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When
John Bell and his family moved to the secluded, little town of
Adams, Tennessee in 1804, little did they realize that years later, in
1817, their lives would become a nightmare of excruciating terror from
a malevolent, ghostly entity out for revenge. The family settled on one
thousand acres of prime, fertile land next to the Red River in a nice,
one-and-a-half-story log house and owned a dozen black slaves to work
the prosperous farm. Trouble began when John Bell sold Kate Batts, a
peculiar local woman many believed to be a witch, a slave and charged
her excessive interest. Bell was charged and convicted of usury in the
Robertson County Circuit Court and consequently excommunicated from the
Red River Baptist Church, but Kate was not satisfied. Kate, angry and
resentful, confronted Bell and cursed him saying, "Oh yes, old John
Bell, you have your broad acres and your comfortable home. The future
may look bright to you now. But just wait and see what sad changes are
soon coming to you and a certain member of your family." Strange and
terrifying developments would soon begin as the Bell Witch, as the
entity came to be known, caused horrifying events to occur to the Bell
property, the Bell family and the people of Adams, Tennessee.
Everyone forgot all about the curse until strange, unexplainable
occurrences began and caused the Bell family and many people to believe
in a supernatural being that was called the Bell Witch. Ghostly
apparitions attributed to the Witch began appearing about the grounds
of the Bell farm causing apprehension among the family members and
slaves living there. John saw a "peculiar" appearing animal resembling
a dog among the rows of corn, but it "vanished" when he shot at it. On
another occasion, John and two of his sons spotted a unusual bird
larger than a turkey, but unlike any other bird they had ever seen,
sitting in an old oak tree. John shot at the bird and it fell to the
ground, but when his sons went to look at it, nothing was there. John's
twelve-year-old daughter Betsy saw a girl about her own age dressed in
green and sitting in a swing fastened to the same oak tree, but when
Betsy ran toward the tree, the girl in the swing vanished. Another
incident occurred when Betsy was walking in the orchard and suddenly
noticed an old woman walking beside her, but as Betsy turned to speak
to her, the woman disappeared. A large, black, snarling dog was sighted
many times by Dean, one of the Bell slaves, who said the vicious
appearing canine would vanish when he approached it with a stick.
Before long disturbances began occurring inside the Bell house. There
were rappings on the doors of the house when no one was there and
windows were rattled on windless nights. Sounds of choking, gurgling,
gulping and lips smacking were heard throughout the house. The sounds
of furniture moving across the floors and chains being dragged
terrified the household. An unseen dog clawed at the floor, an
invisible rat chewed savagely on the bed posts, and there were sounds
of fighting dogs chained together. These noises spread from room to
room, growing more horrifying with each passing day, and when the
family looked for the source, the noises always stopped. No one could
offer any "reasonable" explanation for the disturbances, but many
believed in the ghostly force that may have caused these events.
It wasn't long before the Witch became bolder in its offensive on the
Bell family. The spirit began to get physical and started speaking in a
distinct, audible voice. Covers were jerked from the beds at night and
if anyone struggled with the force removing the bedding, an invisible
hand would slap his or her face. The Witch brutally yanked the hair of
the children, attacked Betsy unmercifully sucking the breath out of her
body, which caused her to have fainting spells and on one occasion
caused Betsy to appear to vomit pins and needles. The Witch's main
target was John Bell and one night the entity, whose voice had grown
louder and clearer, said "I am determined to haunt and torment old John
Bell as long as he lives." At times John's tongue swelled to the point
that his entire face was distorted and he could not talk or eat. The
Witch beat John relentlessly, and occasionally his face would begin to
jerk violently, then his whole body, and his tightly laced shoes would
be flung from his feet, while the Witch's voice could be heard
triumphantly rejoicing. Worn down by the constant attack of the
supernatural intruder, John's strength declined rapidly and soon he
took to his bed never to arise. John Bell was found comatose in his bed
on the morning of December 19, 1820 and a vial of dark-colored liquid,
which turned out to be highly poisonous, was found in his medicine
cupboard. The Witch shouted out to the doctor and family who had
gathered around old John, "I put it there and gave old John a big dose
out of it last night while he was asleep, which fixed him." John died
the following morning and this tragic event convinced many skeptics
that "spirits" were real.
The people of Adams, Tennessee and the surrounding area were terrified
by the things the "force" did and said. Many believed that Kate Batts
may have put the "whammy on her neighbors as well." One woman who lived
close to Kate was busy churning, but could get no butter to appear. She
became frustrated believing that Kate had "bewitched" her milk and
decided to "burn Kate out" by plunging a red hot poker into the milk.
Later that day the woman had reason to visit Kate's house and found
Kate doctoring a seriously burned hand that she had injured when she
accidentally picked up the wrong end of a red hot poker. It was a
remarkable "coincidence" and other similar occurrences took place which
made many people certain about the power of the "other side." The Witch
made horrifying predictions of what the future would hold, causing
numerous people to firmly believe in the supernatural when many of the
Witch's prophecies came true. The Witch accurately predicted the Civil
War, the end of slavery in the United States, the rise of the US to a
world power, World War I and World War II. The Bell Witch also made
another prediction which has not occurred as yet. That was the complete
destruction of our civilization, with the Witch hinting at a nuclear
holocaust by mentioning rapidly increasing heat followed by a monstrous
explosion. Many people believed that because the Witch's predictions
were so accurate there had to be something to the supernatural forces
on the other side of the "veil."
No one can say with certainty what the entity actually was, but many
people did believe in a supernatural force that came to be called the
Bell Witch. The Bell Witch phenomena was witnessed by many reliable
people, including future president General Andrew Jackson, who said he
would rather fight the whole British army than to deal with the Bell
Witch. Many believe the Witch is still active today and causing havoc
in Robertson County. There is an unearthly ambiance around Adams,
Tennessee and curious souls can visit the Bell Witch Cave where the
Witch is said to dwell, at the "haunted" site that was once known as
John Bell's farm.
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