Laura Wright 
Bell Witch
As the strange events surrounding the Bell family continued, family members and their enslaved workers reported seeing unusual animals around the property.
Sometimes the creature appeared as a strange hare.
At other times, witnesses saw a bizarre bird that apparently could not be shot.
Most frequently, however, there was a dog.
Its appearance changed. Sometimes the animal seemed old and lame. On other occasions, it appeared as a black dog with red eyes.
Dean, one of the Bell family’s enslaved workers, became an important source of information concerning the strange events. He claimed the mysterious dog frequently followed him home.
On one occasion, Dean struck the animal’s head with an axe and split it in two.
Afterward, the dog reportedly began appearing to him with two heads.
Something Inside the Bell House
The activity was not confined to the property outside.
Every night, strange noises appeared in the bedrooms.
At first, there were knocks.
Then came scratching and biting sounds.
Several of the boys reported hearing someone noisily eating in their bedroom while they attempted to sleep. Elsewhere in the house, the family heard chains rattling and what sounded like rats scurrying beneath the floors.
They searched desperately for an explanation.
At one point, members of the family nearly dismantled the house trying to locate the source of the disturbances.
They found nothing.
The Attacks on Betsy Bell
The phenomena eventually became physical.
Several of the Bell children reported being slapped by an unseen hand, but the youngest daughter, Betsy Bell, suffered particularly severe attacks.
She was struck repeatedly until her face became blood red.
No visible attacker could be found.
Betsy also began experiencing strange trance-like states that sometimes continued for hours. She suffered fainting spells and cried out that someone was sticking pins or needles into her skin.
These painful episodes generally lasted for approximately an hour.
The Activity Turns Toward John Bell
Eventually, the phenomena began concentrating more heavily upon Betsy’s father, John Bell.
His tongue sometimes swelled so severely that he was unable to speak or eat.
Bell described the sensation as though a twig had been placed sideways inside his mouth.
The swelling was followed by spasms throughout his body that sometimes left him nearly paralyzed.
Yet even these events followed no predictable pattern.
During the first year, the Bell family occasionally experienced periods when the disturbances stopped completely.
Then they began again.
James Johnson Comes to the Bell House
After approximately a year, the family could no longer pretend that nothing unusual was happening.
John Bell finally confided in a neighbor, James Johnson, and his wife.
Johnson was particularly respected for his powerful prayers. The Bells apparently hoped that if their troubles were genuinely supernatural, Johnson might be capable of driving the spirit away.
Instead, the mysterious presence showed him very little respect.
Johnson stayed repeatedly with the Bell family, but the unseen culprit reportedly pulled the bedding from beneath him while he attempted to sleep.
Eventually, however, the spirit developed an unusual affection for Johnson.
It even gave him a nickname.
“Ol’ Sugar Mouth.”
The Bell Witch Finds Its Voice
As word of the strange events spread, curious spectators began arriving at the Bell home.
The mysterious presence apparently enjoyed the attention.
Until this point, it had communicated primarily through knocks, scratches, and other unexplained sounds.
Then it attempted something new.
It tried to speak.
The first efforts were feeble. Witnesses heard strange noises and whistles rather than recognizable language.
Gradually, however, the sounds became words.
Words became sentences.
Eventually, the entity was reportedly capable of speaking fluently in several languages.
For the first time, people could ask the obvious question.
Who are you?
Unfortunately, the spirit didn’t seem to know.
The Spirit of a Native American
The Bell Witch offered several explanations for its presence.
According to one story, it was the spirit of a Native American whose bones had been disturbed.
That would have provided the haunting with a familiar supernatural motive.
Someone had disturbed the dead.
The dead had returned.
But the entity did not remain committed to that explanation.
A Murdered Child From North Carolina
Another time, the spirit claimed to be the ghost of a child from North Carolina.
The child had supposedly been murdered because of something John Bell had either done or failed to do.
According to this version, the haunting was an act of vengeance against him.
Again, the explanation didn’t last.
The entity soon offered another.
The Buried Treasure
The Bell Witch also claimed to be the spirit of an early settler.
This time, the spirit had buried a large quantity of gold.
It supposedly wanted Betsy Bell to have the treasure.
That explanation transformed the entity from a vengeful ghost into something almost benevolent.
But the buried treasure wasn’t the answer either.
The Missing Tooth
Perhaps the strangest explanation involved a tooth.
