Pat Fitzhugh, Author / Historian
The Bell Witch Web Site
www.bellwitch.org

One of the most frightening and documented hauntings in history, the case of the “Bell Witch disturbances," took place on the Tennessee frontier almost 200 years ago, near the present-day town of Adams.

The terrifying saga began in the fall of 1817 when pioneer settler John Bell and his family began hearing knocks and clawing sounds around the outside of their house. Armed with candles and muzzleloaders, Bell and his sons would rush outside each night in hopes of catching the culprit, but never found anything; the noises would start back up as soon as they reentered the house.

The disturbances seemed to grow more intense with the passing of each night, and the children soon began to complain of rats gnawing at their bedposts, chains being dragged across the floor, and an occasional tug at their bedcovers. When they tried to pull their bedcovers back up, a seemingly invisible hand slapped their faces. Their screams were heard throughout the house, but nothing could be done. It seemed that whatever was lurking outside had found a way in.

The youngest daughter, Betsy, bore the brunt of the nightly terror. Her relentless screaming, gagging, and vomiting lasted nearly all night, and her body would be covered with welts and bruises the next morning. After enduring this abuse for several months, she began experiencing strange, trance-like episodes as well, like something had taken control of her mind.

The strong and apparently malevolent force took a severe physical toll on the whole Bell family over time. Their faces began showing signs of exhaustion and a lack of sleep, and they felt run down to the point it was hard to complete daily chores. No one outside the family knew about the disturbances, and fearing negative repercussions from the church where he was an Elder, John Bell swore his family to secrecy.

As winter set in, apparitions began manifesting. The family noticed an old woman and three small children loitering through the fields and pear orchard on several occasions. When yelled to, the figures would dart behind a clump of trees and seemingly vanish. Their strange actions, pale faces, and distant stares made them appear to be in another dimension altogether. The slaves began reporting strange-looking animals, such as a dog with two diamond-shaped heads, wandering through the nearby forest. And by mid winter, the Bells had begun seeing candle lights dancing and moving about the fields at night.

Spring brought disembodied whispers, sometimes from the walls, sometimes from the chimney, and sometimes from thin air itself. The family asked questions of the entity but couldn’t discern the answers. If the answer called for a number, however, the entity would respond with the correct number of raps on the wall. Now realizing the entity possessed intelligence, a most frightened John Bell decided to confide in his best friend and neighbor, who agreed to spend the night. The neighbor experienced the disturbances for himself and was convinced that something supernatural was present. Shortly thereafter, John Bell began experiencing strange and random episodes of twitching in his face and neck.

Over time, the faint whispers grew into four distinct and easily understandable voices. One spoke in low musical tones; one spoke in a shrill tone; and the others sounded like small children. The entity, which sometimes spoke in reverse speech, seemed to know everything – people’s private lives, news in other states, people’s pasts, and church happenings. As the Bells finished dinner one evening, the entity recited two church sermons that had been given earlier in the day at exactly the same time, but thirteen miles apart. Both preachers were dinner guests that evening and confirmed that the entity had recited their sermons word for word. One of the baffled preachers begged the entity to tell them what it really was, and it responded, “I can not lie to you, ol’ Sugarmouth; I am old Kate Batts’ witch, here to torment ol’ John Bell to his grave!” The entity gave no reason for its insistence on killing such an honest and well-liked man.

This shocking revelation led many to believe that Kate Batts, an eccentric neighbor with a professed hatred for John Bell, was behind the disturbances. In fact, the entity soon earned the nickname, “Kate,” to which it responded from that point forward. The author doesn’t feel that Mrs. Batts had anything to do with the disturbances, however.

General Andrew Jackson heard of the disturbances and decided to pay a visit. His wagon came to a dead stop at the property line, not moving until the horses were calmed some thirty minutes later. Once at the Bell homestead, Jackson and his entourage were relentlessly taunted by “Kate,” who insisted that there were two “frauds” in Jackson’s party and that she would expose them. They left at dawn the following morning, and Jackson, who later became President of the United States, is quoted as saying, “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than deal with the Bell Witch.”

John Bell’s health declined rapidly over the next year. The twitching that had once affected his face and neck had now taken over his entire body, and he was plagued by frequent seizure and convulsion-like episodes as well. The physical abuse, now being suffered by Bell himself in addition to his children, grew into downright torture. He couldn’t walk across the room without being thrown to the floor or having his boots plucked off, and he was frequently stabbed with invisible needles and slapped in the face by an invisible hand. Finally, on December 20, 1820, after a long series of seizures and convulsions that put him into a deep coma, John Bell died. As expected, “Kate” took credit for Bell’s demise, claiming to have poisoned him. She laughed and sang cheerful songs at his funeral until the very last mourner left.

By April of 1821, the physical disturbances and apparitions had diminished greatly, but “Kate” still had a score to settle with Betsy. She had become strongly opposed to Betsy’s engagement to Joshua Gardner, a boy who lived nearby. Day and night, “Kate” screamed relentlessly into Betsy’s ears, “don’t marry Joshua Gardner!” Betsy and Joshua decided to tough it out, but that only made matters worse. Fearing what might happen to Joshua if they were to marry, Betsy reluctantly broke off the engagement. Within a few weeks, “Kate” bade farewell to the Bells and promised to return in seven years. She returned in 1828, but without the intensity and malevolence that she exhibited on her first visit, eleven years earlier. The return visit centered on John Bell, Jr., who lived near the original homestead. Over a three-week period, Bell sat down each night and listened as “Kate” spoke about civilizations, theology, the past, the present, and the future. On the final night, “Kate” bade farewell and promised to return in 107 years, which would have been 1935.

There is no proof that “Kate” visited John Bell’s descendants in 1935, but many feel she never left to begin with. Some of the phenomena experienced by John Bell’s family almost 200 years ago are still being experienced, although to a much lesser degree. Unidentified candle-like lights are sometimes seen in area fields late at night; strangers have reportedly walked through the area and seemingly disappeared before anyone could approach them; and many anomalous photographs have been taken nearby.

The remarkable series of events that terrorized John Bell’s family nearly two centuries ago remains a mystery to this day. Bell Witch researchers seem to be everywhere, and hardly a year goes by when someone doesn’t write a book or make a movie about the case. Lots of actual research has been done, mainly by a very small group of researchers. And while they have been able to successfully piece together the most critical elements, a universally accepted conclusion has yet to evolve – and probably never will. Keep those bedcovers tight. Goodnight.