From: NytexShade@aol.com
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997 21:00:02 -0400 (EDT)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
The Bell Witch was not actually Kate Batts' spirit, it was a spirit of some other kind. Kate Batts was still alive, but not well liked, and the townspeople named it after her. The 'witch' was fluent in Bible verses and folklore, and had the ability to travel distant places within an impossibly short time, now or then. Many people witnessed the events of the Bell witch, including then General Andrew Jackson.
Please get the story straight, as this is my favorite ' ghost ' story.
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1998 12:59:07 -0700
From: Joy Eden (joyeden@bellsouth.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: bell witch
Ten years ago I married into the family that owned the Bell Witch Cave Farm in Adams, TN. Then I did not believe that anything special was there, but was soon convinced otherwise. Strange things are still going on in the area of Adams, Tennessee. We had a mobile home on the hill above the cave entrance and many strange things happened there. We now live about a mile away and strange things are still happening to us.
From: CWyatt12@aol.com
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1998 00:19:29 EDT
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
ok sorry my first letter sent its self. well anyway reading further on this one paticular web page i read about these "professional" ghost hunters that had seen some mystrious lights in the bell witch cave, so i was hooked on just proving it to my self that the bell witch was real so me and a few curious friends rounded up camping supplies and and a map to find Adams, so we arrived in late may, and by the time we got to adams strange things were happening, as soon as we got to the red river camp site, they were having a wolf festival of some sort although the wolves we camped next to were exstremly friendly we were all preatty scared. well the next day we woke up and had planned to see the cave, but when we got their the lady told us that the rains had been so bad that the cave wasn't ready to open for the year, well that day we rode all around adams (actually we could have walked it was so small) we tried to talk to people about the ghost and the only person we could talk to is the lady that ran the cave, ever one else would tell us to go talk to the crazy lady that ran the cave, so she became our only supply of knowledge, talking to her we learned one of many things that we hadn't known, she told us that the spirt had actually identified its self as the spirt of heaven hell and the living earth and that Kate Batts was just one of the many names that she had given to the bell family. Well we were all excited about what we had learned but our first weekend in adams was over. So we came home study some of the bell family geneology at our local library. At the library, I came across some interesting facts about adams and Jhon Bell. I found out about the time that the bell witch haunting took place that Adams was competiting with the neigoboring town Springfield to have the a railroad station come through. Well Jhon Bell not only being a community leader in Adams was really like Adams Mayor but since adams did not have a court system set up his political life in Adams is not recorded, but everything else is. Well we decided to give it one more chance. But this time we bought some more exspensive gear like night vision goggles mobile radios etc. We stayed at the same red river camp site, talked to the same people, but on the second nite we planned our main course, we had teams of two with drop off points by the bell family farm, we mapped it were we would cover the farm and meet back up well we did, we took pictures saw the remains of the original bell family house Jhon Bell and Jhon Bell Jrs. burial sites but still no sign of the spirt, so the next day we got into the cave, the lady that owns it let us go to the second level and take pictures, after it was all said and done all we had to show is some beautiful pictures of Adams Tn the red river and the Bell family farm, all and all I belive that it was all a big hoax to get the railroad to come through adams but it failed and thats all adams had to hold on to after that, one big lie.
From: DrunkenDoo@aol.com
Date: Sat, 18 Oct 1997 12:32:27 -0400 (EDT)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: bell witch
this may seem a little odd but it was told to me exactly as im writing it....
my english professor at MTSU used to come over some evenings and have coffee and smoke pot and entertain us with literary text....he told us of a decendant of john bell ( i believe his granddaughter) went to MTSU and decided to do a research paper on the much heralded bell witch story. strange occurences from that point on kept the girl wondering if she was doing right. the day before the research paper was due she was scurrying around and photocopying documentation. she then to her dorm room where her roommate was found hanging. on the mirror was written "YOU DIDNT LISTEN"
it could have been a cry of help from a lost roommate, or could it have been one last pilgrimage from the grave to make john bell's decendants hurt....
i saw the blueprints to the dorms and there is one room boarded up so as not to disrupt activities for the christmas vacation.........