The spirit claimed it had lost a tooth beneath the Bell house and could not rest until the missing bone was recovered.
A group of men actually attempted to locate it.
They searched beneath the house.
The Bell Witch responded by mocking them.
The entire story had apparently been another trick.
By then, the entity declared that its real purpose was simply to torment John Bell, whom it called “Old Jack.”
Even that explanation did not end the speculation.
The Evil Stepmother
Another story identified the entity as the spirit of an evil stepmother.
This supposed woman had no connection with the Bell family whatsoever.
Why she would therefore choose the Bells as the targets of her haunting remained unexplained.
Like the previous explanations, the story went nowhere.
Then the spirit offered the identity that would eventually become famous.
Kate Batts’ Witch
After offering one contradictory origin after another, the entity finally claimed that it was Kate Batts’ witch.
By this point, those attempting to discover the spirit’s origins had largely given up.
Even the people involved did not believe Kate Batts was actually responsible for the haunting.
But the claim was memorable.
Whispers spread.
The story traveled throughout the Southeast.
And eventually the mysterious presence tormenting the Bell family became inseparably connected with the name of Kate Batts.
Who Was Kate Batts?
Kate Batts was known locally for her eccentric personality.
When rumors began associating her with the haunting, she apparently enjoyed the notoriety.
Despite that fondness for attention, Kate could also be regarded as a sympathetic figure.
She managed her farm largely by herself while caring for an invalid husband. Her children developed unfortunate reputations for being both “idle” and “dim.”
Kate did not ask the community to pity her.
Quite the opposite.
She became known for making intelligent business decisions and achieving financial success despite the difficulties of her personal circumstances.
All of her children eventually died without having families of their own.
The Batts family line became extinct.
Mrs. Malaprop
Kate was also famous for her sharp tongue.
Behind her back, some people called her “Mrs. Malaprop” because of her habit of using elaborate words incorrectly.
One particularly colorful account describes her furiously searching the neighborhood for whoever had connected her name with John Bell’s witch.
Her complaints were filled with bizarre words such as “corrigendum,” “splavicate,” “spirifications,” “perspicuity,” and “constipation.”
Exactly what Kate intended some of those words to mean was never explained.
But the account gives a glimpse of the personality behind the famous name.
Kate Batts was not simply a mysterious old woman later inserted into a ghost story.
She was remembered as outspoken, eccentric, financially capable, and perfectly willing to confront anyone who angered her.
Did Kate Batts Cause the Bell Witch Haunting?
According to the information preserved in this account, the people involved did not seriously believe she had.
The entity itself introduced the connection only after offering numerous other contradictory explanations for its identity.
It had already claimed to be a disturbed Native American spirit.
A murdered child.
An early settler with buried treasure.
A spirit searching for a missing tooth.
An evil stepmother.
Then it became Kate Batts’ witch.
The Kate Batts explanation survived where the others faded.
Not necessarily because it was better supported.
It was simply a better story.
The Witch Wasn’t Following Old Jack
Another detail further complicated the entity’s explanation of its behavior.
The Bell Witch claimed that it would follow John Bell, or “Old Jack,” all the way to his grave.
But that wasn’t entirely what happened.
The Bell family sent Betsy to stay with other families in the community, apparently hoping that removing her from the house might protect her from the disturbances.
The entity followed her.
Where Betsy went, the activity went.
At that point, the witch wasn’t following John Bell at all.
It was following Betsy Bell.
The entity also warned the family that moving would accomplish nothing.
If the Bells left their home, it would simply follow them.
Kate Batts and the Bell Witch
Kate Batts became one of the most recognizable names in the Bell Witch legend.
But the story contained in this account is more complicated than the familiar explanation that an angry neighbor cursed John Bell.
The spirit itself couldn’t seem to decide what it was.
It repeatedly changed its story.
When it finally associated itself with Kate Batts, the people around the Bell family apparently didn’t believe the claim.
Kate herself seems to have enjoyed some of the attention while also becoming furious at whoever connected her reputation with the haunting.
Yet the association endured.
The other identities largely disappeared.
The buried treasure faded.
The missing tooth became an obscure anecdote.
The murdered child and evil stepmother were nearly forgotten.
Kate Batts remained.
And over generations of retelling, Kate Batts’ witch simply became the Bell Witch.
About the Author
