The Tale of Tennessee's Bell Witch
By Joy J. Fine
The story of the Bell witch is one that takes place close to two hundred years ago. It began shortly after the Bell family’s arrival in Tennessee. The incidences began in 1817 once the Bell family settled on the farm they bought. It was formerly a farm belonging to the Robertson family, not far from a town called Adams along the Red River. The strange happenings began after the head of the family, John Bell, saw a strange sight in his cornfield. He claimed to have seen some type of animal that appeared to have the body of a canine but its head was that of a rabbit. He shot at it but it disappeared. He tried to find this strange creature but there was no trace of it. It was this incident that seemed to be the beginning of all the awful events that nearly destroyed this family.
It began with strange sounds. First it was banging noises outside the home. But, every time Bell and his sons went outside there was nothing to be seen. In due course the noises came inside. Some of them were banging sounds while others reminded the family of the noises made by rodents chewing on wood. Thought these noises were disturbing it was when the Bell witch began to get physical that the family became truly concerned. It was the Bell’s youngest daughter Betsy who first was attacked. The unknown entity began to pull off her bedcovers at night as well as to slap her which left noticeable bruises. Things got worse as the physical attacks became so much the child could barely stand it. Bell invited neighbors over to witness what was happening. They could not believe their eyes, but confirmed that Bell’s claims were indeed true.
One part of the story of the Bell witch claims that Andrew Jackson knew the Bell family and came to investigate the haunting. He is said to have brought troops with him. One of his soldiers was supposed to have tried to scare the entity but was attacked by it. He was writhing in pain and the word fraud was heard to be shouted by the entity. This terrified the troops. The story goes that the strange sightings caused such fear amongst his troops that despite promises to stay and help they left before the end of the next day.
There are further claims that when young Betsy found a man she cared for the entity warned her to stay away from him. Supposedly the attacks increased until they broke off their engagement. Things seemed to die down after the death of John Bell Sr. in 1820. Many questions remain about his death. It seems that after years of illness, including seizures, he took some medication from a small vial and died the next morning. The family did not know where the mysterious medicine came from and tried it on their cat to see what results it would have. The cat died instantly. The family was horrified and threw the vial into the fireplace. It was supposed to have burned oddly and cast a blue hint to the flame as it exploded up the chimney. The family claimed the Bell witch gleefully took credit for John Sr.’s death.
There are other claims about the return of the Bell witch. In 1821 it had stated to a member of the Bell family that it would return in seven years. In 1828 it is supposed to have returned to the Bell farm and make some predictions concerning many of the tragic events that would befall the world over the next century. It then said it would return to pay a visit to the descendents of John Bell in another one hundred and seven years. No one knows if this ever happened or what the Bell Witch wanted from the family it tried to destroy.
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