She fell into a trance-like state that lasted for hours. The youngest daughter Betsy was subject to intense abuse, continuing until her until her face was blood red. Most of the children suffered slaps from an unseen hand, but one was exceedingly so. Family members nearly dismantled the house in search of the source, but none was ever found. Several boys heard someone eating noisily in their bedroom while they tried to sleep.
Noises manifested every night, first as knockings, scratching and gnawing. Dean said the dog followed him home often. Dean, one of the family’s slaves, became a source of information on the Bell household events. Sometimes the dog was old and lame, at other times it was black. It appeared as a strange hare, the bizarre bird the son couldn’t shoot, or even a dog. The Bells, as well as their servants, continued to see strange animals around the property. It became clear that the neighbors didn’t seem to be involved at all. It became hard to dismiss later activity with such assuredness. John and his wife assumed it was trickery from neighbors or local boys trying to scare them. John and daughter Betsy were both first targeted by the spirit. Both families were pleased with thoughts of a future marriage. He came from a respected family that was very close with the Bells. Joshua Gardener was her age and attended school with her. The strange child wore a light green dress.īetsy was 14 at the time, but she was already informally betrothed.
She witnessed a little girl swinging on a limb, beneath a huge tree. It was soon Betsy Bell’s turn, but she didn’t see an animal at all. He shot the creature for the family to eat, but this animal also disappeared. One of Bell’s sons discovered what he believed to be a strange wild turkey soon after.
#Andrew bird bell witch full#
It vanished before he could get a full glimpse of it. Bell shot at the animal to scare it off, but it seemed to change shape as it moved. Strange dogs were farmers’ enemies because they killed young livestock and fowl. John Bell was hunting and noticed a strange dog. Their family happily prospered until 1817, when the dubious activity began. The Bell family eventually had a total of seven sons and two daughters. They were as blessed with children as they were monetary prosperity. He became owner of a 1,000-acre farm, in Adams, Tennessee. He brought his wife and six children to Robertson County, Tennessee. John Bell was a successful North Carolina planter in 1804. During the Nineteenth Century, it was often called a “goblin.” To simplify matters, we’ll simply call it a “spirit.” Most of those who accept the story believe the witch was actually a poltergeist or demon. There was never an actual “witch” as far as is known. It also said Andrew Jackson visited the farm and had an exchange with the witch. Ingram’s book implicated Bell’s neighbor, Kate Batts, as being behind the family’s nightmare. The two volumes became widely known by their physical colors. It was written by Charles Bailey Bell, John Bell’s great-grandson. A new version, published in 1961, was subsequently called The Black Book. The original Red Book was published in 1894 and only locally circulated. Ingram added Bell’s original manuscript to his own sizable collection of accounts and documentation. Ingram permission to publish the work until he was into his advanced years. Richard died several years after completing his story and the manuscript went to his son, James Allen Bell, who also kept it hidden. It is believed his book was to counter an article written by one of the Bell Witch investigators, but the investigator published his account as a newspaper article in 1849. He completed the manuscript in 1846, but the book was hidden away. Richard William Bell, brother of Betsy Bell, authored a book 26 years after John Bell’s death. The book’s actual history was far earlier. Even then, the volume was only circulated on a regional basis. The mysterious haunting of the Bell family didn’t receive much attention until Clarksville newspaper editor M. Today, we can look back upon the evidences and see one haunting possibility that no one seems to have considered. There are issues and challenges that plague both skeptics and believers. Unfortunately, the facts are not so neatly packaged.
Much more recently, the film “An American Haunting,” took on the story and gave a very modern, but shallow interpretation of the ordeal. The earliest know work was a poem called “The Trials of Betsy Bell.” The writer is unknown, but it was published in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1906. It has been the subject of poems, stories, novels, and films throughout the Twentieth Century. The “Bell Witch” is a famous haunting that hails from Adams, Tennessee.
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