warm meal and a small bed to sleep on at the front of the cabin. Unfortunately for many who expected to have a peaceful sleep, they would never make it past the warm meal alive.
PART 2 - The Devil’s Half-Acre
“The scariest monster in the world is human beings and what we are capable of, especially when we get together.”
Jordan Peele
Whether they were lured in by Kate’s pamphlets of seances, the need for supplies, or the need for a warm meal and bed, it wouldn’t be long before travelers had to pass by the Bender homestead.
Once in the cabin, the weary traveler would be offered a meal and even given the head seat of the table as they ate. What they didn’t know was their seat was right above a trap door. Either during or after the meal, Kate Bender would sit with the traveler, flirting with them or discussing spiritualism, it didn’t matter which as long as they were distracted.
From behind either John Senior or Junior would creep around the curtain wielding a hammer and strike the traveler on the back of their heads. Afterward, either Kate or Ma Bender would take a knife and cut the traveler's neck open. They would then check them for items and cash before dropping them through the trap door.
Missing Travelers
At first, the number of travelers that went missing didn’t raise alarms since the trails out west were ripe with dangers. Skirmishes with other travelers or Native Americans, thieves and bandits, and even just the dangers of the terrain were known to cause death and injuries. For some time it appeared as if nothing would stop the Benders from their murder spree.
Though it wasn’t uncommon for travelers to go missing when heading out west many of their family and friends who attempted to find them would begin to notice many disappeared when entering Kansas.
George Newton Longcor
In late 1872 George Newton Longcor of Independence, Kansas purchased several horses from his neighbor and good friend Dr. William Henry York in order to pack up his things and move to Iowa.
With George traveling only with his 18-month-old daughter, Dr. York requested George write to him to ensure a safe passage as rumors of killers along the Osage trail were beginning to grow. George agreed to do so and set off, unfortunately, Dr. York would never receive any letters.
By early 1873, Dr. York was now certain something evil had happened to George and his daughter along the trail and set off to find out. York questioned many of the families living along the trail and after finding dead-end after dead-end, on March 9th he decided to call it quits and head back to Independence.
Dr. York never made it home.
The Search for Doctor York
But unbeknownst to Doctor York’s killers, he had a powerful brother, U.S. Senator Colonel Alexander York who upon learning his brother was missing gathered a crew of 50 men to search for him.
At this point, there were a total of 10 known missing travelers who disappeared near Osage township causing many to start questioning whether there was a serial killer living among the town. Besides Colonel York’s crew, many others banded together to dish out their own forms of justice.
Many innocent people were arrested or ran out of town due to suspicions. Others were beaten and tortured for information. Vigilante groups and Colonel York’s men were feared yet York refused to officially arrest anyone for the disappearances without any concrete proof.
By the end of March, he arrived at the Bender homestead, first meeting with Ma Bender whose lack of proficiency in English made it impossible to answer questions. Kate eventually appeared and told Colonel York they had seen his brother weeks earlier but he left and possibly was killed by Native Americans on the trail.
At first, Colonel York believed the lie but while back in town he heard the story of the woman with bleeding feet who ran from the Bender home weeks earlier after being threatened by Ma Bender.
Colonel York gathered his group of armed men and returned to the Bender home questioning Ma Bender about the woman. Instead of not understanding the men, Ma Bender lost her temper calling the woman a witch who cursed her revealing that Ma Bender knew more English than she let on.
Although Colonel York strongly suspected the Benders were involved in some way with his brother’s disappearance and the other missing travelers, he didn’t have any evidence and decided to leave the home.
Pressure Builds
During this time other surrounding communities were putting pressure on the leaders of the Osage Township to find out what was happening to travelers who passed through. The township then held a meeting at the Harmony Grove school with seventy-five members in attendance including Colonel York, John Bender Senior, and Junior.
By the end of the meeting, all in attendance agreed to allow Colonel York to obtain search warrants for every homestead along the Osage Trail.
The next time Colonel York and his men would set foot on the Bender’s property, he would not only find his brother but the bodies of up to a dozen murder victims. The land would become known as the “Devil’s Half-Acre” but the Benders themselves were nowhere to be found.
PART 3 - Hell Departed
Three days after the township meeting a man by the name of Billy Tole passed by the Bender home and noticed several of the farm animals were starving with the Benders nowhere in sight. Fearing that whoever was attacking travelers may have attacked the Benders, he rushed to the township and rang the alarms.
