The Bell Witch Haunting
written by Matthew Gorman

One of the most harrowing episodes of supernatural occurrence in American history befell a family of Tennessee settlers during the early part of the nineteenth century. The events that transpired during that period have long since been the subject of debate and speculation within both parapsychological and historical circles. In addition, these happenings have inspired both cinematic works of fiction, such as The Blair Witch Project, as well as those that attempt to recount the tale itself, the most recent of which was the movie An American Haunting. This four year series of incidents that plagued the Bell family of Adams, Tennessee would come to be collectively known as ‘The Bell Witch Haunting’, and would go down in annals of history as “America’s Greatest Ghost Story”.

John Bell and his family moved from North Carolina in 1904 to settle in the Red River Bottomland of Robertson County, Tennessee in an burgeoning township that would come to be known as Adams, Tennessee. Life was good and the family soon expanded their land, growing crops in several different fields. They had no way of knowing that years down the road their happy life would take a bizarre and unthinkable turn for the worse.

The Bells’ troubles began in 1817. One day, while inspecting his corn field, John Bell stumbled upon a strange creature he described as having the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit. Taking aim at the creature he fired his gun at it only to have it vanish into thin air. It was soon after this inexplicable incident that the strange and frightening events would commence at the Bell family homestead.

At first the family was terrified by the sounds of scrapings and beatings on the sides and front door of their house, as if something were attempting to seek entry into their home. When John Bell and his sons would run outside to investigate they would find nothing there. The phenomenon soon progressed into poltergeist activity within the house itself, with the Bell children complaining of blankets and pillows being ripped away from them as they slept and a sound like that of rats gnawing on their bedposts. The Bells’ youngest daughter, Betsy, was subjected to particularly brutal treatment by the unseen force. It would pull her hair and slap her in the face on a regular basis, often leaving marks that would remain for days. The entity soon begin to make itself audible as well. At first, the noises it made were no more than faint whisperings, but they soon grew into what sounded like the voice of an old woman crying and singing hymns. At this point, John Bell related the family’s woes to his friend and neighbor, James Johnston, urging Johnston to verify the phenomenon for himself. Johnston and his wife spent the night at the Bell house, and after they experienced the covers being pulled off of them as well as being slapped by the entity, they could easily concede to John Bell that something was deeply amiss in his household.

The spirit, although never seen, was soon talking up a storm, carrying on conversations, quoting scripture, laughing after pinching or slapping its victims, and cursing at or scolding the members of the family. It held a particular animosity toward John Bell (as well as for his young daughter Betsy), vowing eventually to destroy him. The entity would often hurl items such as plates and furniture at John Bell, and engage in other nuisances such as spilling the family’s milk, taking sugar from bowls and food from their mouths during their mealtimes. Though most of the spirits anger was directed at John and Betsy Bell, the spirit would slap and pinch other family members and visitors as well.

Although it is unclear exactly when, at some point the entity became identified with the spirit of Kate Batts, a former neighbor of John Bell with whom he had had a land dispute, and who had allegedly vowed on her deathbed to wreak vengeance upon him and his family. The term “The Bell Witch” was never used by the family (they always referred to the entity as a “spirit”) but is likely to have originated within the community who may have regarded Batts as a witch during her life. To convolute the story further, however, some accounts claim that Kate Batts was actually John Bells former betrothed in Halifax, North Carolina before her untimely death, after which time Bell married his wife Lucy.

The capricious spirit seemed to have a soft spot for Lucy Bell, and was said to have once referred to Lucy as “a good woman”. It would talk pleasantly with her and sing to her, and once while Lucy was very ill, the spirit reportedly manifested walnuts for Lucy in her bed insisting that she eat something to improve her condition. When the spirit asked her why she was not eating, Lucy protested by saying, “I have nothing to crack them with Kate.” The entity then allegedly cracked open the walnuts in mid-air before representing them to Lucy.

The community soon became abuzz with interest over the supernatural proceedings at the Bell house, with people coming from all around to bear witness to the strange phenomenon. The legend goes that even the future president-to-be, Andrew Jackson, paid a visit to the haunted home. The older Bell boys had served under him in the Army, and Jackson was curious to observe the family’s mysterious ordeal for himself. It was said that a member of Jackson’s party, a man who claimed to be a “witch tamer” was violently beaten by the entity in the presence of many people, including Jackson, after attempting to dispel the spirit from the house. After witnessing this and other poltergeist activity within the Bell house, Jackson was later quoted as saying, “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than to deal with the Bell Witch.”

Eventually, the spirit’s attacks against John Bell became increasingly more and more violent, finally culminating with him being beaten so badly that his tongue swelled up completely inside his mouth. He became scarcely able to eat and he soon fell very ill. His condition began to deteriorate rapidly, and a doctor prescribed a tonic for his extreme malnourishment and subsequent sickness. The spirit was claimed to have switched out the salubrious tonic for poison, resulting in John Bell’s ultimate demise and as the only recorded case of murder by a poltergeist. The entity cackled maniacally as John slipped away claiming “I’ve got him this time. He will never get up from that bed again.” Bell passed away after falling into a incurably deep coma on December 21, 1820.

The spirit departed soon after disposing of John Bell, but vowed to return seven years later. It did just that in 1827 for a period of two weeks after which time it claimed that it would return again in 107 years to seek further vengeance on the descendants of John Bell. Though the entity never did seem to resurface in 1935, the year that it had foretold of its second return, John Bell’s son claimed to have had further encounters with the violent spirit in 1852, and his son claimed to experience some evidence of its presence in 1961. Furthermore, throughout the years, many of Bell’s decedents have met with violent and often mysterious ends.

Who or what exactly was (or is?) “The Bell Witch”? What did the strange creature that John Bell encountered in the corn field have to do with the haunting? Why was the spirit so kind to some (In addition to Lucy Bell, John Bell Jr. was also spared the spirit’s torments) and so vicious towards others? These and other questions remain unanswered. Many scholars of ghostly lore have researched this particular haunting for years and still have yet to reach any formidable consensus as to the true identity and nature of the spirit. The story itself is far more nuanced, with many more facets and subplots than can be effectively conveyed in so limited a space as this, but it certainly bears researching for those truly interested in unexplained phenomenon or just good old fashioned ghost stories.

Although the Bell house was eventually destroyed by the people of Adams, fearful of the spirit’s return, the property remains much as it was in the 1800’s. Apparitions of a dark, haired woman, a girl, and of a man have all been spotted on or near the Bell property throughout the years, and a cave on the Bell property, overlooking the Red River, dubbed “The Bell Witch Cave”, is said to be haunted by the sounds of screams and rattling chains.