Andrew Henderson Polson & Clara Jones

THE POLSON-CHENEY FAMILY

Husband: Andrew Henderson "Andy" Polson

Born: 28 JUL 1866 in Swan Township, Marion CO, Indiana
Married: 21 MAY 1892 in Kansas
Died: 16 OCT 1940 in Hewins, Chautauqua CO, Kansas
Buried: in Rosedale Cemetery, Hewins, Chautauqua County, Kansas
Father: Henderson Polson
Mother: Sarah Emaline Bates
Spouses: Mary Guthrie

Wife: Clara Jones

Born: in Missouri
Died: in Kansas
Father:
Mother:
Spouses:

Children
01 (M): Forrest Polson
Born:
Died:
Spouses:

Additional Information

Andrew Henderson "Andy" Polson:

Notes:
Andy worked for many years in the postal service in Wichita. He also owned commercial real estate in Wichita.

Clara Jones:

Notes:
I must tell you of one Mr. Jones, who stopped here. He was a young man with a wife and one little girl. They came from Missouri, and he had to make a trip back to the old home on horse back. He left his wife and little girl at Hart's Mill. He was gone a long time. His wife felt something was wrong, so she strapped a comfort on a horse, and rode out to look for him. She was near Moorehead, a small town north of Cherryvale. It was night, and she stopped at a farm house, always asking about her man. The folks there asked her to spend the night.

When at supper she sat on a bench with a curtain back of her, her head would make a print on the curtain. This was the famous Bendure farm, where so many travelers were killed, who stopped overnight. (They were of Russian extraction.) The father, mother, a son Josh, and a daughter, Kate, would seat their guests on the bench, and when their head would accidentally touch the curtain, the boy, standing behind it, would hit them on the head, and the guest would fall back into a cellar! The Bendures would bury their victims in the garden, and would plow and harrow early each morning. They knew they had killed Mr. Jones, and were going to kill his wife--but she could smell the blood--got sick, and left the table. She stepped out of the house, and was so scared she hardly knew what to do. She ran to the shed that her horse was near. Her horse sensed they were following her, and lay in the high weeds. It was dark, of course, so she hid until the right moment, ran for her horse, and without a bridle or comfort, rushed back to Hart's Mill, (which was quite a trip.)

The Bendure family naturally got uneasy, and fled in their wagon, heading for the Indian Territory, but their wagon and team were later found on the bank of the river, south of Independence. Lots of men knew about them, but no one talked, and the public doesn't know yet what became of the family. They left their calves in the lot, their hogs and chickens and other stock.

The citizenry dug up the garden, and found Jones' body, and many others of men, women and children. Mrs. Jones continued to live at Hart's Mill and was married later to a Mr. Beaver. Her daughter married young Andy Polson, who later owned a hardware store at Blackwell, Oklahoma. The daughter's name was Clara. There came a cyclone at Blackwell, and when the storm had passed, Clara was found under the counter in the store, scared out of her mind. She has been in Ossawatomie, Kansas for these past sixty-two years, and is about eighty-two now. She will be buried at Rosedale Cemetery, where her marker is waiting for her. (NOTE: A glance at the alphabetical list of Rosedale, confirms this, as Clara Jones Polson is buried next to her husband in Row ll. Her mother is in Row 12.)

**From the Memoirs of R.W. Akin as printed in a Series in the Cedar Vale Messenger - 1951.**

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