By Victoria Kleinpeter
On the banks of the Red River in Robertson County lies the sleepy town of Adams, Tennessee. With its population at 624, you might think that the area often gets overlooked. However, for many decades the town has captured the attention of ghost hunters, historians, and paranormal enthusiasts from all over the world. Why? Because it is the site of the infamous haunting of the Bell Witch.
The Bell House as it looked in 1820, 1894, An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch by M.V. Ingram
From 1817 to 1821, a man named John Bell and his family were harassed by a mysterious and invisible spirit now known as the Bell Witch. According to the legend, the witch had the ability to speak, shapeshift, and be in multiple places at once.
At the time, the Tennessee frontier was a wilderness with dense forests as far as the eye could see. Neighboring family homes were usually miles apart from one another. The strange occurrences began at the Bell family’s farm when John Bell came across a “dog-like” creature. He fired his gun at the animal, but it quickly vanished. Soon after the incident, strange disturbances inside the family’s home began with loud knocking noises, gnawing sounds, and the sound of chains dragging across the floors.
Eventually, the witch’s activities became physical. It began striking, pinching, and pulling the hair of some of the family members. However, it was John Bell and his daughter Betsy who received most of the abuse. The witch then began speaking and having full conversations with members of the family as well. Oftentimes it directed insults and threats at John Bell. When asked about who or what the witch was, it responded, “I am a Spirit; I once was very happy, but I have been disturbed and made unhappy.”
Dean Confronts the Witch, 1894, An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch by M. V. Ingram
Even the family’s enslaved workers reported strange happenings. An enslaved man named Dean said that he encountered the witch several times. He said that the witch usually took the form of a dog-like creature that sometimes had two heads. Dean admitted that soon after these encounters, he began carrying around a “witch ball” made by his wife to protect him from harm.
Some of the family’s neighbors and friends experienced unusual encounters with the witch as well. One incident involved a family friend named William Porter in which he supposedly grabbed ahold of the witch and attempted to throw the invisible entity into the fire. He was unsuccessful as the massive weight and terrible odor of the witch were too much for him to bear.
After three years of nonstop attacks and harassment, John Bell’s physical health started to decline. He became bed-ridden and eventually passed away in December of 1820. His family believed that the Bell Witch had caused his death by giving him a kind of poison. It was even said that the witch had crashed his funeral and sang cheerful drinking songs during the ceremony. After his death, the constant hauntings and abuse lessened, then eventually stopped altogether just as mysteriously as they began.
Since that time, the legend of the Bell Witch has lived on by influencing popular culture through books, movies, television, and theatre. While many view the story of the Bell Witch as a local folk tale, there are others who believe that the hauntings did in fact take place and that there is still supernatural activity connected to the land. To this day, thousands of people flock to Adams every year to visit the original site of the Bell Witch haunting in hopes to experience something paranormal for themselves.
Enthusiast – a person who is very interested in a particular activity or subject.
Legend - an old story that is widely known but cannot be proven as true.
Frontier - Wilderness; part of a country that is being settled (people moving to) by hunters and other pioneers.
Enslaved - a person who is forced to serve as a slave.
Folk tale - stories that are passed down through the generations orally, told out loud, among people. These stories can travel far from where they originated. Like the stories brought to America by immigrants.
Which river in Tennessee does the town of Adams lie upon?
The Bell Witch occasionally took the form of what kind of animal?
What/who did John Bell’s family believe caused his death?
To learn more about life on the Tennessee Frontier and what kind of objects the Bell family may have used on a regular basis, check out our virtual quiz What’s That? Frontier Edition.
Visit the Historic Bell Witch site in person! Head to Adams, TN to learn more about the history of the area and the infamous legend. The site includes tours of a cave on the original Bell family property as well as a reproduction of the family’s cabin. Visit their website here: https://www.bellwitchcave.com/
Victoria Kleinpeter is a Museum Educator at the Tennessee State Museum.
Tennessee Social Studies Standards
3.31 - Describe life on the Tennessee frontier and reasons why settlers moved west.
Sources
“Tennessee Myths and Legends: The Bell Witch.” Tennessee State Library and Archives. Accessed September 27, 2022. https://sharetngov.tnsosfiles.com/tsla/exhibits/myth/bellwitch.htm
Ingram, Martin V. An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch (W. P. Titus, 1894).