From: JCook56050@aol.com
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 1999 10:30:19 EDT
Subject: The Bell Spirit
To: obiwan@ghosts.org
Dear Folks,
Though I grew up with the story of the so-called "Bell Witch", I have been researching the Bell Spirit phenomenon since about 1980 in great depth with the intent of shedding light on the historical aspects of the entire story. The below article is currently available from some Bell family desendents and at local libraries near Nashville and in North Carolina that have actually kept a copy (you would be surprised how some institutions treat home-published manuscripts). This is an updated version without photographs and parts of it have been used in the more recent books on the "Bell Witch" without proper credit being given.
I am sending it to your site because of the quality of your presentation. I am not a ghost hunter, and I do not care for the crass commercialization of the "legend." I am mostly interested in the facts of the case and the history of the community we now know as Adams (although I do indeed believe that this was a personal haunting of the most unusual kind). I discovered quite by accident that I am distantly related to the family of John Bell through marriages into the Winters family of Robertson County. This is not unusual. The Bell family was quite prolific and continue to be so.
If you feel my ariticle will add value to your web site, please consider this E-mail as my permission to publish it for electronic review. You are to make no changes to the content (only graphical presentation changes that do not affect its context). I also require an E-mail of notification from you.
The Legend of the "Bell Witch" is probably the most mistold and embellished story you could ever want to hear. The closer you get to Adams, the less fact you are likely to hear about it. Unfortunately, the story has been so difficult to research and verify that it has taken a very long time to put my book together. Some personal illness didn't help either. But, it is being written with no particular release date. I am going to get this thing right before releasing it, complete with a long bibliography, and hopefully long before my demise.
Who am I? I grew up in Tennessee in and around the Robertson County area. My background is extremely varied, and I have a university education in Political Science, Psychology, Mathematics and Engineering. I began to research my book back during my employment with the Tennessee State Museum. I refused to write this story until I had acquired some kind of skill and background in historical research.
Ocassionally, I do seminars on the Bell Spirit, just to remind myself of what I do and do not know about it. If anyone has a question about the Bell Spirit, I do answer many inquiries from my files that do not delve into proprietary matters or into details that will be exclusive to my publication. I don't normally answer questions about the hundreds of scary experiences that people have at the Bell Witch Cave or on the property (we have never had any scary or unusual things happen to us at all while there and I don't expect we ever will). The Kirbys, who own the cave property, do a fine job of keeping the "legend" alive and catering to tourist groups though the actual story has nothing to do with the cave. They are certainly more responsible than the previous owners were, and they take good care of the property. Now that the "Blair Witch" thing has come out, God only knows how the "legend" will look in a few years. I personally know of at least five attempts to do screenplays about the "Bell Witch" for Hollywood that all failed, and I know of one very good stage play done in Nashville that covered the basics of the legend. That play hasn't been presented for many years now.
Anyway, thanks for your most informative site, and if I can be of service to "truth in resources," please let me know.
Jack Cook, Nashville, TN.
jcook56050@aol.com
by Jack Cook
Copyright 1992
Nashville, Tennessee
A journalistic analysis of the famous legend of the "Bell Witch" of Adams, Tennessee. This research is compiled from historical records and family papers dating from 1750 up to the present, and covers the background of the affected families and the circumstances surrounding one of the most incredible parapsychological events in Tennessee's history. A bibliography exists, but is not included in this work. It will be included in the novel when completed.
The author is currently working on a novel of the same title while continuing his research into the phenomenon. This paper was written by request for individuals and family members who wanted information prior to the release of the book.
This updated version was completed on 18 July 1999. All facts contained in the current work are as accurate as can be determined by ongoing research as of this printing.
* All rights reserved. Inquiries may be addressed to the author at jcook56050@aol.com.
The Spirit of Red River
by Jack Cook 1992
On Highway 41, near Adams, Tennessee, there exists a very unusual shrine marking the passing of an original Tennessee frontier family and a very unusual saga. In this day of modern science and movie magic, their story is not told as often as it once was, and is no longer taken seriously by many. Yet, this monument remains almost 200 years later as mute testament to the Bell family, and to what must surely be called the most incredible haunting in American History.
Known as the "Bellwood Cemetery", the monument was designed and built in the 1950's by Leslie Covington, a successful building contractor from Boston, Massachusetts. It lies at the edge of what was once a thriving 1000 acre plantation owned by John Bell, Senior, his wife Lucy, and their children. Being a descendent of John Bell, Covington not only engineered the cemetery with a precise design and alignment, he also set aside a trust fund along with hundreds of acres of rented farm land to insure its continuation into the future. Many of the descendents of the original Bells are interred here, and, as a tribute to the memory of John Bell, Sr., Covington has erected a very large, engraved obelisk with exact directions to the original gravesite. The site is located on a nearby hill of maple and cedar trees, wherein lie the remains of John and his wife, along with what must be some 30 slaves who had worked the plantation during its most prosperous times. It is a peaceful, shaded canopy harboring no trace or indication of the ordeals once besetting the family.
A board of trustees now administers the property, and several of Covington's relatives have inherited his family papers, many of which date back to the late 1700's. "Our collection and the Bellwood properties are the result of many years of work by Leslie", states Joel and Virna Covington, two retirees from the Northeast, who have preserved many of the original Bell records." Leslie was more concerned with preserving the Bell family history than with continuing the legend that surrounded them."
John's original headstone was stolen from the gravesite in 1951 and was replaced in 1957 with a modern marker of no real historical value. Such an event is likely to occur on these grounds simply because of the family's history and its connection with the legend of the so-called "Bell Witch." Vandalism and mischief have forced them to discourage any visits to the old farm by the uninvited. Many of the Bell descendents, in their turn, have discovered the presence of a certain misconception and public notoriety once those around them have discovered their ancestry. As a result, they do not generally advertise the fact that they are descended from John Bell. After eight generations, the descendents of Bell retain a striking understanding of their place in the formation of early America. All whom I have met are well respected in their communities, normal in every respect, and not at all the strange people I had originally been led to expect in the beginning of my research. Some of the family members believe the story, and some do not. Among those who believe in the Bell Spirit are individuals who are delighted with the tale, and relish the attention they occasionally receive from the curious. Then there are those who want nothing whatsoever to do with the story due to their social standing or to certain inner fears. In either case, my extensive discussions with these descendents reveal a deep respect for the consequences of the family legacy passed down to them through the generations. Many in the family will attest that strange events still happen to them, even today, which stretch the boundries of coincidence to the breaking point. Yet, the events beginning in 1816 and ending in 1828 seem to hang over the family like a shroud.
It was a story which the finest writers of classic horror would find difficult to develop without a sense of disbelief lingering in the minds of their readers. Indeed, its complexity of character and spirit of certainty deter the skeptic's inevitable assertion that the event falls only into the catagory of "folktale".
The family of John Bell moved from Edgecombe County, North Carolina into the newly founded state of Tennessee in 1804, settling into an area near the Red River now known as Adams. Being among friends and peers, they had very little to distinguish them as much different from other prosperous gentlemen planters in the region. As the Bell family cultivated their community position, life for them became normal and well ordered as the years passed.