From: "Bambi Floyd" (b.floyd@cafe.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997 14:45:45 -0500
hello, my name is James Bell, and I believe that I am related to the Bell witch. My sister Rebekah was teased about the relation because she had a black ring that looked weird. I always heard that she promised to comeback and haunt the next John Bell.
One day I discovered, while looking at a family tree my father was making that my brother John is the next in a direct line. I thought that was cool.
James Bell
From: mutthemutt@webtv.net (ernest bohar)
Date: Sat, 25 Oct 1997 13:47:39 -0400
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Christopher Bohar
Hi,my name is Christopher Bohar.I am 13 years old and believe in ghosts.I like your website and the story about The Bell Witch.I would like to ad a footnote to your story on The Bell Witch.In 1993 a ghost hunter was at The Bell Witch Cave on a tour.He took some photos with his camera and the camera was one of those ones that you take the picture and it develops by itself.When his photos turned out a face was in the bottom right hand side of the photo with what looks like a hood on its head.Its eyes and mouth were wide open and the black and white face had no lips.The skin was peeling off the face.When the man saw the photo he ran out of the cave and scared half of the people off the tour.
From: "GLENDA M EDWARDS" (GMEDWARDS@prodigy.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Date: Sat, 31 Jan 1998 00:23:17 -0000
Dear sirs,
I was recently doing a little surfing on the internet and came across your website. I live here in Adams, Tennessee, and in fact, have the original bricks from Kate Batts house in my home. I not only grew up with the Bell Witch legend, i lived it. I know first hand and have had real life encounters and have evidence and witnesses to this. I would be glad to assist and give my stories if you would like. please resond to me at sinepari@yahoo.com or gedwards@webtv.net
From: Spooky2329@aol.com
Date: Mon, 16 Feb 1998 19:39:07 EST
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: About the Bell Witch haunting
Hello.
My name is Janice Phillips, and I have read about the Bell Witch Haunting quite a bit becaus I have been interested in hauntings. The person who contributed the story left out a crucial part of the story. The "Witch" mainly affected their daughter( I don't remember her name) The "Witch" eventually left after the father died. Later on though, their daughter married John gardner, and several years after her marriage the "Witch" returned. It turns out that the daughter's father, who had married his wife when she was twelve, now in his seventies, became infatuated with his daughter who was supposedly quite lovely (eew, incest) and was molesting her. A poltergeist than developed and eventually killed her father. The daughter recieved the brunt of the poltergeist's actions, which had become a means of defense for her, because she wouldn't tell anyone what her father was doing. This became revealed when her husbadn, who had insomnia began wandering around at nighttime, not wishing to wake her up with his stirrings. She became nervous about their daughter and the activity resumed. this was revealed when her husband hypnotized her.
E-mail me if you need help understanding this(it is very confusing).
janice phillips
From: WendeeC (WendeeC@aol.com)
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 23:10:01 EST
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: question
I am going to be visiting Tennessee next week and am very interested in the Bell home - or where it used to be. It the cave still open? Are there hotels in Adams?
What can you tell me about visiting the area and investigating?
I have always been interested in the Bell Witch - since reading it at the age of 12! I live in Atlanta and have decided to visit the sight
Any information you can give me would be helpful.
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 17:25:58 +0000
From: katydid3@bellsouth.net
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Belll Witch
I just wanted to respond to the story of the Bell Witch. I, too, am a resident of Tennessee and I'm very familiar with the case. As a teenager I read the book by Charles Bell about his family, but lost it. I could not find the book anywhere. I later discovered it was back in my school library. A few days later, I went to the shelf once again to check it out and it was gone. I went to the librarian to have the book put on reserve for me. The librarian informed me that only that morning a young man, who had checked out the book, house burnt down with the book inside.
This spurred me on to do research about the Bell Witch. There are two legends associated with the book written by Charles Bell. 1) The book disappears and reappears. 2) The book bursts into flames!
No more Bell Witch for me!
