Middle Tennessee is enchanted with the spirits of dead friends and relatives and brave soldiers who fought for the cause they believed in so much they sacrificed their lives for it. I feel very safe and guarded living here. But I must share with you at least one story of a ghost that was not so protective and peaceful. This ghost is known as the Bell Witch.
I first learned of the Bell Witch in the first grade from the other kids. It was rumored that if you go into a dark room and turn around three times and repeat three times, “ I don’t believe in the Bell Witch” that she would appear. I never did this because I don’t know whether or not I believe she is a witch, but I do know she is a ghost, and a sinister one at that.
The Bell Witch is so named because she haunted the Bell family of Adams, Tenn, just northwest of Nashville in Robertson County, beginning in 1817. John Bell, Sr, a farmer, encountered an apparition in his cornfield that was described as a dog with a rabbit head. Bell shot at it several times and it disappeared. This bizarre event was followed by frequent and forceful beating and gnawing sounds emanating in and around the Bell house and farm. Bell and his sons Richard and Joel would run outside the house to identify and stop the responsible party, but with no luck. They found nothing.
Soon thereafter the residents of the house started experiencing the feeling of rats gnawing at their feet while they slept and bedcovers pulled off their bodies and pillows tossed about. These events continued until Betsy Bell, the family’s younger daughter claimed to have been assaulted by an invisible entity. Betsy’s assaults escalated from slaps and hair pulling to events that left her bruised and leaving hand prints and welts on her face and body. Accompanying the strange events were soft, whispering voices, too faint to interpret but sounded like an old woman singing hymns.
The Bells were devout Baptists with John Bell, Sr, serving as a deacon at the local Baptist church. He encouraged his family to keep these events secret, but the frequency and intensity escalated to the point they confided in a family friend James Johnston.
Johnston and his wife spent the night in the Bell’s home to see if they could make sense of the story their friend shared. Without discrimination the ghost subjected the Johnston’s to the same abuse. It is documented that after having his bedcovers removed and being slapped repeatedly, Johnston jumped out of bed and exclaimed, “In the name of the Lord, who are you and what do you want?!” But there was no response.
Over time the ghost’s voice became stronger and louder and enunciated unmistakable hymns, scripture, and even once quoted word-for-word two sermons that were preached on the same day at the same time in two different churches 13 miles apart. The Bell Witch was an intelligent haunting and could carry on a conversation when engaged to do so.
According to Pat Fitzhugh, noted historian, “Word of this supernatural phenomenon soon spread outside the settlement, even to Nashville, where then-Major General Andrew Jackson took a keen interest. John Bell, Jr, Drewry Bell, and Jesse Bell, John Sr’s eldest sons, had fought under General Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans. In 1819, Jackson decided to visit the Bell farm. His entourage consisted of several men, some well-groomed horses, and a wagon. As they approached the Bell property, the wagon stopped suddenly because the horses could no longer pull it. A disembodied woman’s voice told Jackson they could proceed but that she would see them again later that evening.”
That evening one of Jackson’s men, after several uneventful hours, pulled out his gun and said his silver bullet would kill any evil spirit. Immediately the screamed and began jerking, complaining that he was being stuck with pins and being beaten severely, until he was thrown out the front door. Jackson’s men were terrified and begged to leave, but Jackson refused. It is uncertain what happened next because early the next morning Jackson and his men were seen in Springfield, Tenn, on their way back to Nashville.”
The appearance of the Bell Witch diminished after John, Sr’s death, but there are documented accounts of her reappearance numerous times over the past 200 years. Kate Batts, who is suspected to be the Bell Witch, claimed responsibility for John's death, even laughing, cursing and singing at his funeral.
For more information on the Bell Witch accounts can be found in Goodspeed History of Tennessee, published in 1887, the 1894 An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch of Tennessee by Martin Van Buren Ingram (also known as the Red Book), and in Richard William Bell's Diary: Our Family Trouble. The Black Book was written much later, and published in 1934 by Dr. Charles Bailey Bell, great-grandson of John Bell. Thirteen Tennessee Ghosts by Kathryn Windham includes the story of the Bell Witch. The Guidebook for Tennessee, published by the Works Project Administration in 1939, also contains an account.
