The Bell Witch

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The Bell Witch is a folk legend that is identified as the cause of the Bell Witch Haunting — a series of reported events said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have been experienced between 1817 and 1821 by the family of settler John Bell of Red River, Tennessee (Robertson County) .

It is commonly claimed^{[Please name specific person or group]} that many of these events were witnessed and documented by hundreds of people — among them future President of the United States Andrew Jackson — and that consequently the episode represents one of the most famous and heavily documented instances of a haunting in history. However, a 2004 skeptical analysis concluded that there is in fact only one primary source for the legend, calling such claims into question.^{[citation needed]}

The legend of the Bell Witch is thought^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have been an influence on the film The Blair Witch Project

Contents 1 Legend 2 Analysis 3 Published accounts 4 Skeptical analysis 5 Movies 6 Music 7 External links 7.1 Skeptical articles

[edit] Legend

The best known contemporary version of the Bell witch legend is that related by paranormal researcher Pat Fitzhugh, author of The Bell Witch: the Full Account.

According to Fitzhugh, the first manifestation of the haunting occurred in 1817, when John Bell encountered a strange animal in a cornfield on his property. The animal is described as having the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit, and is said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have vanished when shot at.

This incident was allegedly quickly followed by a series of strange beating and gnawing noises manifesting themselves around — and eventually inside — the Bell residence. After this the Bell children then allegedly began to report that their bedclothes were being regularly pulled off and tossed onto the floor by an invisible force.

The family then reported hearing a faint voice that sounded like a feeble old woman crying or singing hymns. Betsy Bell, the family's youngest daughter, was later violently assaulted, her hair pulled and her face slapped.

These events are reported by Fitzhugh as continuing for over a year before John Bell reported them to his neighbour, James Johnston, who is reported as also subsequently witnessing them, along with his wife. At this point the strange events experienced by the Bell family are said to have become well known in the Red River community, especially reports of a voice conversing loudly and clearly, singing, quoting from the Bible and accurately describing events taking place miles away.

The next major development in the story, as related by Fitzhugh, is the alleged involvement of future US President Andrew Jackson, who is said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have heard of the disturbances and decided to observe them in person, in 1819.

On approaching the Bell property, Jackson’s entourage is reported as having encountered an invisible presence that stopped his wagon in its tracks, until he acknowledged that the witch was responsible, upon which the wagon was able to proceed unhindered.

One of the men in Jackson’s entourage is alleged to have declared himself to be a witch tamer who intended to kill the spirit. The man is said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have begun screaming and contorting his body immediately after making these statements. Jackson and his entourage are reported to have left the Bell property by midday the following day, and Jackson, in response to his experiences with the Bells, is quoted as later saying “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than to deal with the Bell Witch.”

Betsy Bell’s engagement to a neighbour named Joshua Gardner is reported as the next focus of the invisible entity’s displeasure, and it is alleged to have followed and taunted them whenever they were alone together, leading Betsy to break off the relationship on Easter Monday in 1821.

It is reported that the encounters with the spirit became less frequent, although the disembodied voice continued to communicate its dislike of Jack Bell – and its intention to kill him. Bell was by then suffering frequent seizures.

John Bell died on December 20, 1820. A small vial containing an unidentified liquid apparently ingested by him was found near the body. The legend relates that when the remaining contents were fed to the family cat, the animal died immediately – at which point the voice of the spirit was heard to say "I gave Ol' Jack a big dose of that last night, and that fixed him." Later, at Bell’s burial, the spirit is reported to have laughed and sung loudly and cheerfully.

Bell’s death is reported to have signaled the end of the haunting, but before its departure the spirit is said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have told Lucy Bell that it would return in 1828. It is claimed that this visit did in fact come to pass — and that during a three-week visit the entity communicated mainly with John Bell Jr, predicting such events as the American Civil War, the Great Depression and both World Wars.

According to legend, after the entity last appeared in 1828, it said it would return 107 years hence, in 1935.

Fitzhugh's relation of the Bell Witch legend concludes with a statement to the effect that many people believe that the spirit returned in 1935, took up residence on the former Bell property, and remains there to the present day. He notes that “the faint sounds of people talking and children playing can sometimes be heard in the area,” and asserts that it is “very difficult to take a good picture there.”

[edit] Analysis

The Bell Witch is, according to legend, Kate Batts, an old neighbor of Bell's who was involved with him in a dispute of the sale of a slave or piece of land (story variations tend to differ slightly).^{[citation needed]} She swore on her deathbed to get even and, after she died, the events upon which the legend is based began. Rumor has it that the spirit once referred to itself as "Kate Batts' witch." There is no documentation of this, however. The stories of a piece of land or slave sale conflict involving John Bell do have documentation, although in neither case is there any connection to Kate Batts.

The FAQ states that Kate Batts lived 22 years longer than John Bell, and thus couldn’t have haunted him. Also, her family was too poor to have had any dispute over a slave.

According to the legend, the witch manifested herself as an invisible presence at first, gnawing on the bedposts, scratching at the walls, and jerking the blankets off of sleeping family members and guests. Two of those guests were one of Bell’s closest friends and his wife. Later, those in the house heard noises similar to that of someone strangling or choking, lips smacking, and loud gulping. They then heard faint whispering, eventually rising in volume to a speaking voice. There were also reports of slapping or pinching sensations out of thin air. According to the book Our Family Trouble — Story of the Bell Witch, guests at the Bell farm reported being verbally attacked by a strange voice, which would also divulge the most secret events of their lives to onlookers

Bell’s wife later said that, when she became gravely ill with pleurisy, she would hear a voice singing hymns and any requested song to her. She also said that once, when she was especially ill and others feared for her life, she heard the voice pleading with her to eat something, even offering to get her some walnuts from the nearby forest. According to the legend a shower of walnuts appeared in her hands moments later.

