Oct

22

Kiss Me, Kate!

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

October 22, 2007 |

Every once in a while someone, usually a Yankee, will ask me, “What or who is the Bell Witch?” It’s a difficult question to answer because, on the one hand, I believe it must be mostly a story, a bit of local legend that might have begun as pranks and which became, over time, exaggerated into a strange and terrifying story. On the other hand I can’t resist seeing if I can tell the story without raising the hairs on the back of the neck of those who’ve never heard of the Bell Witch, a spirit who tormented an entire family, ended a young woman’s engagement, confronted a Tennessee native who would become President, and even killed a man. She–for the disembodied spirit is traditionally given the feminine gender–continues to frighten children, if only on sleepovers when they dare each other to go into the bathroom, turn off the lights, close their eyes, and turn around three times while repeating, “I hate the Bell Witch.”

While I’m skeptical, there does seem to be very little evidence to either support or deny the claims made by the witnesses, so I’ll simply relate the bare bones of the story: John Bell, born in 1750, spent most of his early life in North Carolina before he moved to a part of Tennessee now known as Robertson County. Beginning in 1818 a series of mysterious apparitions was followed by family members having the bedclothes yanked off of them at night and other inexplicable occurrences. Then, after only muttering and knocking, the spirit began to speak, insulting and tormenting some, particularly John Bell, which it hated, but speaking sweetly and even singing to Bell’s wife Lucy. The spirit also tormented Bell’s daughter Betsy. When she became engaged to a local schoolteacher, Joshua Gardner, the spirit harassed the couple until Betsy ended the engagement. She would go on to marry a much older suitor, Richard Powell, who, like the Bell Witch, made his own unhappiness with Betsy’s engagement to Gardner quite clear. Andrew Jackson, who would later become President of the United States, was one of many visitors who came to experience the phenomenon firsthand. He and several fellow soldiers only stayed one night, and reportedly Jackson would later say he’d rather face the whole British army than the Bell Witch.

The spirit was believed to be the work of a local eccentric woman named Kate Batts, and was therefore referred to by many as “old Kate” or simply “Kate”. John Bell had sold Batts a slave and would be accused by her of usury. He was found guilty by his church and excommunicated. Although the spirit would never claim any connection to Mrs. Batts, the deal gone bad is assumed to be the reason for its intense dislike of Bell; it tormented him more than any other member of the family, insulting him, beating him, and leaving him unable to eat. On December 19th, 1820, Bell’s medicine was found to have been replaced with poison. He died that morning and the spirit took great delight in claiming responsibility. Its strength tapered, and the spirit finally disappeared in 1821, promising to return, which it did, briefly and with much less drama, in 1828.

That’s the bare outline of the story. There have been many books, including M.V. Ingram’s 1894 book The Bell Witch: A Mysterious Spirit, and The Bell Witch Of Tennessee by Charles Bailey Bell, great-grandson of John Bell Sr. There have also been three recent books that, while very different, continue adding to the ongoing mystery and fascination of the Bell Witch. The Infamous Bell Witch Of Tennessee by Charles Edwin Price is a thorough overview of the tale and includes chapters on the Bell Witch cave, near Adams, Tennessee. Price is mainly an author of folklore collections like Demon In The Woods and Haints, Witches, and Boogers: Tales from Upper East Tennessee. Unfortunately he seems more than a little out of his depth with a story that is purportedly non-fiction. The book is poorly organized, and occasionally lapses into familiar language that seems out of place with the book’s overall attempt at straightforward reporting. Price does a good job of providing historical and religious background, but doesn’t explain how the Bell Witch fits, or if it does, into this context. In spite of these flaws it’s still a very good, very readable introduction to the Bell Witch. Less interesting to the Bell Witch scholar is The Bell Witch: An American Haunting by Brent Monahan. Monahan is known primarily for supernatural thrillers, but, here, he claims to be acting primarily as editor. He provides a brief introduction at the beginning and notes at the end, but the bulk of the book is supposedly Richard Powell’s firsthand account, written to his daughter. It’s an interesting read, and would be more interesting if it weren’t Monahan’s own creation, not an actual manuscript. For perhaps the most thorough version of the story and its history readers should check out Pat Fitzhugh’s The Bell Witch: The Full Account. According to Fitzhugh John Bell killed a farmhand in North Carolina before moving to Tennessee. While this has been disputed by others, there’s no questioning the depth and intensity of his nearly thirty years of research, also documented on his excellent web site.

There has also been a film, An American Haunting, which, in spite of an excellent cast which included Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek, and its fascinating subject, was uninspired and dull. Among other things, the spirit in the film never speaks; according to all written accounts Old Kate not only talked, she could swear like a sailor but also quoted from the Bible and debated theology with ministers. She was even kind to some members of the family, particularly John Bell’s wife  Lucy, who received gifts of exotic fruits and nuts, and for whom the spirit often sang. She is a fascinating character, whether fact or fiction.

As I say, I’m skeptical. There is, for one thing, no official record of Andrew Jackson visiting the area or even referring to the Bell Witch. As for the death of John Bell, he was sixty-eight years old and lived in a rural area at a time when the average life expectancy was closer to forty. Something strange may have happened in Adams, Tennessee, in the early part of the Nineteenth Century, but memories can be altered, and stories, passed down through generations, can change and grow. On the other hand, if you dared me to go into the bathroom, turn off the lights, and say, “I hate the Bell Witch” I wouldn’t do it for anything in the world. That, for me, is one of the few facts of the case.


Comments

2 Comments so far

  1. John on October 23, 2007 1:47 pm

    I like this series in October! Thanks for your insight. Are there other key details that link such witch stories across the southern US? Perhaps one story that had some element of truth but then spread to different areas and slightly altered with the telling - kind of like the Robin Hood mythology or the story of a Great Flood appearing in different faiths?

  2. Christopher Waldrop on October 24, 2007 8:41 am

    I’m having an absolute blast with this series and I’m glad you like it.
    As for linking the Bell Witch story to other stories across the Southern U.S., the Bell Witch seems to stand on its own. Like other poltergeist stories there’s nothing surrounding it, and the family at the center of the storm apparently wanted nothing to do with it.

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