A group of over a hundred including Colonel York descended onto the farm, some searching for the Benders and others looking to confirm their suspicions. It wouldn’t take long for one of the groups to be proven right.
Entering the Bender Homestead
Upon entering the Bender home, the group was met with a putrid smell but with no apparent origin. The cabin also appeared to have been cleared out, with food and personal possessions gone. After searching the group found a nailed-shut trap door below the head seat of the table.
Prying it open they found the source of the smell, rancid coagulated blood that had seeped into the soil beneath the home. The men then brought in sledgehammers to break through the concrete slabs covering parts of the ground expecting to find bodies but after hours of searching, no bodies were found.
The group then proceeded to search the soil under the vegetable garden and apple orchards. There, just beneath a thin layer of soil, multiple bodies were discovered. The first of which belonged to Doctor Henry York. The search then found the bodies of George Longcor and his 18-month-old daughter followed by at least 8 more bodies, mostly men but one woman and another child were also found.
Within a few days, the body count was up to 11 with many various body parts of other bodies appearing mixed in proving there were more out there. In the end, it’s estimated the Benders killed possibly 20 or more with 11 confirmed. The reason for murders terrifyingly appeared to be for fun. Rumors say Kate’s lectures told about the righteousness of murder and advocated murder was brave and noble.
The adult bodies were found to have been struck in the head with a blunt object and then had their throats cut open. Tragically the children’s bodies displayed evidence of being buried alive. As some of the group attempted to identify the bodies, the rest set off to hunt down the Benders but finding the family proved to be more difficult than anticipated and the search revealed the Benders were not who they claimed to be.
The bodies found the first day of searching
Hunting the Benders
Bounties and rewards were offered for the family and the group quickly turned into a mob kidnapping one of the neighbors and friends of the Benders, torturing him until unconscious. When he awoke, they tortured him again, and after their third attempt, they finally let him go. Other neighbors were threatened with hanging if they didn’t reveal what they knew yet none were able to give information.
Over the next few days, up to twenty were arrested and presumably questioned and tortured yet detectives and the mob were nowhere near finding the Benders even with the help of the U.S Marshals.
Many who were arrested were implicated in helping the Benders cover up the disappearances by selling the few possessions the travelers had and possibly splitting the small take. It’s estimated selling the possessions earned the family and those helping a total of 4,600 dollars over the course of three years. It’s not known if any assisted with the murders or burying bodies.
Miles away a carriage and starving horses belonging to the Benders were found abandoned outside the city of Thayer, Kansas. This led detectives to confirm the family had purchased train tickets with further investigations revealing they split up, with John Junior and Kate heading towards an outlaw colony in Texas and the parents heading further north.
The Benders were never found.
Mistaken Identities
For decades many claimed to see the Benders all across the United States but none of the sightings were ever confirmed. One detective claimed he tracked John Junior and Kate to Texas where he discovered John Junior had died from a stroke.
Another sighting claimed a man in Lake Michigan who committed suicide in 1884 was actually John Senior. But that same year authorities believed they arrested John Senior in Montana after arresting a man for murder who fit his description.
Sightings of Ma Bender and Kate were also reported for years; any two women with a vague resemblance traveling together were often thought to be them. In 1889 two women were arrested for theft and released but later were re-arrested when it was believed they fit the description of the Bender women. With their trial date set, they were eventually released when a marriage certificate for one proved they weren’t in Kansas at the time.
Further adding to the complication of capturing the Benders was the revelation that they weren’t actually a family. Evidence found in the home appeared to show the only related members were Ma Bender and Kate. With Ma Bender’s real name possibly being Almira Hill Mark.
John Junior was apparently a man named John Gebhart and John Senior was possibly a man named John Flickinger who was possibly from the Netherlands. Further questioning of neighbors and friends of the so-called Benders revealed John Gebhart and Kate were actually husband and wife.
Because of the shocking murders, many reporters wrote multiple articles about the Benders for years each with varying details. This was during a time when newspaper articles read more like short stories with flowery prose than actual news making it hard to determine which facts were actually accurate and which were made up or assumed.
Today it would be almost impossible to know exactly who the Benders really were or what happened to them but what we do know is for almost three years along the Osage trail in Kansas a monstrous family of four killed those looking for friendly faces.
But how about you, what do you think happened to the Benders and will we ever know the truth of who they really were?
