THE BELL WITCH

Tale from Pat Fitzhugh

"This story begins in 1804, when North Carolina planters John and Lucy Bell moved their family to Tennessee and settled in a log house near present-day Adams. Public records, church records, and eyewitness accounts tell of what occured there in the Red River settlement.

One morning in 1817, John Bell was inspecting a cornfield when he encountered a strange-looking animal he took for a dog. He shot at it, and the creature vanished—but the incident marked the beginning of a reign of terror that would hold John Bell's family in its grasp for years.

They began hearing raps on the walls, scratching on the floors, stones hitting the roof, and chains being pulled through the hallways. The children complained of rats gnawing at their bedposts and their bedcovers being slowly pulled away. If they resisted, they were slapped hard enough to get visible welts and handprints. The youngest daughter, twelve-year-old Betsy, became the prime target. Her hair was pulled, her face was slapped, and her body often bore bruises and claw marks. She fell into trances that culminated with her vomiting needles.

The creature's malevolence increased. John Bell began experiencing choking episodes and sometimes complained of needles sticking him in the back. Drewry Bell's chair was kicked away when he sat to read, and John junior noticed unusual amimals in the forest. The children began seeing a strange woman walking about the orchard each morning and, on one occasion, hanging lifeless in a tree. During the cold nights of winter, melancholy whispers filled the house, sometimes speaking in musical tones in reverse speech.

In early 1818 John Bell confided in his best friend, James Johnston, who agreed to spend the night. A deluge of disembodied voices disturbed him, and he sprang from his bed and exclaimed, "In the name of the Lord, who are you and why are you here?" He received no answer. The following morning Johnson told Bell it was "a spirit, just like in the bible!" and said that clergymen should investigate.

Soon the farm became a haven for believers and skeptics alike. Some felt the events were staged for profit; others believed they were of supernatural origin. The entity soon began poking fun at preachers. It once imitated two preachers, reciting word-for-word two sermons that occured simultaneously thirteen miles apart. Both preachers were present when this demonstation occurred, and each confirmed its correctness.

One asked about its origin, and it exclaimed, "I an Ol' Kate Batts's witch, here to torment Ol' John Bell to his grave and straight into hell!" Mrs. Batts was an eccentric woman who lived a mile from the Bells; she was often ridiculed about her spiteful disposition and was suspected of involvement in the occult. People began calling the entity Kate, and name to which it readily answered.

Four distinct characters emerged as Kate's "witch family" as she called them, brought new terror to the Bell home. "Blackdog" spoke in a raspy, feminine tone and left no question as to who was in charge. "Mathematics" and "Cypocryphy" spoke like young girls, and "Jerusalem" sounded like a little boy. The drunken witch family visited nightly, singing off-key, arguing with each other, and yelling obscenities at the Bells.

Kate developed a softer side for some people. She seemed fond of Lucy Bell, singing hymns and comforting her when she was sick. She spoke highly of both the Johnston family and a young bachlor named William Porter. Skeptics, on the other hand, were met with hostility. When Major General Andrew Jackson, who later became President, paid a visit to the bell house, cries from deep in the forest spooked his horses and a feeble voice proclaimed, "You can go now, General. I will see you tonight." An invisible force slapped one of his entourage, kicked him in the posterior, and pulled him out of the front door by his nose. Jackson later said, "I'd rather fight the British at New Orleans than deal with the Bell Witch."

John Bell's health declined further, to Kate's delight. One morning as he was out walking with his son, Kate tripped him and removed his shoes. As a whisper filled the air, saying, "Your place is in hell, Ol' John Bell," he experienced a violent seizure. Disembodied voices began reciting biblical passages and screeming the word "legion." He eventually made it home and took to his bed, never to leave again. He died on December 20, 1820.

After forcing Betsy Bell to call off her engagement to Joshua Gardner, Kate finally bade farewell to Lucy Bell and the children in late 1821. She returned to the family twice—once briefly in 1828, and then 107 years later when she visited Dr. Charles Bell, a Nashville physician.

The Red River area boasts much unexplained activity today. Strange voices have been heard, photographic anomalies are common, animals sometimes act strangely, and on cold nights strange "candles" can sometimes be seen dancing in the fog-laden fields and forests—just as they did in the days of John Bell, nearly two centuries ago. —Pat Fitzhugh