Then, in 1817, a nightmare began to encroach upon the family and the community, proceeding to alter their lives forever. Taking the form of a noisy spirit or poltergeist, it invaded their home, manifesting itself slowly at first as strange, dark animals lurking about their property and odd noises that seemed to have no physical origin. Soon, whispering voices were heard about the house whose source could not be identified. The family suddenly realized the serious nature of their dilemma when their children began to suffer at the hands of the mysterious power. Then, one night, when the youngest daughter, Elizabeth (Betsy) Bell, was attacked in bed by an invisible entity, John Bell was finally forced into revealing the family secret to his friends. Despite the best of efforts by neighbors of good will, things only got worse. Within one short year, the spirit was talking, moving objects, performing supernatural deeds, and creeping into the personal lives of everyone in the community. Worst of all, it abused and tortured Betsy, almost to madness, while at the same time causing her to reject a proposal of marriage offered by her fianc'e, Joshua Gardner, who had been a bold and persistent suitor. The spirit, which eventually took the name of "Kate," seemed to take on a personality mirroring the thoughts and prejudices of those in the local community. No person seemed capable of uncovering its origins nor the true purpose of its presence. Yet, many tried with sometimes frightening and often humorous results. The spirit seemed capable of incredible feats of knowledge, mimicry, and painful violence. Kate soon caused such a sensation as to attract "thousands" of witnesses to visit the farm, including a purported visit by the nationally famous southern military commander, Major General Andrew Jackson, who would, in due time, become the president of the United States.
Then, in December of 1820, after haunting and torturing the family for four years, while causing a disruption of the grandest kind for that era, it accomplished one final self-admitted mission. It murdered John Bell by poisoning him.
In carrying out that one objective, the spirit, "Kate", had accomplished three things which no other documented poltergeist in recorded history had done. First, it spoke, in plain, conversational english about any subject of the era to anyone it cared to communicate with. Second, it affected an entire community of hundreds of individuals. It seemed to know everything about them and revealed many of their individual secrets. Needless to say, the number of sinful deeds in the area declined for many years. Finally, it actually murdered or claimed to have murdered a man. That one act by a disembodied life energy has confounded and amazed scholars of psychic phenomena for almost two centuries. Short of ancient holy scriptures, it is perhaps the most unique psychic phenomenon ever documented.
Due to its unusual nature, the story has always attracted those individuals who consider the supernatural their personal domain. Witch hunters, kooks, maginally serious story collectors, psychic investigators, the media and midnight prowlers have all taken their turn at experiencing the mystery of the "Bell Witch". Each of them has felt the curious attraction the property and family have over people. In fact, the sheer number of modern day stories concerning visits to the Bell property is staggering, and no serious researcher is immune from hearing them. Some are told with an obvious flair for the theatrical and turn out to be quite humorous. Others can either be dismissed altogether or are so believable as to make one wonder.
One descendent of John Bell has been physically close to the original property for many years. "I get frequent requests for information on the "Bell Witch", states Carney Bell, a retired Naval jet pilot and unit commander. He now owns Tennessee's oldest operating funeral home in Springfield.
"My grandmother told me the story long before she passed away," he says. "She told me that her generation and the generation before her had made a great effort to suppress the story in hopes that it would die a natural death. But, the family had decided they were wrong when there seemed to be a resurgence of interest in the Bell Witch which would not go away. She told me that my generation should know what she had been told by her grandparents. That's when I finally heard about the family trouble many years ago."
Periods of public interest in the "Bell Witch" legend seem to have arrived in cycles, with the years 1934 to 1937 being the most frantic. That was the period during which oral legend stated the spirit would return to this world! Such interest has continued throughout Tennessee and Mississippi for decades by the tradition of "Bell Witch" folktales told in hundreds of different ways to thousands of adolescents, usually near the holiday of Halloween. Perhaps it has always been an ideal season for spine chilling stories around a campfire with the cooling weather, the smells of harvest, and colorful leaves cast aloft by wintering breezes to set any hyperdrive imagination ablaze. As campfires gave way to the two minute television vignette in the 1960's, the original tale was relegated by photo-journalists to that of a humouous ghost story from Adams. Soon the actual details of the devastating event were forgotten, and the story was no longer even a legend. Yet, many people have read the original book, and remember many of the documented details. But, what are its origins?
M. V. INGRAM AND THE "AUTHENTICATED HISTORY"
Almost 100 years have passed since the publication of one of the most intriguing stories in the history of Tennessee folklore. Though it has become difficult to acquire these days, many southerners get their first exposure to the details of the Bell Witch story from a relatively obscure book. The "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch" does not seem to have been a best seller, nor did it have a popular audience much beyond a certain limited, yet intensely interested group of individuals numbering perhaps a couple of thousand at most. In spite of a limited circulation, and due to several modern reprints, its narrative has managed to perpetuate the folktale into the present decade. Its release in 1894, during a time of frantic interest in spiritualism, caused a sensation, which even now rekindles fear and speculation among those who are only too familiar with the story. The legend itself has been fueled year after year by the use of altered versions of dimly remembered anecdotes from this entertaining novel. It is no matter who tells the tale, however, the account written by M. V. Ingram is always the original source of the information whether it is used for fact or fancy.
In authenticating the "Authenticated History", we must first resolve its origins and reason for publication. Is it an accurate account of a real event? Are the characters in the story real people? Who was M. V. Ingram, and why did he write this book?
Only in the history of Clarksville is Martin Van Buren Ingram treated as a somewhat significant character in Tennessee's past. It is quite unfortunate that such a man and his contemporaries are relegated to a footnote in Tennessee history, for Ingram and other unique individuals joined together in pioneering modern newspaper journalism in this state. Being one of its founders, it is a tribute to his tenacity and effort that the "Clarksville Leaf Chronicle" continues to publish the oldest surviving newspaper in the state today.
Ingram was uniquely qualified to write about the Bell family's story. Born in Montgomery County in 1832, he grew up in and around Robertson County, where the wife and children of John Bell were still living. Having been reared practically at the back door of the affected family, there could have been no escaping a familiarity with the story of "Kate, the Bell Witch". His marriage to Annie Farmer, whose family was directly related to the Bells allowed him access to information others could not obtain. Despite the secrecy with which the Bells kept the details of their story away from the public, Martin Ingram was able to convince his friends, Joel Egbert Bell, who was the youngest son of John Bell, and State Representative James Allen Bell, John's grandson, to allow him to publish their story along with a diary entitled "Our Family Trouble", written by the father of James Allen, Richard Williams Bell, in 1846. Ingram was told not to release his "Authenticated History" until all the children of the immediate family had passed away. With the death of Joel in 1890, Ingram had done most of his research, and had gotten about as close to the story as any man cared to, short of talking to the spirit itself. It was quite a departure for a man who had dedicated a career to political reporting and business and promotion.
Like many newspapermen at the time, M. V. Ingram remained reticent concerning his own identity and history in the pages of the "Authenticated History". Few of his writings remain in existence, leading many readers to cast a shadow of doubt over the validity of his only known published book.
His legacy is traceable, however, starting with the "Robertson Register" newspaper, which he founded at Springfield with his business partner Archie Thomas in 1866. At the time he had absolutely no experience in the printing business. Ingram's paper became such a success, he was asked by city merchants to move his business to Clarksville where he was loaned enough money to begin the "Clarksville Tobacco Leaf" in 1869. Despite competition with the "Clarksville Chronicle", Ingram's newspaper thrived by answering the needs of the commercial community and by publishing popular editorials suitable to the Reconstruction period. Over the years, family afflictions, failing health and the great Clarksville Fire of 1878 all took their toll on Ingram's health. After training several apprentices, he finally sold his interest in the paper in 1880 at the age of 48. Publishing was a very physically taxing occupation during his career. Despite continuing family illness and the premature death of several of his children, his activities in publishing continued with many other projects during the last part of the 19th century, including the publication of a special interest newpaper called the "Progress Democrat" and, of course, his book, the "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch". Ingram died on October 4th, 1909, at the age of 77. Suffering the fate of temporary literature of those times, most of his other works have disappeared over the decades with only a few examples surviving to the present day. Perhaps, with some luck, we may discover more of his writings or descendents in the future.
