Post by Deleted on Jul 30, 2011 13:58:14 GMT
There are many variations of this story,here is one of them.
Kate Batts was a woman scorned by her ex fiancé, John William Bell Sr, causing her to become obsessed, bitter and vengeful…to such an extent that even after her untimely/unknown cause of death in 1770, she could not leave him alone.
The first sign of the Bell Witch haunting occurred in 1817 as John Bell was out in his cornfield at his farm in Robertson County, Tennessee. Suddenly, he came across a strange-looking dog, which he later described as having the head of a rabbit. John was concerned for his crops and reached for his gun, shooting at it, but as he did so, it disappeared before his eyes.
Soon after, while John was at his farmhouse with his wife Lucy, daughter, Betsy and two sons they all heard scratching sounds and knocking sounds at the doors and windows. Upon investigation of these noises, nothing or no one was seen to be causing it. This carried on until eventually what was trying to get in, did. Betsy claimed to have been attacked by something invisible and objects were thrown across the room.
On many occasions, as the children slept, they were woken when their hair was pulled by something invisible. Betsy was particularly effected by the poltergeist’s growing activity and began having fainting fits and convulsions.
The poltergeist seemed to be gaining strength as time went on and eventually began communicating. When asked who it was, it replied, “I am nothing more or less than old Kate Batts, witch and will plague John Bell forever.”
John Bell was once attacked so badly by this unseen force, he could not speak afterwards, as his tongue was so swollen and his jaw so badly bruised. This constituted a time when something should be done about the haunting and the Bell’s minister, James Johnson was asked to conduct an exorcism in the home. But this had no effect and only seemed to anger the spirit further.
John Bell Sr’s son, John Bell Jr had been in the Battle of New Orléans, fighting under General Andrew Jackson and the two of them had remained friends after the war. When Jackson heard about what was happening in the Bell house he decided to help…bringing with him an exorcist and a group of men. However, as they approached the Bell’s home, the group of men were suddenly brought to a stop by something they could not understand. Their waggon and horses stuck firmly in the road for no apparent reason…where no amount of pushing and shoving could move the wagon or horses. Jackson and the men then heard a cackling of laughter, which they believed later to be the Bell Witch, who then told Jackson he would be meeting her later. At that point the wagon was able to move and they went on their way again to the Bell household.
When they arrived at the Bell’s home, the exorcist quickly made contact with the Bell Witch. He cursed her and mocked her and then shot at the point where he believed the spirit to be. The presence then proceeded to slap him and hurl him about by unseen hands. All of them fled from the house.
Andrew Jackson later said, ‘I would battle the entire British Army anytime, however, I would not wish to deal with the Bell Witch again.’
No one seemed immune from the Bell Witch’s evil. When one of the Bell’s friend’s, William Porter stayed overnight, the witch told him she would keep him warm in his bed during the night. Porter however, was woken later by the blanket being pulled off the bed and an icy chill slithering over his body. Porter leapt out of bed and tossed the blanket over the place where the cold spot was, in an attempt to capture it and throw it in the fireplace. As Porter wrapped the sheets around the presence and pulled it from the bed, it grew so heavy and let out such a stench that he dropped it and ran from the bedroom and out of the Bell household.
After three years of experiencing the fierce haunting and attacks, John Bell’s health deteriorated to such an extent that he became bed ridden. He would often suffer from facial seizures, which would leave him unable to speak.
John’s suffering finally came to an end when he fell into a coma and died on December 19, 1820 after drinking what he thought was a tonic. A vial of dark liquid, which was discovered on his bedside cabinet was force-fed to the family cat, to decide whether the liquid was poisonous, as is depicted in the painting by an unknown artist above. The cat died instantly.
It is believed that the Bell Witch did something to John Bell’s tonic, but how? you might ask…who knows.
After John Bell Sr’s funeral, the haunting stopped and did not begin again until 1828 when it returned for a few weeks to Lucy Bell and her two sons. But before it left, the witch declared, she would return every 107 years. However, in 1935 (107 years later) nothing of note happened in the area or to the surrounding villager’s.
Although there are many variations of this story, it is of universal opinion that this powerful poltergeist hated and destroyed John Bell.
www.worldmysteriesandtrueghosttales.com/bell-witch/
Suzy
