"In late 1869 my great-great grandfather, George Burton, his brother Wesley Burton and a fellow Civil War veteran and friend, William McCratty, along with their young families moved from Illnois to homestead land in Kansas. They settled near the Neosho/Labette County line. In 1873 when a colonel from Fort Scott was trying to trace his brother's steps after his brother's disappearance, his path led to the Bender's place. When the colonel noticed that one of the Benders was wearing his brother's pocket watch, he became suspicious and travelled to Parsons to report this to the local law authorities. Around this time, William McCratty had also turned up missing. George and Wesley Burton along with two or three other men formed a posse and rode to the Bender place. But the Benders had already taken off. Searching the premises, they discovered several bodies buried in and around the Bender property. Among the dead was their friend, William McCratty. They then started a search to track down the Benders. After several days, the posse returned and reported that they didn't find them.

However, according to family history, the posse did find them. George Burton told his wife, Elizabeth and his son, my great-grandfather Ellsworth Burton, that upon tracking down the Benders, the posse killed all of them, burned their wagon and all of their belongings and threw everything, including the bodies, into the river. Then they all vowed to never tell anyone what happened. But I guess George had to relieve some of his vigilante guilt and disclose to his family what really happened. Old West Justice!"