Ingram's believability as an author is enhanced by the October 5th, 1909 issue of the "Clarksville Leaf Chronicle". Editor, W. W. Barksdale, broke all the rules of his paper, dedicating the front page and editorial section to eulogize the death of his friend and mentor. Apparently very highly respected in the community, Ingram was a devout Baptist and Free Mason. As an editor and writer of the period, Ingram colored his writings to enhance their public effectiveness. However, due to the strict attitudes of the time, he had to remain on guard that the facts of his stories were correct in such a tightly knit, Victorian era. The editor, Barksdale, says of Ingram, "(he was) a man of true mold, he despised all deceit, trickery, and littleness, and with a courage which nothing could daunt, he laid on the journalistic lash unsparingly whenever he thought the occassion required. Naturally, his was not a pathway strewn with roses- his was an aggressive nature, a fact which often brought him into serious collision with those with whom he took issue. Time, however, usually justified him in the positions which he assumed."
Time indeed! One cannot imagine that a man like M. V. Ingram, whose positions of community responsibility were numerous, would have or could have concocted an amazing story like that of the "Bell Witch." Official records in the state archives of Tennessee, North Carolina, and family records in Mississippi prove that most of the information contained in his book is more than accurate enough in names, dates, events and locations to justify taking him very seriously. All of the people he used as witnesses were alive during the period in which he interviewed them, and it can be verified that the people involved in the story are historically real and were living in Robertson County during the time of the Bell family haunting. Ingram's description of community activities is also very accurate. It is certain that families or friends in the area would have objected strongly to such use of their relatives in a fictitious story claiming authenticity. Yet, no record of such objections is known to exist. Ingram's tools were footwork and face-to-face. Current day experience in researching the legend has shown the time and trouble taken by Mr. Ingram in obtaining his information during an era when community archives were scarce and family honor was foremost. Even in these modern times, there are a few members of the Bell family who would rather not see this story come before the public again. Though we must respect their fears, the story itself is a very important historical account which involved not only the Bells, but an entire community of families as well.
Martin Ingram recognized the significance of the incident to a wide range of people who could not suppress their curiosity over such an unnatural event, and though some of his facts are incomplete or inaccurate, there is good reason. If anything, Ingram is only guilty of coloring his story for the time in which it was written. He could not have had access to the information compiled and indexed in today's modern archives by an army of dedicated historians over many decades. Much of the data in his narrative is from first hand memories and family information. It can be easily determined by government records that the named individuals were highly credible, responsible citizens, and though some of the "Negro Stories" may contain a great deal of material written for entertainment, the book for its location and time is a most remarkable record. Had it not been for the "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch", we would now know very little, if anything, factual about the incident or the legend.
A NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK
How do you explore the most elusive form of historical research? The legend of the "Bell Witch" reveals so little solid evidence from which a scientific history or explanation can be derived. The research methods needed to unravel the mystery made it necessary to examine this legend as an event surrounded by the history and aspirations of hundreds of individuals whose legacy only exists now on headstone or yellowed paper. Their lives were littered with twists and turns and closeted skeletons laden with several inches of dusty intrigue.
Family records and government archives were used to identify the situation and background of those who had lived in the Red River area in the early 1800's. The archives used in this case belong to North Carolina, Tennessee, and include family records in Mississippi. Being a prime resource to the average student of history, these libraries and archives of state protect vast treasuries of information gleaned from the deeds of past generations. The researchers working amidst these repositories are people whose knowledge of the collection is even more useful than that of the most powerful computer, and each person is a unique asset. They have stripped away the confusion and cut thousands of hours from many research projects. "You'll have to limit how far you look into a family history," states Ann Alley, an archivist with the Tennessee State Library and Archives, "because genealogy is like a huge, neverending spider's web. I have known people who literally research for a lifetime and never see an end to it!" While wading through the library's 21 million official records, 4 million manuscripts, and 6,000 family histories, it is wise to seek the aid of someone like Ann, as time, patience and blind luck are never plentiful! Yet, those were the ultimate tools used to discover the truth behind the legend of the Bell Spirit.
THE ULTIMATE POLTERGEIST
For four years the family of John Bell was forced to endure what has come to be called a "noisy spirit" or poltergeist of a type which was unique when compared with similar events documented before or after it. Developing the ability to speak, the spirit soon began to call itself "Kate", after an odd local woman named Kate Batts. People in the community mistakenly referred to it as "Kate Batts' witch", though its physical form, if any, was never truly identified. The center of the unseen entity's activity was John's youngest daughter, Elizabeth (Betsy) Bell, a very attractive girl, who suffered from physical abuses brought on by the spirit which included merciless beatings, scratching, slapping, and constant mental anguish brought about by the spirit's seemingly inexhaustible mischief and verbal harassment. It consistently ridiculed the choice of Joshua Gardner as her future husband, and induced in Betsy, and her father, a sickness, the symptoms of which included odd physical disturbances that eventually resulted in the death of John. The spirit could read the thoughts of those around it, describing in great detail the backgrounds of total strangers. It could accurately describe simultaneous events in other areas of the world within moments of being asked. Kate could move objects, sing, preach, and accomplish the most baffling pranks without detection. Its knowledge of the universe was astonishing, yet curiously incomplete in many details. Upon being exposed to both Baptist and Methodist doctrines, Kate began to display violent and contradictory behavior resulting, no doubt, from the many differences of those philosophies. Perhaps the spirit's most astonishing manifestation occurred when four other spirits named Blackdog, Mathematics, Cypocryphy, and Jerusalem appeared briefly during the later years of the haunting. All seemed to be subservient to Kate and were invisible as well. It was during this period that the spirit's mischief grew more intolerable with each passing day. Its evil hatred was often matched in kind with benign understanding and kindness, making it, in essence, a great paradox in the spirit realm, and an unwelcome guest in the intensely religious community it had chosen to haunt.
Was this an elaborate hoax, or a real event of tremendous consequence to the area of Red River? For an answer, it was essential to piece together a giant puzzle of widely seperated and obscure information which 17 decades have sifted, distorted or destroyed. The Bells had not left a great number of records, and the discovery of one small fact in a case such as this could occupy weeks of cross referencing. Yet, in time, the origins and nature of this most typical frontier family began to merge with the written facts concerning the witch's legend to form a very plausible progression of events.
FAMILY MOVEMENTS AND THE CHURCH
We know from extensive genealogical studies that the Bell name is originally Scottish, and that these families were part of the mass emigration forced upon Northern Ireland and Scotland by James I and II beginning in 1650. Most were middle class plantation owners whose protestant religion proved incompatable with the prevailing Roman Catholic doctrine, and their movement into America lasted into the early 1800's. Energetic, restless and fearless, the emigrant Scot and Irish practiced thrifty ways and harbored an intense ambition for individual freedoms. They were well known as people to whom an education was vital, and many of America's finest schools can be traced to their efforts. Unlike the backwoods country people of the old folktales, the residents of Red River were very literate and well cultured for the times. Their's was an era of articulate speaking and writing. Unlike Americans in the Northeast, their general demeanor was not that of the stoical, boring British planter, but that of their Irish ancestors, whose outgoing nature and love of frolic made them more approachable. Many accounts of British travelers recall that the accents of early Tennessean speech remained like that of the Irish and Scots, but with distinct regional differences peculiar to America.
