The Bell Witch

The Bell Witch is a ghost story from American Southern Folklore. The legend of the Bell Witch, also called the Bell Witch Haunting, revolves around strange events allegedly experienced by the Bell family of Adams, Tennessee, in 1817–1821.

The story is the basis of the film An American Haunting (2006) and may have influenced production of The Blair Witch Project (1999).

Legend
According to the legend, the first manifestation of the haunting occurred in 1817 when John Bell encountered a strange animal in a cornfield on his property. The animal, described as having had the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit, vanished when Bell shot at it. This incident was quickly followed by a series of strange beating and gnawing noises manifesting around, and eventually inside, the Bell residence. After these occurrences, the Bell children said their bedclothes were being regularly pulled off and tossed onto the floor by an invisible force.

The family then reported a voice choking and making awful, low, guttural noises. Betsy Bell, the family's younger daughter and the only daughter still living at home, was soon after violently assaulted--her hair pulled and her face slapped by an invisible force.

These events continued for over a year before John Bell reported them to his neighbors, James Johnston and his wife, who later said they witnessed events. At this point, the strange events experienced by the Bell family became well known in the Red River community, especially reports of a voice conversing loudly and clearly, singing, quoting from the Bible and accurately describing events taking place miles away.

Another major development in the legend is the involvement of future U.S. President Andrew Jackson, who is said to have heard of the disturbances and decided to observe them in person in 1819.

On approaching the Bell property, Jackson's entourage encountered an invisible presence that stopped his wagon in its tracks. When Jackson acknowledged that the witch was responsible, 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. After this proclamation, the man began screaming and contorting his body. Jackson and his entourage left the Bell 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." In reality there is no record in Jackson's diaries or anywhere else in the historic record of a visit by him to Red River or the Bell family, and the episode is presumed to be fictional.

Betsy Bell’s engagement to a neighbor named Joshua Gardner was another focus of the invisible entity’s displeasure, who 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. Bell was by then suffering frequent facial seizures, often rendering him speechless. The Bell family blamed John's affliction on the witch, but modern analysis of his symptoms indicates that he may have suffered from Bell's Palsy,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, Tennessee. The name is a coincidence, and Bell's Palsy was not identified until 1821, the year after John Bell's death.)

John Bell died on December 20, 1820. A small vial containing an unidentified liquid he had apparently ingested was found near the body. When some of the contents were fed to the family cat, the animal died immediately; the bottle was then thrown into the fireplace. The family said later they heard a voice say, "I gave Ol' John a big dose of that last night, and that fixed him." Later, at Bell’s burial, funeral guests reported hearing a voice laughing and singing.

Bell’s death signaled the end of the series of events, but Lucy Bell later said a voice told her that it would return in 1828. During a three-week visit that year, John Bell Jr. reported that a voice communicated with him, predicting such events as the American Civil War, the Great Depression and both World Wars.

According to legend, after the entity last appeared in 1828, it said it would return in 107 years hence, in 1935. However, no such appearance was ever reported.

Fitzhugh's relation of the Bell Witch legend concludes with a statement to the effect that many people believe that the spirit returned in 1935, took up residence on the former Bell property, and remains there to the present day. He notes "the faint sounds of people talking and children playing can sometimes be heard in the area" and asserts that it is "very difficult to take a good picture there."

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bell Witch"

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