From: BHITCH1955@aol.com
Date: Sun, 19 Jul 1998 19:11:56 EDT
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: The Bell Witch
The way I heard the story, is that Kate and John were romatically involved. One day, Kate was thursty, so they went to get a drink. Then Kate hit here head on something in the barn. She died. Then John thought that he would be accused of her death, so he took her back to her own house, where she was later found. The reason Kate haunted John Bell and his family was because Kate thought that John mad her bump her head.
From: DixiChik@webtv.net
Date: Sun, 1 Nov 1998 21:27:38 -0600 (CST)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: BELL WITCH
There is no witch that haunts the Bell place It is spirits of the Indians that rest in the bend of the Red River. Before the hauntings, some of the Bell kids, including Betsy, were playing near the Indian graves and digging, which they weren't suppose to do. The obviously disturbed the rest of the dead Indians. The spirit first introducd itself as the spirit from the bend of the river. What do you think? E-mail me back.
Beth
Nashville,. TN
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 18:21:01 -0800 (PST)
To: guestbook@ghosts.org
email hughes_amanda@hotmail.com
I have recently read your account of the Bell Witch and found it very misgiving. Maney of the facts seem less than facts. Joshoa Garde ner was a student of the teacher Betsy eventually married. Not the teacher hims elf. I know this due to a book I have recently read about the Bell witch.This b ook obtaines a primary source document from the teacher himself. Found in the a ttic of a realative of the teacher It also gives the real reason as to why Jon Bell had been haunted and eventally killed at by this"witch".I am affraid due t o the fact that i have loaned this book out I am unable to supply you with the authers name or the name of the teacher. As soon as I get this book back I will send the auther as well as the name of the teacher, because I feel if you are informing peaple about somthing you should at least have the real facts or supp ly a very good reason as to why iI should believe you over the book I have read
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1998 18:43:18 -0800 (PST)
To: guestbook@ghosts.org
yourname concerned reader
email bbear181@chorus.net
Just now I read your idea of the Bell Withc story. If I had not already read a book wich gave an eye witness account from the scool te acher, Richard Powell, (of whom Betsy had married)I may have belived it . If yo u are going to post a page about somthing you should probly have a reporter who is able to sort gossip from fact.
First of all Jon jr. was not the one who would tie the shoes of his father bu t the youngest son.Who was not Jon jr. Betsey was not permitted by the witch to marry Josh Gardener, a student of Rich ard Powell, not the teacher himself.ect,ect,ect,ect............................ .................. To update or fix your page I suggest you not take the word o f peaple who probly were not alive during that time or else read books containg primary souce docs such as this exspecially when they are available........... ......... sincerly a concerned reader
From: E. R (vaille22@hotmail.com)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 23:19:23 PST
Hiya,
I saw your section on the Bell Witch (your web page very good by the way!!) and it prompted me to write you. Don't know how interested you'll be in this, but I find it somewhat interesting...it possibly sheds a little more light on the whole Bell Witch mythos/haunting...then again, maybe not...
2 years ago while in college, I had a course with a prof. with the last name of Bell. One day in class, while in the middle of a discussion about one thing or another, Dr. Bell brought up the subject of the Bell Witch..don't remember why. Anyways, from out of the blue he asked the class (paraphrased, but close): "Have any of you ever heard of the Bell Witch? If you have, you should know it was a hoax. My great-great.. [I don't remember exactly how many greats he used] grandmother was crazy. Everyone thinks it was a ghost that killed my family. It was really just her; she poisoned them all." 3 things worth noting: 1. Dr. Bell is VERY southern (he does hail from Tenn.) and accordingly has his family history traced back to its origins in England. 2. Dr. Bell is getting up there in the years; I'd say he's in his early 70's...actually, he retired last year after suffering a heart attack. 3. His sister, Emily, believes in the ghost and even had an experience when she and a friend visited the old family stomping-ground some-odd years ago. According to Dr. Bell, Emily tried to take a brick from the area where the farm was. However, when she tried to leave with the brick, her car...a camero...wouldn't start. She and her friend also claim to have heard strange voices and moaning... Bell said he was pissed because he had to travel all the way down there to help his sister with the car. Once he got down there, he found that he couldn't get the car started either. Out of frustration, he took the brick from the car and threw it onto the ground and told emily htat the property wasn't theirs anymore and to leave "the damn property alone." He tried the car one more time and it started right up. He claims htat the car wouldn't start primarily because it was a Camero; he also informed his sister and her friend that the strange voices "were the products of their female minds..." Like I said, VERY souther. Anyways, I found all this interesting and thought id pass it along. Don't know if it's all true as Bell indicated, but then again knowing the man, I don't think he'd lie.