Landing in New England, the ancestors of John Bell moved southward to North Carolina while taking advantage of early land grants being offered by England. John's grandfather, Arthur, and his parents, William and Martha, had established themselves as planters on lands in Halifax, Nash, and Edgecombe Counties. It was in Edgecombe that John met his future wife, Lucy Williams through her parents, John and Mourning, who owned major lands west of Tarboro. The only record of their marriage still exists in her father's will, written in March of 1792, in which Williams names John Bell as Lucy's husband, and gives his daughter one slave named Cloe. This slave would later give birth to a son named Aberdean, who became the most valuable slave on the Bell plantation.
As a young man, John Bell apprenticed as a cooper (barrel maker), a much needed skill for that time. Most of the Bell land holdings centered around Tarboro, a settlement on a crook of the Tar River, which was founded around 1760. It was here that John made a committment which would affect his entire future. He joined the Union Baptist Church (later known as Upper Town Creek). This and many other congregations were supported by the Tar River Association a religious advancement group of great importance to the Baptists. Before receiving his "letter of dismission" to Robertson County, Tennessee in September of 1803, John had most likely made his decision to move based upon the earlier relocation of many of his friends, including the Fort family, whose members became very influential in the Red River Baptist Church.
Having weathered assaults from the English Monarchy, Anglican Church, and the Revolutionary War, settlers like Bell welcomed the promise of cheaper more fertile lands, now made more attractive by American independence. Such settlements were being outrageously advertised, and land speculators fueled the hope for opportunity and prosperity in the new lands beyond those of the depleted farmlands of North Carolina. Many arrived with dreams of exploiting a territory rich in natural resources, yet, these virgin, forested lands were unforgiving to those who did not have the endurance and skill necessary for survival in an undeveloped wilderness.
One of the misconceptions arising from an 1800's Mississippi folk legend was the idea that John Bell had left his native state to escape persecution from the murder of a cruel slave overseer. There is no record of this incident, and such an escape from legal action by a man of Bell's standing was quite unlikely. Evidence indicates this legend most likely arose from a legal action taken by John Bell in May of 1820 against a local planter, John H. Arnold who had rented a slave from the Bell plantation. Arnold had beaten Bell's most valuable slave, Aberdean, causing a wound to the head which threatened his life. The affair was settled out of court to the satisfaction of Bell, and Aberdean would, in later life, tell incredible stories of how he got the scar on his head from a confrontation with Kate, the witch.
At age 54, John Bell arrived in the thriving town of Port Royal, Tennessee with his wife Lucy and five children. Records indicate that a traveling party of about twelve families used the winter of 1803-04 as a time of passage through the mountain passes of East Tennessee, using earlier routes which many others had used when entering that strangely flat and open grassland known as the Barren Plains. The family decided to settle on the edge of the Barrens, seven miles east of Port Royal near the Red River. As a frontier area, Robertson County had already provided homes for hundreds of planters and their slaves by the time the Bells arrived. John wasted no time settling in, and with his children and slaves proceeded to develop 1000 acres of land into a future. In time, the family would see the arrival of three new children, including their first born in their new home, Betsy, who would later figure so prominently in the legend.
Early Robertson County residents were witness to many major events just prior to the appearance of the Bell spirit. A new movement known as the Great Revival was sweeping the nation in response to the evil and chaos promoted by the Revolution. Though the more fervent celebrations were carried out by the Presbyterians, the Baptists had also taken advantage of the opportunity to carry the Gospel into new regions. Prior to 1791, central Tennessee had been a closely guarded indian hunting ground in which tribal occupation was totally discouraged. Settlers like Bell were, in effect, occupying consecrated ground against which they felt the aboriginals had no claim. A movement of a different kind occurred at the New Madrid fault line in December of 1811 creating the strongest recorded earthquakes in American history. From these tremors there arose a great fear in all residents of the western states from which the church claimed thousands of new members. Finally, as America's new freedoms fermented, British harrassment of the United States continued on until full-scale war had erupted once again in what is now known as the War of 1812. John's oldest sons were eventually called into service for the 2nd Tennessee Regiment under Andrew Jackson to help repell the British. From all this outpouring of human passion, one can see that many emotional events concurred in the appearance of the Bell Spirit by 1817.
An analysis of the Bell Witch legend must also include several odd circumstances which began to surround John Bell and his family. After many years of prosperity, John had become an elder of the Red River Baptist Church, which was soon presided over by the respected minister, Sugg Fort. During this period many religious issues were being discussed which amplified altercations already existing in the Baptist community. These problems were related in a small, leather-bound minute book kept by the Fort family from 1769 to 1826. This volume reveals that the Red River Baptist Church and her sister churches were originally strictly Calvinist in doctrine. This principle supported the view that God would only save the elect or the chosen few for entry into the kingdom of Heaven. A great debate over the churches' belief system began to form around 1810 concerning a new doctrine known as the Arminian Movement. It derived from the belief that all men were sinners, and that any person could achieve salvation in the kingdom of Heaven by approaching God for forgiveness of their sins, thus refuting the ideals of Calvinism. This belief fostered the ideal of the missionary concept as well. Most elder members found the Arminian Movement to be blasphemous during this period.
The year John Bell realized he had a very strange problem at home, an extraordinary elder named Reuben Ross preached a funeral sermon at the Red River Baptist Church in July of 1817 which helped to alter the entire direction of many local Baptists toward the ideal of the Arminians. This doctrinal change had, for many years, thrown the church into great turmoil over basic religious policy, yet Pastor Sugg Fort and many in the church were converted by the logic and conviction that Reverend Ross displayed. Peace was fleeting however, as the son of the minister, Josiah Fort, became embroiled with John Bell and his church in disputes involving church doctrine, family, and legal matters. Despite their arguments, Fort and Bell would later profess that their disagreements had been dissolved, while the rift between the church and Josiah Fort took many years to heal. The nature of the battle between Bell and Fort has only recently come to light from carefully restored documents written by the Church.
Curiously, only a few months before his problems with Josiah Fort, John Bell had been accused by his church of usury, (the charging of excessive interest) involving a slave deal he had made with a local farmer, Benjamin Batts (whose sister-in-law, Kate Batts was associated closely with the spirit, Kate).. Though the church acquitted him of any wrong-doing, the State of Tennessee, represented by William Fort, had already brought a suit against Bell which was tried in the circuit court of Robertson County. In August of 1817, he was convicted of the charge by a jury. Since those court records are missing, it is unknown what penalty Bell paid the court at that time.
Yet, he had not seen the end of this case, for in November, the church, being very strict in its doctrines, decided by committee that Bell had insulted the religious cause by his conviction in a court of law. Even though the charge and the incident were inconsequential by today's standards, John Bell was offically excommunicated from the church in January of 1818 at the very time when his family haunting was becoming widely known in the community. Not once is the spirit or John's home problems mentioned in the minutes of the Red River Baptist Church, yet it is obvious from the written proceedings that unusual things were happening within the congregation. It was most extraordinary for an elder or deacon to be barred from the church, and one can only guess at the emotional turmoil these events generated.
In October of 1819, during the height of Kate's demonstrations, John Bell requested that the church reconsider its charges against him, and a committee representing five outside churches was asked to come in and judge the usury incident. Even though these representatives found that Bell's case should be reconsidered by the church, the members kept postponing any action for an entire year, and by December 20th of 1820 it was too late. John Bell had died, supposedly by the actions of the spirit, Kate. In the Minutes of the Red River Baptist Church the sole entry for the month of December reads, "No Conference in December."
