From: raystwo@webtv.net (Raymond Speer)
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 1999 21:17:51 -0500 (CDT)
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Subject: Bell Witch
When I was in college, I tried to find confirmation for the tale that Andrew Jackson witnessed the antics of the Bell Witch. Despite my best efforts, and a survey of printed and manuscript sources, I found no evidence that the future president had even visited the Bells, much less witnessed a mysteriously stalled wagon, or heard the Witch or observed a friend being pestered by the Witch.
Jackson was the target of negative campaigning in the 1824, 1828, and 1832 presidential elections. His enemies depicted Jackson as a buffoon, a military tyrant, a drunkard, a bigamist, a pimp, a madman, a killer, a crooked businessman, an Indian lover, an Indian hater etc. etc. Had Jackson ever voiced support of any ghost story -- and certainly if he had been a witness to the paranormal -- it seems certain that his foes would have publicized such a fact to cast ridicule upon Jackson. Since no such assertions were ever made, it seems plausible to conclude that Andrew Jackson never made claims of witnessing any supernatural phenomena.
The tale of the Bell Witch as it is now told seems extremely newsworthy. A family tormented by a spirit, and that entity driving one member of the family to his death!!! Good Lord, that is headline material in 1820 or any other year. So why is it that there are no contemporary reports of the Bell Witch in newspapers and periodicals in Tennessee or elsewhere in the USA? I cannot believe that the tale could be ignored by the press of the day, particularily as the Bells are reported to have been open about their ordeal and the Witch is reported to have been constantly manifesting herself. Contemporary Tennessee papers printed the names of participants in turkey shoots -- you cannot tell me that an editor that desperate for news is going to ignore a visitation by a ghost/witch/monster/whatever!
In sum, I can only assume that (a) the manifestations of the Witch were more subdued than the stories indicate, or (b) the whole tale is a load of fiction.
The Bell Witch Information Page
This page (http://www.ghosts.org/bell/bellfiction.html) last updated April 17, 2005.