Take care
Eric
vaille22@hotmail.com
vaille22@yahoo.com
Date: Fri, 12 Feb 1999 00:08:22 -0600
From: daktari (daktari@concentric.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
So much B.S.! The ridiculous theory that John Bell manufactured the Bell Witch "hoax" to draw the railroad to Adams is only surpassed by the ignorance of Ms. Phillips' slanderous comments about John Bell's supposed incestual relationship with his daughter Betsy. John Bell was a devout Christian and was considered a paragon of virtue in the Red River community (THE main reason the demon chose to attack him as re- lated by several dependable witnesses to the events). Also, if it was a publicity stunt, why did then President Jackson, a man who was often honest to a fault, attest to the disembodied spirits demonic abilities? By the way, the battle for the R.R. line was between Port Royal and Springfield and resulted in the demise of the former, all of which occured several decades after the disturbance!
There are several points one must consider in the study if this most unique paranormal occurance. First, the Bell "Witch" was not, by def- inition, a poltergeist, a phenomenon which rarely visits violence except by inanimate objects, and NEVER communicates with voice. Next, consider the evolution of the events which included not only telekenesis and disembodied voice but included the ability to be two places at once, incredible knowledge of all which occured within a twenty mile radius, the ability to materialize, shape-shift, to give accurate prophecy (it accurately predicted World Wars I and II!), teleportation of fruits (including tropical varieties!), and possesion of animals and humans.
What you should deduce from these incredible events, which were attested to by well over fifty well known and locally respected wit- nesses, and experienced by hundreds of people who lived in the area, is that this was a well documented case of demonism. As no permanent pos- session occured, it was not a case of possession. It was most likely a multiple entity (a fact which it admitted and demonstrated). It was probably called forth by a local eccentric named Kate Batts, who con- sidered herself swindled by John Bell, and in front of several persons threatened John Bell with a "spell". Within a month the initial incid- ents began. The demon admitted to being called through a pentagram by Kate Batts, and gave evidence that Batts did indeed practice the black arts. It was limited or bound by Batts at first but Batts, probably overwhelmed by the hatred the community directed at her, lost control and fades into oblivion, most likely becoming insane.
As you might deduce, I am somewhat of an expert in this matter, not only having read M.V. Ingrams text several times, but also the version told by Charles Bell, Edwin Price, and most recently, what is most likely a very accurate account transcribed by Betsy Bell's hus- band, a natural skeptic who never intended that his version be pub- lished. This version substantiates all the major events in a quite believable manner. I lived in the Red River region for over ten years and I do believe that these horrible yet facinating events did indeed occur, finding not one theory which could prove them a hoax.
Thus I issue this challenge: to any who do not yet believe. Read all the authoritative accounts that you can, and if you still believe it a hoax, spend the night in the Bell Witch cave or in the ruins of the old Bell home, alone, in the dark...a challenge I believe has yet to be completed. The last who tried that I know of were two skeptics from the Nasville Tennessean, a reporter and a photographer, who fled after just a few hours of darkness in the cave, driven out by a screaming entity which thoroughly unhinged the two men...and created two new believers (victims?) of the demonic Bell Witch. I'd advise against repeating their folly. Your life, your sanity, or your very soul could be forfeit! I will return here occasionally to weed out the B.S., including the obviously prefabricated account given by the person (with the "night goggles", etc.) who has likely not even been to the area! (The Kirby's, who own the land and the cave, are not thought of as crazy or eccentric, but are really con- sidered quite normal by their neighbors.)
Date: Thu, 04 Feb 1999 20:55:55 -0500
From: kpyatt (kpyatt@net-link.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: The Bell Witch
Hi. I just thought that your summary one The Bell Witch--one of the most horrific and terrifying ghost-related events in HISTORY was not in detail enough. I would like to give you more harrowing details, if I could....