SUBSEQUENTLY
Despite John Bell's death, the curse of the so-called "witch" did not prevent his children from continuing their lives. Many of their records still exist, and, as such, it is interesting to note what fate awaited John and his family after the haunting had ceased.
John Bell, Sr. (1750-1820) was buried on his plantation while receiving his eulogy from some of the very people who had excommunicated him. He left no legal will, and a casual glance at his estate settlement quickly establishes that he was a man who had prospered. His main produce appears to have been quite varied, and this supports the reports that he could afford to be so generous with all of the curious who had visited his farm to witness the antics of the spirit. The plantation properties were auctioned or turned over to his wife and children by probate.
Lucy Bell (1765?-1837) continued to live with the youngest sons, Richard and Joel, in the original house. John's slave, Aberdeen, was given to her as her servant until her death. It is said that she and her children witnessed the promised return of the spirit, Kate, briefly in 1828. She died in 1837, and is buried beside her husband.
THE CHILDREN
Jesse Bell (1790-1843) is known to have been a man on the move. He served as both corporal and private in the 2nd Regiment of West Tennessee during the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans and at Horse Shoe Bend. Due to the war, he probably had trouble staying in the area of Red River to assist his father and brothers during the early development of the plantation. After the death of his father in 1820, he decided to move his family to Panola County in Mississippi, where he developed land in Courtland. He died of unknown causes while visiting in Christian County, Kentucky, and has left many descendents in Mississippi and the midwest.
John Bell, Jr. (1790?-1862) had the appearance and manners of his father. He served as both private and corporal in the 2nd Regiment of West Tennessee during the War of 1812 at the Battle of New Orleans and at Horse Shoe Bend. As his father's namesake, he became the heir apparent of the plantation, building a house near the original Bell Home. It was news coming up the Natchez Trace which prompted John, Jr., brother Drewry, and their brother-in-law Alex Gunn to begin flatboating goods down river to New Orleans in 1815. John was a prosperous farmer up until his death. Many of his descendents have spread through the U. S., including the late Dr. Charles Baily Bell (1869-1945) of Nashville, who, in 1934, wrote, "The Bell Witch, a Mysterious Spirit". Dr. Bell's book has been criticized as merely a rehash of the M. V. Ingram novel. However, he was a respected surgeon and educator, and very well may have shed light on some other aspects of the haunting by information handed down in his family. Much of the information in his book, however, is not accurate when carefully checked.
Drewry Bell (1796-1865) never married. Instead, he went into many partnerships and became a farmer and landholder, living directly across the Red River from his father's plantation. Drewry was an odd sort of reclusive bachelor who was very affected by "Kate's" denial of marriage between his sister, Betsy, and her first suitor, Joshua Gardner. It is said Drewry would not marry due to that incident. Apparently, certain memories had haunted him into his final years. In his will, drawn up in 1864, he gave all of his property to his negro slaves and gave them their freedom as well, while warning them that they should try to get along with each other. To each of his brothers and sisters he willed "five dollars and no more", except Betsy. She got a full "Twenty-five dollars!"
Esther Bell Porter (1800-1859) moved with her husband and her brother, Jesse, to Courtland, Mississippi. She moved around the Panola County and Yalobusha County areas while supporting her husband's farming and trading interests. Many of her descendents are in Mississippi and the midwest.
Zadock Bell, esq. (1803-1826) was easily the brain of the family. He eventually developed into a very promising lawyer, and realizing the need for his services in the new southern territories, Zadock traveled to Tallahassee, Florida, where he attempted to set up his business. One year later he had returned to Alabama where he died in Montgomery during a widespread southern epidemic. He was only 23 years old.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Bell Powell (1806-1888) was easily the most famous of John and Lucy's offspring, for of all the people who were affected by the spirit, she was the center of its activity. Kate denied Betsy a wedding with her first suitor, Joshua Gardner, but, in 1824, she married Richard R. P. Powell, the man who had, many years earlier, been her school teacher. Betsy became a housekeeper very much like her mother had been. Details of her adult life are sketchy at best, but it can be seen from her husband's political ambitions that her main activities were centered on his advancement and her eight children. What we do know from an old family story is that "Granny Betsy" would not sleep alone at night, and would not discuss the spirit openly. It is said she once threatened a lawsuit upon a magazine for misrepresentation and use of her name in a story about the witch. Despite the 11 year hardship she endured after her husband's stroke, Elizabeth maintained that her only marriage had been a happy one. Betsy stayed in Robertson County until late in life and was finally forced to move with her daughter, Eliza, to Mississippi. Her body lies near what is now called Water Valley.
Richard Williams Bell (1811-1857) was only six years old when the haunting began. Yet, of all of John Bell's children, it was he alone who broke the silence requested by his father and family. In 1846 Richard wrote the only known first-hand account of the Bell spirit and its effects on his family. This diary was eventually handed down to his son, State Representative James Allen Bell. James allowed its contents to appear in the M. V. Ingram novel under the title, "Our Family Trouble". It details many of the incidents which Richard Bell and his family could remember clearly. Richard became a highly respected farmer and settled near the old plantation. He died in his prime at the age of 46, yet, even by that age he had been married three times!
Joel Egbert Bell (1813-1890) was so young during the haunting, he had very little memory of the family trouble. He was also a respected man in Robertson County and married two times. Joel was probably more responsible for the handing down of the story to the public because of his friendship with Martin Ingram. There is no doubt that it was their discussions on the subject which helped to motivate Ingram into writing "The Autheticated History of the Bell Witch"
BETSY'S SUITORS
Professor Richard Rowell Ptolemy Powell (1795-1848) served for many years as a subscription school teacher, where he originally met Betsy as a child. Though the "Authenticated History" states that Powell was a bachelor, it is recorded that he had married Esther Hays Scott of Dickson County in 1815. She was 18 years his senior. Esther died in 1821, leaving Powell free to court Betsy until their marriage in 1824. He served for one term as sheriff and as State Representative of Robertson County until 1837, when he was handicapped by a massive stroke. In an attempt to earn enough for the future support of his wife and children, Powell lost $10,000 in goods during a steamboat accident on the river launching at Clarksville. This left his family completely destitute. A petition to the the State Legislature, drawn up on his behalf by over 80 friends (including Joshua Gardner!) in Robertson County, failed to win relief for Powell. His affliction worsened until his death in 1848.
Joshua Gardner (1800-1887), having lost Betsy to a spirit and then to a school teacher, he left Robertson County and established himself in Henry, and later, in Weakly County near a small town named after his famous brother, Col. John A. Gardner. Joshua successfully farmed near Gardner Station and served as a County Magistrate. He was married twice.
OLD BONES AND DOCUMENTS
There are several reasons to account for a seeming journalistic silence concerning the Bell Witch until 1893. Newspapers suffered from a shortage of paper during the early colonization of Middle Tennessee. Only national, foreign, and political news made it into print beside advertisements which barely supported the publisher. Local and family affairs were expected to be transmitted by mouth, or were not spoken of at all. Due to religious and social attitudes, any involvement with the supernatural was avoided to preserve a family's good reputation. Gossip about the Bell problem later remained quiet and subdued, yet human nature managed to spread the news faster than the press, with no lingering, printed evidence. After 1820, the Bells tried desperately to remain silent about the haunting, and, in their embarrassment, discouraged all efforts by strangers to question them on the matter.
