THE BELL WITCH OF TENNESSEE

​In this series, I dive head first into research regarding a paranormal or supernatural being or occurrence, or just investigate some of the world’s most infamous stories and people. This week, I investigate the mysterious Bell Witch of Tennessee.

​Today, if you visit the infamous Bell Witch cave near Adams, Tennessee, you can expect to walk away with some goose bumps. But, for the Bell family, some of them were lucky just to walk away at all.
 
In the early 1800s, John Bell, his wife Lucy, and their nine children traveled with a family of slaves from North Carolina to Tennessee. Eager to purchase as much land as he could for his farm, John Bell made enemies. One of these enemies was Kate Batts, who vowed to take the life of John Bell after she was cheated by him in a land purchase.

Photo Credit: Mother Nature Network

But Batts died before she could see her vow through in the land of the living. By 1817, the Bell Family started to have terrifying experiences, almost always centering around Betsy Bell, one of John and Lucy’s daughters.
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The hauntings were typical: weird tapping noising, vague whispers in an unfamiliar voice, and even the sighting of a peculiar dog-rabbit hybrid. Everything was unexplainable and began to escalate. The tapping sounds became deafening pounds, and the whispers became clearer. One of John’s friends, James Johnston, lent an ear to the Bell Family and wanted to experience the phenomena himself. He and his wife spent the night and could clearly hear the voice of quoting scriptures and singing hymns.
 
Only a year after the happenings began, the whole community had heard word of the Bell Witch and, thinking the Bell’s themselves may have something to do with the hauntings, John Bell was excommunicated from his church. Although the official reason for his excommunication was the charge of usury over a slave trade, it is widely believed that the hauntings had more to do with it.

Photo Credit: Boredom Therapy

​General Andrew Jackson himself had experiences with the Bell Witch. As he was on his way into the Bell home, his wagon was halted by an unknown force. No one could move it, not even the burly horses who had carried the wagon to that destination.
 
The voice of a female was heard saying “let the wagon move on, I will see you again tonight.” 

Suddenly, the horses could pull the wagon again. And the Bell Witch kept her promise. Due to the nightly visits and frequent attacks from the witch, Jackson cut his week-long stay short to escape her grasps.

John Bell was sure he knew the culprit of the hauntings: Kate. He called the witch by that name. It is said that, when Bell died at the age of 70 in 1820, he was found near an empty vial that contained a strange liquid inside. Curious to see its effects, the family gave some of the liquid to their cat, who died instantly. Supposedly, the witch declared at that moment that she had finally killed John Bell. Reports indicate that laughing and joyous singing could be heard during Bell’s funeral.

Photo Credit: ThoughtCo

​Lucy, Bell’s wife, was warned that the witch would return in seven years, and she made good on that promise too. At that point, which was the last supposed appearance of the Bell Witch, she told John Bell, Jr. about the Civil War before it happened!

​MODERN-DAY EXPERIENCES 

"One weekend, me and my family from Texas went to Adams, TN. We stopped by the old school to see what was there. My daughter and myself went into the ladies’ restroom. I heard a lady’s voice call my name, it was a soft whisper. Immediately, I turned and asked my daughter if she heard it and she said no. My sisters were walking toward the steps going upstairs, they both started saying they felt like someone was poking them." -Carolyn

"A couple of years ago, a group of people (I was in that group) went to the Bell Witch cave in Adams, TN. After touring the cave, our group was talking right outside of the opening. I then decided to walk ahead to our car. Well, while I was walking alone, I suddenly heard a woman's voice coming from behind me say in a loud whisper "Linda! Linda!". As I looked around to see who from the group was playing a trick on me, there was no one to be seen. You see, it's an open field going from the cave to the parking lot of this property. Very unexplainable and very unnerving and made me feel numb with shock!" -Linda Thornton, producer of the movie "The Bell Witch Haunting"

Read more about Bell Witch encounters here

OTHER INTERESTING THINGS

• In 2015, a psychic named Sara Dulaney Pugh, was featured in a Tennessee newspaper claiming that she had spoken directly with Betsy, who told her that it wasn’t a witch who did the haunting, but the land. The Bell daughter claimed that the spirit harassed her until her father’s death, a death caused by a slave, not a witch.
• The dog-rabbit hybrid supposedly stalked the family for years. The same critter could be the cause of gnawed bed posts in the home.
• Much like what would happen today, neighbors took notice of the hauntings. Neighbors could also hear the hauntings and would often report injuries of their own.
• Although it is said that Andrew Jackson experienced the witch, his experience can’t be found in his writings.
• The Bell witch not only warned of the pending Civil War, but she also kept Betsy from marrying Joshua Gardner. Who knows, the witch may just have known how Betsy’s life would turn out.
• This haunting is said to be one that inspired the 1999 found-footage hit The Blair Witch Project.