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= Frances E. McCann=

Mrs. Frances McCann was known as "The Little Detective" in 1889 and the woman responsible for the arrest and indictment of two Michigan women, Almira Hill Mark Griffith (and other names) and her daughter, Sarah Eliza Mark Davis (and other names), for the crimes of the "Bloody Benders" an alleged family of serial killers in Labette County, Kansas about sixteen years prior. Due to lack of hard evidence, conflicting eye witness testimony, and the procurement of affidavits and various documents providing evidence that both women were in Michigan during the years of 1870 through 1873, the women were eventually released and returned to Michigan. Mrs. McCann's reputation went from heroic detective to flaky busybody as a result.

Early Life
Frances McCann's maiden name was Frances Emily Sanford. To date, no documentation of her birth date or place has been found. She was raised as an orphan in Iowa and her birthplace is given as Kentucky on the 1870 United State census. In July of 1868, she married Albert McCann, a Union veteran of the Civil War in Winterset, Iowa. The couple lived in Madison County until around 1872, when they moved to McPherson, Kansas with their baby daughter, Nettie. They bought property in McPherson and opened a hardware business. The couple had ten children altogether, two of whom died in infancy.

Meeting Sarah Eliza Davis
Sarah Eliza Davis was born Sarah Eliza Mark, daughter of Simon Mark and Almira Hill Mark (also known as Almira Monroe/Bartlett/Griffith/Shearer). Documentation of her birth has not been found and Sarah Eliza claimed she was not really Almira's birth daughter. She is listed in their family in the 1855 New York State Census living in Cattauragus County. Sarah Eliza was the fifth daughter in the family and married several times before she met Mrs. McCann sometime at the end of 1883 or early 1884. According to a number of newspaper articles as well as the book sources listed below, Sarah was ill after childbirth and Mrs. McCann learned of her predicament after a chance meeting with Sarah's daughter: Gertrude May Japhet Madison. When they met, Sarah Eliza claimed that her husband, Ole Peterson, had drowned back in Michigan. The two women struck up a relationship and Sarah Eliza would come to Frances' house to do laundry.

Mrs. McCann's Dream
Frances told Sarah Eliza that she often had a recurring dream. The story of the dream varies in different accounts so this is a simplified version. Frances would dream that she saw man murdered, his throat slashed by a woman who had lured him into the basement. The woman and her mother would notice Frances, a young girl in the dream, was watching. One of them would cry out that the child had seen everything and Frances would wake, frightened and shaken.

How often she had the dream is uncertain. Sarah Eliza told her that she knew who the people in the dream were and that she herself had been present. The events had occurred when Frances was under four years old or so, in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The man in the dream was her father, John William Sanford, and he was murdered by Sarah's sister: Rose Mark. In some versions, particularly the account told by Leroy F. Dick, Rose was jealous of Frances's mother, who was yet another sister. The old woman helping with the murder was none other than Almira Hill Mark, Sarah's mother and as she claimed, also Frances' grandmother if the story was true.

That Frances had such a dream is probably true. Sarah's interpretation was almost certainly fabrication but no records have been found that confirm or deny the story. The two women evidently spent a lot of time talking because Frances began to suspect that Sarah's mother was possibly Ma Bender. Again, all accounts vary as to what was said between the women, but Sarah appears to have strung this idea along without coming out and admitting to anything. Mrs. McCann stated in an 1889 newspaper article that during this time, she had no idea that Sarah Eliza was "really" Kate Bender, but thought that her sister Rose or Mary was a likely candidate. Eventually, Sarah Eliza remarried to a man named John Feenay in July of 1884. She moved back to Michigan with her husband and children and proceeded drifting from town to town.

The Investigation
Frances McCann, acting with the belief that Sarah Eliza's mother, Almira, was not only the notorious Ma Bender but was her father's murderer as well. She spent the next three years "gathering evidence" through letter writing to Kansas authorities and making several trips to Michigan. While Kansas officials disregarded her suspicions, Frances found that some Michigan lawmen were more sympathetic. Through her correspondence and visits, Frances put together a very damning portrait of Almira Hill Mark Bartlett Shearer Monroe, including a marriage to a man named John Flickenger.

A picture of an old man named John Flickenger had been sent to Labette County, as there was some suspicion he could be John Bender, Sr. Officials felt there was enough of a resemblance to investigate but the man committed suicide before positive identification was made. Given the number of other reported old John Benders each year, some citizens decided that John Flickenger was indeed John Bender and therefore, Almira must be Mrs. Bender. Labette County at last decided to send Leroy F. Dick, acting as deputy sheriff, to Niles, Michigan make an identification of Almira Griffith (as she went by at that time) and her daughter. Leroy Dick had known the Bender family personally and had been on the scene when their property was searched after their escape.

Meanwhile, law authorities in Niles were concerned that Almira and Sarah Eliza (now Sarah Eliza Davis) might slip out of town before the deputy sheriff arrived. Someone convinced Almira to file larceny charges against her daughter, since Sarah Eliza planned to leave for Lansing to take up employment there. Sarah Eliza was arrested and a hearing took place on the larceny charges. Instead of discussing the trumped up larceny charges, the two women hurled accusations at each other, each claiming the other one was a Bender, but she herself was not. The proceedings of this hearing were reported by many national newspapers but any official court record has yet to be found. The charges were dismissed and the two women made up their differences briefly, realizing that their best move was to leave town. They were caught and arrested and jailed in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Frances McCann was surprised to learn from Leroy Dick that Sarah Eliza was none other than Kate Bender. However, Frances appears to have accepted Leroy Dick's confidence that these were the two Bender women wholly and completely. She accompanied both the women and Leroy Dick on the train from Niles all the way to Parson, Kansas. All along the route, newsmen gathered and shouted questions at the women through the windows. The national news gave the arrest front page coverage although some articles were more skeptical than others.

The Indictment
Frances McCann told reporters that she had not been home for six months. She was castigated in some newspapers for neglecting her children while investigating. The story of her dream that she recounted to Sarah Eliza was widely circulated, but the state prosecutor opted not to call on Frances as a witness nor refer to her involvement, or motives for involvement. The local county newspapers nearly ignored the story as the hearing took place, other than a few articles complaining of the expense of conducting a sham trial and persecuting two poor women from Michigan. Particularly disturbing to locals was the fact that Sarah Eliza had her two-year old daughter with her as the baby was still breast feeding. Rather than place the women in jail cells, they were housed with a Labette County sheriff for the duration of their stay.

A preliminary hearing was hearon on November 18m 1889. Two attorneys, H. G. Webb and John Towner James, represented Almira Griffith and Sarah Eliza Davis for their defense. (James wrote a book about the Benders and this case which is a source for some of this material.) The hearing lasted over two days