Among those family descendents questioned for this paper was Joan Dorr, a living, direct descendent of Betsy Bell. She remembers that stories about the witch were not often heard in her family. "My mother would not discuss the story with anyone she did not know well, but she knew the story of the Bell Witch, and could quote from memory our entire family tree, starting with John Bell's father!"
It was September in northern Mississippi, and I awoke to a raging, violent sky. After guesting at the home of Mrs. Dorr, I now knew in what area to look for Longbranch Cemetery, wherein lay the remains of the first citizen of the Bell Witch Legend. The land is now very different from the swamps and cane thickets of the days when masses had wandered down the old indian and buffalo trail known as the Natchez Road. Driving down Interstate 55, massive columns of lightning descended on both sides of the highway to greet my search for the final resting place of Elizabeth (Betsy) Bell Powell. The town of Hatton, her last known residence, showed no sign of its existence, for it had disappeared into the landscape many years ago. Sheets of rain soaked my hat at each cemetery explored.
Touring perhaps 30 or 40 miles of backroads and bypassing a destroyed bridge, an accidental turn finally revealed a possible candidate with grass as tall as a man's head on a muddy back road. Clearing the grass away from what must have been 200 headstones that day, a chill ran up my spine. There stood the headstone of Elizabeth Powell in perfect preservation, safe from desecration by mischief and teenage thrill seekers on Halloween nights long since past. This is all that is left of Betsy's last refuge from the curious.
I had come to Mississippi simply to find information on who Betsy had become in later life, thus putting real flesh on the bones of the legend which had surrounded her since 1820. For it was Betsy who had remained the living figure of doubt concerning the family's credibility. Such public debates haunted her longer than Kate ever did. Ironically, she had outlived everyone in her family when she died, having lived 82 years.
As I began to photograph the grave, clouds suddenly parted over the cemetery allowing 20 minutes of beauty in this flowered field. Then, as my photo-session ended with a few words of respect over the lonely stone, the rain began to fall once more from a gray sky. This and many other odd circumstances through the years have bestowed upon me a feeling of kinship with this most interesting of stories.
After all is said and written, can any analysis, however complete, identify the tormenting energy released upon the Bell family? What science cannot explain or exploit, it can surely ignore. Taken in its simplest sense, the Bell Witch Legend is at once frightening, mysterious, and an uncomfortable reminder, to those of us trapped in our own mortality, of another reality, a clear view of which is denied to us all. Yet, if a disembodied entity may hold sway over human destiny, this legend will remain as a parable in which all beings are connected by some unknown universal fabric. Its very essence suggests that the insatiable creativity of the human spirit will always be subject to existence.
A WORK IN PROGRESS or GEE, I DIDN'T KNOW IT WOULD TAKE SO LONG TO FIND THAT INFORMATION!
As of this writing it has been fifteen years since I finally decided to tackle the formidable job of researching the real and verifiable history of the famous legend of the "Bell Witch". Much of the story in this work was originally done as a magazine article which was offered to several publications in Tennessee. None of those magazines have elected to use it. So I have expanded the original work to include passages that were too long for such a medium. I think the current work reads better and is more informative. This is the third editing of the work to date, possibly the last until I finally publish my novel. So much has happened in my life to delay the novel that I no longer make apologies, nor do I predict the publication date anymore. The novel will be finished when it is finished.
In my opinon, this is not a Halloween story, though it does make a good tale during that holiday period. Please do not mistake this as a ghost story, for it is strongly felt that the revelations into the original tale and the historical research that went into this paper will reveal that this is first a family chronicle from the opening of the Tennessee frontier. The haunting was only a small part of a much broader human adventure! We have tried to approach this thing from an historical perspective from the beginning in order to return dignity and authenticity to the incident.
This document was written in a popular style instead of that of a doctoral thesis, which I could have easily done. Since most of the copies go to people who have a keen but limited interest in the "Bell Witch" story, many of the minute details are kept to a minimum. I have learned from experience that very few individuals are as intensely interested as one needs to be to wade through the incredibly complex historical parallels and family genealogies which reveal the facts uncovered in this work.
Had certain facts been included such as a tracing of the genetic and medical anomalies of the family with the need for documentation to back them up, it would have taken an army of researchers and a huge budget. I also could not include some of the details of the visit by Andrew Jackson to the plantation because such speculation could not be counted as entirely factual. Many of the conclusions were made by intuition and logical progression based on the history of the times and the inclusion of little known details from many sources which all seemed to fit together into a whole picture that made sense. It is difficult to convey the excitement one feels when tracing history to those who have not done this kind of work. To say the least, it is certainly fun to see a score of subtle details add up to a new conclusion. This is not unlike real detective work!
I must admit here that there was a certain fear inherent in doing this project. A fear of the quiet kind. People tend to have a respect and awe for the unknowns in life. This could definitely be catagorized as an unknown! Many folks have asked me if I had any apprehension about doing this, due to all of the stories of pranks played by the spirit on those who came near the farm or on anyone who dared to write anything about the haunting. To that I must reply that I have maintained a positive attitude, despite all of the stories we have heard about bad luck affecting other authors. However, I will admit that we have had too many odd incidents happen during the course of this study to dismiss the possibility of extraneous intent. Though I am very versed in current and past theories of spiritual activity, I cannot and will not act as an expert in trying to explain our mechanical breakdowns, family sickness, and downright humerous slips made all around us at the most appropriate moments. I will, however, say that it is all very interesting to me, and that the good outweighed the bad.
Everyone to a person seemed to have one common question when they discovered what my project was. "Do you think it really happened? Is it real?" So, for the record, the answer is simply, "YES!".
Based on all of my research into every known aspect of the story, and based upon who M. V. Ingram represented to the area of Robertson and Montgomery County, I must conclude strongly that no individual or group of individuals could have engineered such a complex and verifiable set of events as those described by Ingram in his novel. Only in recent times have we even been able to define the energy which haunted the Bells as a "poltergeist", known in parapsycholgy as recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis. This phenomenon has been well known throughout history. Dr. William Roll, a contemporary investigator of poltergeist phenomena has counted only 116 documented cases since the year 1612. He has stated to me that he himself has experienced the effects of modern day poltergeist incidents, and that such studies have brought him into contact with some very strange things. I find it significant that the most unique of those cases was so well documented in our own state of Tennessee.
As in any story based on one inclusive work such as the "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch", I have attempted to discover newpaper stories or written documents which date before 1893 (the year of the book's printing in Chicago) in order to discover an angle of thought beyond that of Ingram, and as a further verification of the incident. As of this update I have only found one printed referrence to the Bell Witch from the year 1886 (and I suspect that it was written by Ingram, though the author is not listed). Searching microfilmed newspapers is very, very time consuming and extremely hard on the vision to say the least. One generally has to know the year in which an article appeared to prevent an endless search. Despite the reading of every page of the target year, certain pages or even whole issues may be missing or unrecoverable from the file. Sections may also be in such poor condition as to be unreadable. One instance of this difficulty was a referrence made twice in the "Authenticated History" to an article written in the Saturday Evening Post during the year 1849. This particular article made certain accusations of such a nature that Elizabeth Bell threatened to sue the publication. Despite a very thorough search of rare microfilmed copies of the "Post" for that and other possible years, I have so far not been able to find that article. This was a long and difficult process and one can only wonder if Martin Ingram simply mistated the year, since he is very reliable when he states that an event actually occurred. Ingram cannot be depended upon to record exact dates, however. As usual, he may have been guessing something he did not recall clearly.
