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The Bell Witch of Tennessee
by RhapSody
Photo of Candy with See-thru Man Behind Her John Bell, a farmer, along with his wife and children settled in northern Roberts County Tennessee in 1804. Their farm consisted of 320 acres of rich farm land. They lived a quite peaceful life here for the first 13 years. They were members of the church where John became a deacon. The family grew and became somewhat prosperous. In the late summer of 1817 something would happen that would change their lives forever. Some members of the family began seeing strange looking animals around the property. Then late at night they started hearing knocking sounds on the doors and outer walls of the house. Later sounds were being heard inside the house. Sounds of a rat gnawing on the bed post, chains being drug through the house, stones being dropped on the wooden floors, then gulping and choking sounds. The family was terrified but kept the problem to themselves for over a year. When things became intolerable, John confided in a neighbor, James Johnson. He invited Mr and Mrs Johnson to spend the night. After several nights of witnessing these strange things, Mr. Johnson suggested that more people should be told. And a committee was formed and an investigation started. It was not long before people were coming from miles around to hear and witness this unseen force that was terrorizing the home. Before long this unseen force had gained enough strength that it now had a voice. When asked who and what it was, it gave different identities. It once stated that it was the witch of a neighbor woman named Kate Batts. This is what many people believed, and from then on, this unseen force was called "Kate". It seemed that Kate had two main reasons for visiting the home. The main one was to kill John Bell. For what reason no one knows because Kate never gave a reason why. The second reason was to stop John's youngest daughter Betsy from marrying a certain neighbor boy named Joshua Gardner. Over the next three years "Kate" tormented members of the family almost daily. John and his daughter Betsy was the ones who received the worst of the physical abuse. Betsy had her hair pulled, she was pinched, scratched stuck with pins and even beaten. While John Bell began suffering from spells of swelling of the throat and often had the feeling of a stick being stuck sideways in his throat. Then came the twitching and jerking of the facial muscles. Kate would blast him with curses and hideous threats during these spells. As time went on John Bell became weaker and weaker. Kate was becoming well known and drew large crowds of people. She seemed to be very intelligent in many things: the bible, people's past and the future. She could be in two places at the same time - miles apart from each other. Another major development in the story is the involvement of future U.S. President Andrew Jackson, who heard of the disturbances and decided to observe them in person, in 1819. On approaching the property, he encountered an invisible presence that stopped his wagon in its tracks, until he acknowledged that the witch was responsible, upon which the wagon was able to proceed unhindered. One of the men in Jackson’s entourage declared himself to be a witch tamer who intended to kill the spirit. The man began screaming and contorting his body immediately after making these statements. Jackson and his entourage left the property by midday the following day. He is quoted as later saying “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than to deal with the Bell Witch.”citation needed Betsy Bell’s engagement to a neighbor named Joshua Gardner was another focus of the invisible entity’s displeasure, and followed and taunted them whenever they were alone together, leading Betsy to break off the relationship on Easter Monday in 1821. The disembodied voice continued to communicate its dislike of John Bell, and its intention to kill him. was by then suffering frequent facial seizures, often rendering him speechless. The family blamed John's affliction on the witch, but modern analysis of his symptoms indicates that he may have suffered from Bell's Palsy,12 a paralysis of the facial muscles. The name "Bell's Palsy" comes from Charles Bell, the anatomist that discovered the condition. Charles Bell is no relation to the Bells of Adams, TN. The name is a coincidence, and Bell's Palsy was not identified until 1821, the year after John Bell's death. She(Kate) finally accomplished her mission for coming to the farm. On December 20, 1820 John Bell had died. It was believed that he was poisoned by Kate, and Kate took full credit for his death. And then in March of 1821 young Betsy broke off her engagement with Joshua Gardner. Kate then bid everyone farewell and promised to return in seven years. She did return in 1828 for a few short weeks. During this visit she came to the home of John Bell Jr and had long talks with him about the past, the present and the future. She made some predictions for the future. Kate also said there was a reason for John Bells death. However she never said what the reason was. After the second visit, she said her next return would be in One Hundred and Seven years. That would have been in 1935. But some believe that she (Kate) never left the area at all due to the strange things that has occurred in and around the town of and the over these many years. Click here to read or post comments.
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