The Bell Witch is said^{[Please name specific person or group]} to have stopped Betsy from marrying a neighbor boy named Joshua Gardner, but for reasons unknown, allowed her to marry her schoolteacher Richard Powell.

When John Bell died on December 20, 1820, the Bell Witch was rumored to have replaced his medicine with poison. When this ‘medicine’ was tested on a house cat, the animal went into convulsions and died. Locals reported hearing a voice saying “I’ve got Old Jack this time” and “He’ll never get up from that bed again” at Bell’s funeral.

According to local legend, the Bell Witch still resides in Adams, Tennessee and haunts the area around the property once owned by the Bells. A cave in the area has since become known as the Bell Witch Cave. Guided tours are available to the public at certain times of the year.

[edit] Published accounts

The earliest written account is in the Godspeed History of Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed Publishing. No author is given. Page 833 reads:

A remarkable occurrence, which attracted widespread interest, was connected with the family of Garry Bell, who settled near what is now Adams Station about 1804. So great was the excitement that people came from hundreds of miles around to witness the manifestations of what was popularly known as the ‘Bell Witch.’ This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims. At first it was supposed to be a good spirit, but its subsequent acts, together with the curses with which it supplemented its remarks, proved the contrary. A volume might be written concerning the performance of this wonderful being, as they are now described by contemporaries and their descendants. That all this actually occurred will not be disputed, nor will a rational explanation be attempted. It is merely introduced as an example of superstition, waek in the minds of all but a few in those times, and yet not wholly extinct.

The most famous account is recorded in the Red Book, the 1894 An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch of Tennessee by Martin Van Buren Ingram (said to be based on the earlier Richard William Bell's Diary: Our Family Trouble) who lists the following people as witnesses:

• General Andrew Washington
• Joel Thomas Bell, son of John Bell, Jr.
• Rev. Joshua Featheton
• Dr. J.T. Mathews
• Mr. E. Newton
• R.H. Pickering
• J. Gun
• D. T. Porter
• J.I Holman
• Wm Wall
• W.H. Gardner

The Black Book was written much later, and published in 1934 by Dr. Charles Bailey Bell great-grandson of John Bell.

Thirteen Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey by Kathryn Tucker Windham includes the story of the Bell Witch. Diz SAn

The Guidebook for Tennessee, published by the Works Project Administration in 1939, also contains an account that differs from Ingram's on pages 392–393.

[edit] Skeptical analysis

A 2004 investigation by the Middle Tennessee Skeptics concluded that the tale of the Bell Witch is a fabrication founded entirely on later elaborations of the diary of Richard William Bell. Bell's diary was written some 30 years after the events they purport to describe, which took place when the author was 5–10 years old. The investigation turned up no evidence that any of the other alleged participants in the events ever recorded anything of their supposed experiences. In particular, there is no record in Jackson's journals of his ever having visited the Bells, or of any encounter by him with a supernatural being. This analysis directly conflicts with claims of Bell Witch supporters that the story is the most documented haunting in history.

The version of the Bell Witch legend published online by Pat Fitzhugh states that the invisible entity plaguing the Bell family continued to threaten to kill John Bell after Easter 1821 — yet also reports John Bell's death as having occurred in December 1820. The interpretation of this apparent anachronistic assertion remains unclear.

[edit] Movies

• "The Bell Witch Haunting" is a 2004 film made by Willing Hearts Productions. Filmed near the original location, the director claims on the page to have encountered production difficulties such as fires and thinks the Bell entity was responsible.

• Bell Witch: The Movie was another fictionalized account of the Bell Witch that was released on September 24, 2005. This independent, low budget movie failed to make much of an impact.

• On May 5, 2006 a film based on the events of the Bell Witch legend, titled An American Haunting, was released. An American Haunting is a thriller written and directed by Courtney Solomon. It stars Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Rachel Hurd-Wood and James D'Arcy. It appears to be based upon the narrative history presented by author Brent Monahan in his account, The Bell Witch: An American Haunting. It proposed that John Bell had an incestuous relationship with his daughter Betsy, and that this relationship was the basis for the disturbances around the family and property.

[edit] Music

The Heavy Metal Band Mercyful Fate's 1993 album "In the Shadows" contains a song called "The Bell Witch" depicting the Bell Witch's attack. The song refers to John and Betsy Bell by name and ends with the poisoning of John Bell.

The folk/pop band The Shakers from Hendersonville, TN released a four-song EP in 1988 (Carlyle Records--CR-44881) titled "Living in the Shadow of a Spirit" which was inspired by the Bell Witch Legend.

[edit] External links

• The Bell Witch by researcher Pat Fitzhugh.
• The Bell Witch of Tennessee
• Electronic version of the 'Red Book'
• Prairie Ghosts - The Bell Witch
• Bell Witch: The Movie, a fictionalised account of the Bell Witch legend.
• The Bell Witch Haunting, a 2004 DVD movie.
• An American Haunting, a big budget feature being distributed by Lions Gate Films

[edit] Skeptical articles

• The Bell Witch Project, an analysis by the Middle Tennessee Skeptics.