I cannot help but think that somewhere, perhaps in someone's attic, there exists the original copy of Richard Williams Bell's diary, "Our Family Trouble". There may even be a descendent of M. V. Ingram in possession of the original hand-written "Authenticated History of the Bell Witch"! Someday, I may even find the elusive newpaper story on the Bell Witch in an early eastern U. S. or even British publication written more closely to the actual event. I can only hope!
Since this is a work still in progress, I will only say thank you to the hundreds of individuals who have been kind enough to provide information or inspiration of any kind. This has not been an easy task, but it has been a very rewarding one!
Patience, patience please, while I put a few more chapters on paper...........................
Jack Cook
Nashville, Tenn.
July 1999
FAMILY BIOGRAPHICAL UPDATES
John Bell, Sr.
(1750-1820)
(some family records indicate his middle name was William)
John Bell was a native of North Carolina and grew up in and around Tarboro just prior to the American Revolutionary period. John was one of the original new Americans. He apprenticed as a cooper (barrel maker), and made his fortune in Edgecombe County where he married Lucy, a daughter of the prominent family of John Williams in 1782. John eventually bought land southwest of Tarboro on several north prongs of Town Creek near the property of his father-in-law. Records indicate that he held and sold many parcels of land in that region. John and Lucy had five children during their residence in North Carolina. In 1804 they migrated to what was then West Tennessee. Developing one of the major plantation properties of Robertson County, Bell became a prominent citizen and deacon in the Red River Baptist Church. His stern attitude on church and business issues brought him to the Circuit Court on many occasions against his neighbors. His most difficult case arrived toward the end of his life when the State of Tennessee, represented by William Fort, brought a suit against Bell under a charge of usury (the charging of excessive interest) which was tried in the Circuit Court of Robertson County. In August of 1817, he was convicted of the charge by a jury. It is not recorded what penalties he had to pay. Yet, he had not seen the end of this case, for in November, the Red River Baptist Church, being very strict in its doctrines, decided by committee that Bell had insulted the religious cause by his conviction in a court of law. Even though the charge and the incident were inconsequential by today's standards, John Bell was officially excommunicated from the church in January of 1818. This was equivalent to losing all support from one's family, and suffering a major disgrace. Though the church finally decided to reconsider its case against him, Bell died before the committee could fully reconsider his case. Ironically, Bell was buried on his plantation and received his eulogy from some of the very people who had excommunicated him. He left no legal will, and a casual glance at his probate estate settlement quickly establishes that he was a man who had prospered. His main produce appears to have been quite varied, and this supports the reports that he could afford to be so generous with all of the curious people who visited his farm to witness the antics of the Bell poltergeist. His plantation properties were auctioned or turned over to his wife and children by probate and auction. His grave is located approximately one mile to the northeast of the museum in Adams, Tennessee.
Lucy Bell
(1765?-1837)
Lucy was born to John and Mourning Williams of Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Her family held significant lands southwest of Tarboro along Town Creek, and were very influential. She married John Bell in 1782, and most likely took up the life of an average hard working mother of the era. She, of course, was required to defer to her husband in all issues of ownership and decision making. Yet, she is listed on many legal transactions in North Carolina and Tennessee by her mark, and though Lucy is described as a very loving and likeable woman, it seems reasonable to assume that she had more influence with her husband in many matters than most others in the community could claim. She eventually bore nine children for John Bell, of which only one failed to make adulthood.
After her husband's death, she continued to live with the youngest sons, Richard and Joel, in their original plantation home about one mile to the northeast of the museum in Adams, Tennessee. John's slave, Aberdeen, was given to Lucy as her servant until her death. It is said that she and several of her children witnessed the promised return of the poltergeist (Kate) briefly in 1828. Like her husband, Lucy failed to leave a legal will with the courts in Robertson County. She died on the 27th of January, 1837, and her estate was settled by probate. She is buried beside her husband. Not long after her death, the old Bell house fell into disrepair, and was used as a corn crib for many years. According to her son, Richard, it finally fell into disuse and was dismantled sometime between 1838 and 1846. Only traces remain.
THE CHILDREN
Jesse Bell
(1790-1843)
As John and Lucy’s first child, Jesse spent his first thirteen years in North Carolina. As he grew to maturity, circumstances of family and war probably made him into a man on the move. Jesse probably had more to do with the establishment of his father’s Tennessee plantation than any of the other children. His entire early adulthood was spent during years when his father formed contacts and built his farm and reputation. Jesse and his brother, John, Jr., served together as volunteers in the infantry of the 2nd Regiment of West Tennessee during the War of 1812. Jesse was honored by being elected corporal in his infantry company for service at the Battle of Horse Shoe Bend under the command of Colonel Archer Cheatham. Later, he took orders from his brother, John, Jr., who was elected corporal for the Battle of New Orleans under Colonel Cocke. Both men, no doubt, had brief encounters with the immensely popular Tennessean, Major General Andrew Jackson, but there is no evidence to suggest that the General knew them personally. Starting June 25th of 1815, he taught school for 21 local students in the old (Fort’s) meeting house for three months. This certainly indicates that he had received what for his day would have been an excellent grounding in reading, writing, and mathematics, as did all of John Bell’s children. He married Martha Lee Gunn on the 7th of October, 1817, with whom he eventually had nine children. After the death of his father in 1820, he decided to move his family to Panola County in Mississippi, where he developed land in Courtland. He died of unknown causes while in Christian County, Kentucky (a short drive north of Adams, Tennessee) on the 28th of October 1843. It is not currently known where he is buried. He has left many descendents in Mississippi and the Midwest.
John Bell, Jr.
(1793-1862)
John Bell, Jr. stayed nearer to the original farm than any of the other children of John and Lucy Bell. By all accounts he was a quiet, industrious lad who harbored a very good sense for business and politics. He and his brother, Jesse, served together as volunteers in the infantry of the 2nd Regiment of West Tennessee during the War of 1812. John was honored by being elected corporal in his infantry company for service at the Battle of New Orleans under the command of Colonel Cocke. Earlier, he had taken orders as a private from his brother, Jesse, who was elected corporal for the Battle of Horse Shoe Bend under Colonel Archer Cheatham. Both men, no doubt, had brief encounters with the immensely popular Tennessean, Major General Andrew Jackson, but there is no evidence to suggest that the General knew them personally. As his father's namesake, he became the heir apparent of the plantation, building his house near the original Bell Home. It was news coming up the Natchez Trace which prompted John, Jr., brother Drewry, and their brother-in-law Alex Gunn to begin flatboating goods down river to New Orleans in 1815. Such ventures were very profitable in the early 1800’s. He married Elizabeth Gunn, the sister of Jesse’s wife, in 1828. They eventually had eight children. John was a prosperous farmer and politician of some reputation up until his death. We know he had the physical appearance and manners of his father according to written testimonials. We therefore know how both John Bells appeared from a painting that was commissioned during John’s lifetime from a Nashville artist known as Cabanis. A reproduction of this painting was published in the 1934 novel, "The Bell Witch, a Mysterious Spirit" written by John’s descendent, Dr. Charles Baily Bell (1869-1945). The painting continues to hang in the home of one of John Bell’s descendents to this day. John Bell, Jr. is buried in a cemetery near what remains of his old house on the old Bell property to the northeast of the museum in Adams, Tennessee. He died on the 8th of May in 1862. His descendents are numerous, and have spread to the far corners of the empire.