First of all, the little children and the adults as well as visitors to the house would be victimized through violent slaps across the faces, the house would shake from the poltergeist, and they hired a little black girl Anky for help around the house. Now, as in most poltergeist cases, a lot of offense was felt. For instance, after the poltergeist (named Old Kate Batts, by the way) developed a voice, she would remark about "the smell of a nigger" and would spit on the poor girl so much that after a while the little girl's head was full of spittle!! The sound of wings flapping was heard, and after various events, the little girl Betsy was sent to live with neighbors. The poltergeist followed her!! And the poltergeist seemed to take pleasure in torturing John Bell mercilessly. It once told him that he would be tortured till his dying day. "She" fiddled with his medicine, and finally one day it got to be too much for the old man that he just collapsed and cried. Two years later he died and while he lay on his death bed the sound of Old Kate Batts could be heard---laughing. The really odd thing is that Old Kate Batts was actually alive and kicking!!! And she lived close by!!! She (the poltergeist of her) told the farm family, and I quote: it was "a spirit from everywhere, Heaven, Hell, Earth. I'm in the air, in houses, any place at any time. I've been created millions of years. That is all I will tell you." Many, many other events took place in the Bell house. I got this information from the book The World's Great Ghost & Poltergeist Stories by Sarah Hapgood. It is a fantastic account of hundreds of ghost stories from around the world, including the date they took place!
Enjoy
Barry
Date: Sat, 20 Mar 1999 04:09:27 -0500
From: Amanda Wright (topher@bicnet.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
I read the site on the Bell Witch and enjoyed. I am from Nashville, TN and wanted to add a side note about the current day popularity of the story. As a child a common slumber party dare was to go into the bathroom at midnight, always midnight, and say, I hate the Bell Witch, 12 times. I tried it many times and it came up at almost every slumber party I ever attended. I never actually got to twelve though.
Mandy
From: WYFL32A@prodigy.com ( WANDA D WALKER)
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 20:46:36, -0500
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
I do not know anything about the Bell Witch but I do know about the Bell Family. My mother is a Bell and she had 12 siblings. I love my mother dearly and she is now 79 years old. Only 1 sister left. Although from Georgia I have to wonder if she was kin to these Bells because there was a mysterious disease that claimed the lives of many including my grandfather, aunts,uncles, and now cousins. The symptoms start in the jaw, cannot swallow and it is called Huntingston Disease.
I wonder if this man had that disease and they did not know what it was. Mama used to tell me stories about sleeping in the same bed with her siblings and the cover rising up off the bed. I had never heard of a Bell Witch untill now and I am sure she does not know. Do you think he could have suffered from this disease? Diane Walker
We have gotten request for samples of My Mama's blood and we have complied to universities that study this. We got a request for her brain upon her death and I have denied this so I know there is something strange about the Bell Family.
This is not intended for any type of Ghost Story, just a True STORY.
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 01:34:15 -0400
From: Judy Herman (jsing@netconx.net)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: bell witch
ive read all the info on her and being from tennessee myself, well ive heard a story that didnt seem to make it to you. the story i beleive to be true of her is this; john bell and his family moved to this acreage and his children were out playing in the yard. they dug up the earth and found some bones - the skull - aand called to their dad. he said rebury it and as they were doing just that they accidentally kicked the jaw loose. when it was reburied, the hauntings started with a voice saying "i want my tooth back". guess in the rush to rebury the skull, they had kicked loose a tooth. they searched but didnt find it so the hauntings became worse. she is called the bell witch because she stuck to the bells - especially the children - no matter what. all she has ever asked for is her tooth back. just for added info, when she was alive she was a greedy and determined woman and the whole tooth thing is because she had atooth fixed and had it done with a gold inlay. she was very proud of it and in death was very mad to have it taken from her. she will not rest untill her tooth is found and returned to her.
The Bell Witch Information Page
This page (http://www.ghosts.org/bell/bellcomments1.html) last updated April 17, 2005.