The family of John and Lucy Bell moved to Adams Station in Robertson County, Tennessee, sometime around 1804 and started a farm along the Red River. For a while, the family prospered by farming. Even John Bell Jr. would become a successful farmer along the river.
Then, sometime around 1817, the spirit of the witch made itself known.
As one telling of the tale would have it, the witch introduced herself saying, “I am a spirit; I once was very happy, but I have been disturbed and made unhappy. I am the spirit of a person who was buried in the woods nearby, and the grave was disturbed, my bones disinterred and scattered, and one of my teeth was lost under this house. I am here looking for that tooth.”
According to Goodspeed’s “History of Tennessee,” published in 1886, “This witch was supposed to be some spiritual being having the voice and attributes of a woman. It was invisible to the eye, yet it would hold conversation and even shake hands with certain individuals. The freaks it performed were wonderful, and seemingly designed to annoy the family. It would take the sugar from the bowls, spill the milk, take the quilts from the beds, slap and pinch the children, and then laugh at the discomfiture of its victims.”
Accounts say that things grew worse for the Bell family — sounds of gnawing on the beds, invisible dogs fighting and chains dragging along the floor. Daughter Betsy suffered most. She was scratched, pinched and stuck with pins and would have her hair pulled.
The Bell Witch also said that she intended to kill John Bell Sr., or “Old Jack,” as she liked to call him. And apparently, she did.
On the night of Dec. 19, 1820, John Bell Sr. took to his bed. John Bell Jr. went to fetch his father’s medicine when the witch said, “It’s useless for you to try to relieve Old Jack — I have got him this time; he will never get up from that bed again!”
The witch claimed to have poisoned Bell Sr. in his sleep. Whether or not she did, he died the next day. The Bell Witch even haunted his funeral and sang drinking songs to disrupt the service.
Oddly enough, the witch rarely bothered Lucy Bell, John Bell Sr.’s wife. In fact, the spirit called Lucy “the most perfect woman living.”
But the witch had it in for poor Betsy. It eventually reached the point that her marriage to Joshua Gardner, which the Bell Witch opposed, was put off indefinitely because of the physical abuse and the fear of what might happen if they did go through with it.
Enter Gen. Andrew Jackson. The future president lived near the Bell family and decided to see if he could help.
There are many different versions of what happened next, but my favorite telling comes from “Heritage in Buckskin,” written by Jimmy Neil Smith and illustrated by Bill Counts. It’s a two-volume paperback book I received many, many years ago that introduced me to Tennessee history and sparked an interest in history in general.
As this telling goes, Gen. Jackson was on his way to visit the Bells when the carriage came to a sudden halt. The wheels had become fixed and immovable, but the brakes were not locked. The driver tried whipping the horses to get them to move, but the carriage wouldn’t budge.
Jackson and his men got out of the coach and set their shoulders to the wheel to push. Still, the carriage would not budge.
Jackson suspected a ghost.
“What were we talking about just before those wheels stopped turning?” he asked the other men who had been riding with him.
“Why, sir,” one of the men replied, “we were laughing and listening to the ‘witch layer’s’ boast of how he would fix the Bell Witch.”
“Could it be that someone overheard those fancy boasts?” Jackson said.
“Right you are, general,” said a shrill voice coming from the bushes by the road. “Now, I’ll let the wagon move on. Farewell. I’ll see you tonight.”
Jackson’s men rushed the bushes but found nothing. They had been hexed by the Bell Witch.
They returned to the carriage, which now moved freely, and continued on with the “witch layer” to the Bell family farm.
Bell Sr. welcomed his old friend, Jackson, and there was a large meal before the men retired to the parlor to wait for the witch. Note, had the wedding taken place, it would have been before Bell Sr.’s death.
As the men sat in the candlelight, Jackson asked the “witch layer,” “Do you fear the hag?”
“I fear nothing,” declared the “witch layer” while holding up his pistol. “I’ve loaded this with a silver ball that’ll stop any beast-servant of Satan.”
Suddenly there was a strange noise in the room, followed by, “I’m here, general. What do you have planned for me?”
It was the witch.
“I’m here to try to persuade you to allow Betsy to marry this Josh she has her heart set on,” said Jackson.
“I shall never allow Betsy to marry Josh Gardner! You’ve come on a fool’s errand,” said the witch. Then, speaking to the “witch layer,” she said, “And now, I hear that you’ve a hankering to shoot me. Well, go right on ahead!”
The “witch layer,” now frightened, responded, “I can’t shoot something I can’t see.”
“I’m right here in the corner, fire away,” said the witch.
The “witch layer” cocked his pistol and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. He tried again and again, but nothing happened.
“Now it’s my turn,” said the witch. “I’m going to scratch your eyes out!”
The now terrified “witch layer” ran from the house and didn’t stop running for many miles down the road.
The witch promised to come back the next night, but Jackson didn’t wait. He boarded his carriage the next morning and rode home. He never encountered the witch again.
Betsy would eventually marry Richard Powell a short time before the death of her father and then move away.
After the death of Bell Sr. and the departure of Betsy, the Bell Witch’s activities slowed down. She vanished for a while, only to return and haunt the family for a time in February 1828. After that there were occasional sightings of the witch until 1935.
Read the whole story where it was originally posted here: https://www.heraldandtribune.com/news/local/andrew-jackson-meets-the-bell-witch/article_d382f08a-6f83-11ee-b19a-87815f024f83.html
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