Drewry Bell
(1796-1865)
Not much is mentioned in the written records about Drewry. We do know that he was considered by some folks to be an opportunist in business matters. His initial fortune seems to have been made while shipping local goods down river to Natchez and New Orleans by flatboat with his brother John, Jr. and his brother-in-law, Alex Gunn. Drewry remained a resident of the Robertson County area his entire life, and never married. Instead, he went into many partnerships and became a farmer and landholder, living directly across the Red River from his father's plantation on several tracts of land he had bought and consolidated for his farm. Drewry owned many slaves for that era, and may have used them as somewhat of a replacement for the family he never sired. Drewry was an odd sort of reclusive bachelor who, it is suspected, was very affected by the family poltergeist and its denial of marriage between his sister, Betsy, and her first suitor, Joshua Gardner. Family legends state that Drewry would not marry due to that incident. Apparently, certain memories had haunted him into his final years. Drewry saw the sudden demise of slavery on the horizon, as did many of his neighbors. In his will, drawn up in 1864, he gave all of his property to his negro slaves, and gave them their freedom as well, while warning them in writing that they should try to get along with each other. To each of his brothers and sisters he willed "five dollars and no more", except Betsy. She got a full "Twenty-five dollars!" Drewry died with his slaves in attendance on the 1st of January, 1865. His house still stands across the Red River not far from the museum in Adams, Tennessee.
Benjamin Bell
(1798)
The fourth son of John and Lucy Bell did not survive. Though no exact information is available, we can assume that he was born in North Carolina in Edgecombe County, and that he died within the same year of his birth of childhood illness or just plain misfortune, something not uncommon in that era. Thus it is that Benjamin was most likely buried on the Bell properties just north of Town Creek in Edgecombe County, North Carolina.
Esther Bell Porter
(1800-1859)
John and Lucy Bell finally conceived their first daughter just before leaving North Carolina. Esther would have been no more than three years old while making the crossing into Tennessee. Not much at all is recorded about her locally, and her trail is difficult to follow. We must assume that she was your usual girl growing up on the Tennessee frontier. Such women were expected to marry early or move in with families that practiced home industry to make themselves useful despite her family’s obvious wealth. Her mother, Lucy, would have given her a grounding in household business, weaving, sewing, mending, cooking, and the thousand other chores necessary for her role as a wife. She married Alexander Porter on the 24th of July, 1817 during a very trying time for the Bell family. This was the period in which the poltergeist was forcefully making itself known, and the period during which church scandals and legal actions were destroying John Bell’s reputation. After her father’s death, she moved with her husband and her brother, Jesse, to Courtland, Mississippi. She lived around the Panola County (Old Panola) and Yalobusha County areas while supporting her husband's farming and trading interests all of her life. She and Alexander produced twelve children. Esther died on May 26th of 1859, and is buried at Union Hill Baptist Church, about 10 miles from Oakland, Mississippi. Many of her descendents continue to live in Mississippi while others have spread throughout the empire.
Zadock Bell, esq.
(1803-1826)
Zadock was born shortly before the family trek to Tennessee. He was easily the brain of the family as evidenced by documents he wrote in school that still exist. As a young man, Zadock eventually developed into a very promising lawyer, and realizing the need for his services in the newly settled southern territories, traveled to Tallahassee, Florida, where he attempted to set up his business. Letters sent back home tell of mass immigration by homesteaders and settlers, and describe the area of Tallahassee in great detail. One year later he had returned to Alabama where he died in Montgomery during a widespread southern epidemic. A letter written to John Bell, Jr. by John Blackwell of Montgomery, Alabama states that Zadock was buried in that city after an extended illness. Blackwell describes Montgomery as a city of the dead and dying in his letter. Most of Zadock’s remaining property was sent back to John, Jr., who settled all accounts that his brother had been unable to pay. Zaddock was only 23 years old when he died on the 6th of July, 1826. No doubt, his mother, Lucy was devastated to hear the news.
Elizabeth Bell Powell (Betsy)
(1806-1888)
Betsy was described as the baby of the family, possibly somewhat spoiled for that era. She easily became the most famous of John and Lucy's offspring, for of all the people who were affected by the family poltergeist, Betsy remained as the center of its activity. During the haunting, Kate completely dissuaded Betsy from marrying her first suitor and school mate, Joshua Gardner. By 1820 they had separated as serious lovers. Betsy became a housekeeper very much like her mother and sister, as all women were expected to be in that era. After her father’s death and after the disappearance of the poltergeist spirit from the Bell household, she married Richard R. P. Powell, who had served for many years as a subscription school teacher, where he originally met Betsy as a child. Court records indicate that Powell had been married to Esther Hays Scott of Dickson County in 1815. She was 18 years his senior. Esther died in 1821, leaving Powell free to court Betsy until their marriage in 1824. He served for one term as sheriff and as State Representative of Robertson County until 1837, when he was handicapped by a massive stroke. In an attempt to earn enough for the future support of his wife and children, Powell lost $10,000 in goods during a steamboat accident on the river launching at Clarksville. This left his family completely destitute. A petition to the the State Legislature, drawn up on his behalf by over 80 friends in Robertson County, failed to win relief for Powell. His affliction worsened until his death in 1848. Details of Elizabeth Bell Powell’s adult life are sketchy at best, but it can be seen from her husband's political ambitions that her main activities were centered on his political advancement and the well-being of their eight children. What we do know from an old family story is that "Granny Betsy" would not sleep alone at night, and would not discuss the spirit named "Kate" openly with anyone. It is said she threatened to bring a lawsuit against the Saturday Evening Post magazine in the 1840’s for misrepresentation and use of her name in a story about the family haunting. Despite the 11 year hardship she endured after her husband's stroke, Elizabeth maintained that her only marriage had been a happy one. Betsy stayed in Cedar Hill and Robertson County until late in life when she was finally forced to move in with her daughter, Eliza, in Mississippi. She died on July 11th of 1888. Her body lies in a small, somewhat forgotten cemetery called Long Branch Grove near what is now called Water Valley. At 82 years of age she had lived longer than any of the other Bell children.
Richard Williams Bell
(1811-1857)
Richard was only a child during the years of the Bell haunting. Yet, of all of John Bell's children, it was he alone who broke the silence requested by his father and family. In 1846 Richard wrote the only known first-hand account of the Bell spirit and its effects on his family. This diary was eventually handed down to his son, State Representative James Allen Bell. James allowed its contents to appear in the M. V. Ingram novel the "Authentica ted History of the Bell Witch" under the title, "Our Family Trouble". It details many of the incidents which Richard Bell and his family could remember clearly, and remains in print to this very day. Richard became a highly respected farmer and settled near the old plantation. He died in his prime on October 24th of 1857 at the age of 46, yet, even by that age he had been married three times! His wives included Sallie Gunn, Susan Gunn, and Eliza Orndorff. Richard produced four children during his lifetime.
Joel Egbert Bell
(1813-1890)
Joel was so young during the haunting, that he could have had very little if any memory of the family trouble. He became a respected man in Robertson County, and was married to Wilmoth Edwards and Rebecca Williams. Between them Joel left fourteen children. Joel was probably more responsible for the handing down of the family haunting story to the public because of his friendship with newpaper publisher Martin Ingram. There is no doubt that it was their discussions on the subject which helped to motivate Ingram into writing his novel, "The Authenticated History of the Bell Witch." Joel owned a very nice farm about four miles north of Springfield, not far southeast of Adams, Tennessee. He died on January 25th of 1890.
The Bell Witch Information Page
This page (http://www.ghosts.org/bell/jackcook.html) last updated April 17, 2005.