The Bell Witch of Tennessee

THE BELL WITCH OF TENNESSEE

The Bell Witch Haunting is a folk lore that started in the 19th century in TN, USA. The Legend is centered around the Bell family that resided in Robertson county, TN. Farmer John Bell Sr. lived with his family along the Red River in an area that is currently near the town of Adams. 

from 1817-1821, John Bell, his family, and the local area began to notice strange occurrences. The haunting began sometime in 1817 when John Bell witnessed the apparition of a strange creature resembling a dog. Bell fired at the animal but it disappeared. John's son Drew Bell approached an unknown bird perched on a fence that flew off and was of "extraordinary size." The daughter Betsy observed a girl in green dress swinging from the limb of an oak tree. Dean, a slave owned by the Bell family, reported being followed by a large black dog on evenings he visited his wife.

Then the Bell household started hearing knocking along the doors and walls. The family heard sounds of gnawing on the beds, invisible dogs fighting, and chains along the floor. Around this time John Bell began experiencing a strange paralysis in his mouth. The phenomena grew in intensity as sheets were pulled from beds when the children were sleeping and Soon the entity started to pull the hair of children and started scratching the children, with particular emphasis on Betsy who was slapped, pinched and stuck with pins.

The apparition began to speak out loud and was asked, "Who are you and what do you want?" and the voice answered feebly, "I am a spirit; I was once very happy but have been disturbed." The spirit offered diverse explanations of why it had appeared, tying its origin to the disturbance of a Native American burial mound located on the property.

At times, the spirit displayed a form of kindness, especially towards Lucy, John Bell's wife, "the most perfect woman to walk to earth." The witch would give Lucy fresh fruit and sing hymns to her, and showed John Bell Jr. a measure of respect.

Several accounts say that during his military career, Andrew Jackson was intrigued with the story and his men were frightened away after traveling to investigate.  Andrew Jackson, who was not yet president but was revered as a fearless war hero, heard of the weird events and came to put an end to it. The Bell Witch greeted his arrival with a great commotion, throwing dishes at Jackson and not letting anyone at the farm sleep that night. Jackson supposedly said he'd "rather fight the British again" then face the Bell Witch and departed the farm quickly the next morning. 

After some time had past Besty Bell became involved with Joshua Gardner, who lived not far from the Bell Farm. Everyone was happy about the engagement except for Kate, The Bell Witch, who repeatedly told Betsy not to Marry Joshua. Betsy and Joshua could not go to the river, the field, or the cave to play without the entity taunting them persistently.  Their patience finally reached critical mass, and on Easter Monday of 1821, Betsy met Joshua at the river and broke off their engagement.  The disturbances decreased after Betsy ended the engagement, but the entity continued to express its dislike for John Bell and vowed relentlessly to kill him.

John Bell breathed his last breath on  the morning of December 20, 1820, after slipping into a coma the day before.  Immediately after his death, the family found a small vial of unidentified liquid in the cupboard.  John Bell, Jr. gave some of it to the cat, which died instantly. The entity then spoke up, exclaiming joyfully, "I gave Ol' Jack a big dose of that last night, which fixed him!"   John, Jr. quickly threw the vial into the fireplace, where it burst into a bright, bluish flame and shot up the chimney.

John Bell's funeral was one of the largest ever held in Robertson County, Tennessee.  As family and friends began leaving the graveyard, the entity laughed loudly and began singing a song about a bottle of brandy.  It is said that her singing didn't stop until the very last person left the graveyard.  The entity's presence was almost nonexistent after John Bell's demise, as if its purpose had been fulfilled.

In April of 1821, the entity visited John Bell's widow, Lucy, and told her that it would return for a visit in seven years.  The entity returned in 1828, as promised.  Most of its visit centered around John Bell, Jr., with whom the entity discussed such things as the origin of life, civilizations, Christianity, and the need for a mass spiritual reawakening.  Of particular significance were its nearly accurate predictions of the Civil War and other events.

The cause of the Bells’ torment almost 200 years ago, as well as today's horrid, unexplainable manifestations, remains a mystery.  Numerous theories abound, but there is no one theory that is universally agreed upon by Bell Witch enthusiasts and researchers -- and there probably never will be.