The legend of the Bell Witch and Bell Witch Cave in Adams, Tennessee, is a truly strange one. Over the years, the Bell Witch has become one of the most famous witches in the world — and certainly the most famous witch from Tennessee. According to the Leaf Chronicle, even the soon-to-be President Andrew Jackson allegedly encountered this entity in the early 1800s, only to become so frightened he ran for the hills.
As history unfolded, this urban legend became a pop culture phenomenon that inspired plays and served as the bones for the 2005 horror film An American Haunting. Bell Witch Cave has likewise attracted the attention of several prominent figures in the paranormal community. Investigators and enthusiasts flock to the cave in search of haunted activity. Even Ghost Adventures featured the location in Season 10, Episode 5.
Popular appreciation for the story of the Bell Witch and Bell Witch Cave isn’t a modern trend. Newspapers, locals, authors, and curious outsiders have obsessed over it since the myth began. So, let’s travel back to the turn of the 19th century and take a look at the legend ourselves…
The History of the Bell Witch
The Bell family moved onto a 300-acre farm in 1804. We’d expect most alleged hauntings to begin early in a story’s timeline, but this one came later. John Bell built a cabin and raised his family on the property for thirteen years before the unusual phenomena began.
According to Haunted Tennessee by Alan Brown, John walked the perimeter of his farm in 1817 and stumbled upon an animal with the head of a rabbit and the body of a canine. This was the beginning of strange happenings on the Bell farm.
Later, as An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch (1894) explains, John’s son Drew Bell shot at a wild turkey, sending the beast into flight. Drew was horrified to discover this was no ordinary turkey but rather a giant bird unlike any creature he’d ever witnessed. Afterward, young Betsy Bell witnessed a spectral girl in green swinging around a tall tree.
The family thought little of these sights, possibly playing them off as tricks of the mind, until an unseen force began knocking and clanging around their cabin. Sounds of animals chewing and beasts fighting filled the small home and terrified the Bells. This was made worse when the entity allegedly replaced its bestial noises with human shrieks.
Supposedly, the Bell Witch inflicted physical ailments and injuries on the family as well. John Bell would experience bouts of facial paralysis. Sheets would fly off beds, and the ghastly spirit would terrorize the family’s guests.
The Bell Witch Reveals Her True Identity
The legend, recorded before the 1900s, says the Bell Witch could speak. She was an intelligent being who often expressed herself to the Bell family and their guests.
Shortly after the haunting of the Bell farm began, John Bell invited his close friend James Johnson and Johnson’s wife to spend the night. He hoped the Johnsons might shed light on what was happening in his home. Supposedly, they uncovered some astonishing facts about the witch spirit.
After the Bell Witch woke James in the middle of the night, she spoke to him, at times mimicking his voice. This was the first sign of the entity’s intelligence, which only grew from this point forward.
Through conversations with Johnson and the Bells, the witch revealed herself to be the spirit of Kate Batts. She claimed she had lived in this wilderness peacefully until the Bells took up residence on her land. She’d also mock John’s prayers and call him “Sugar-mouth,” often quoting biblical scripture more knowledgeably than a preacher.
Later myths about the Bell Witch claim that Kate Batts was a former lover of John Bell whose spirit followed him west from North Carolina. Many of these legends blame John for Batts’s death. Either he allegedly murdered her in his home state, or he brought her to the Tennessee farm, locked her up, and starved her to death.
Was Kate Batts the Bell Witch?
If any of the myths about Kate’s origins were true, they would likely be tied to Benjamin Batts, Kate’s brother-in-law. There are court records from 1817 that show John had overcharged Benjamin Batts in a slave deal. Rumor has it Kate vowed to get even with the Bells with her dying breath, and you’ll notice that these dealings supposedly happened the same year the Bell farm haunting began.
In truth, the rumors of Kate Batts’s spirit being the Bell Witch are just rumors. Historical records show Kate Batts was a real person, but she had few notable encounters with the Bell family. More importantly, she died long after John Bell passed away, as the Tennessee State Library and Archives confirms. Of course, this doesn’t negate the strange happenings people claim to have experienced on the Bell farm and, in modern times, in Bell Witch Cave.
More Strange Happenings on Bell Witch Farm
Historical accounts show rumors of haunted phenomena dating back to the Bell family’s residence. One enslaved worker on the farm reported seeing the Bell Witch on multiple occasions, often taking the form of a two-headed dog. Several of John Bell’s guests also described seeing and hearing the spirit or otherwise feeling her presence.
The story says Betsy Bell was one of the entity’s primary targets, though it’s difficult to say why. Records from 1894 theorize the witch terrorized the girl after growing jealous of her relationship with a local boy. Betsy’s fainting spells and shortness of breath were blamed on the Bell Witch, along with other physical injuries.
Looking at these symptoms through a modern lens, they may very well have been related to asthma or an autoimmune disorder. Similarly, John Bell’s reported instances of facial paralysis could have had several medical origins unknown at the time.
Modern science notwithstanding, recountings of the legend state that the haunting ended in 1821, shortly after John Bell’s death. That said, the story has lived on as an urban legend, sparking new additions to the tale every year. In fact, the original entities didn’t become entangled with Bell Witch Cave until sometime during the 20th century.
The Haunting of Bell Witch Cave
Bell Witch Cave is a fairly long and narrow cave that measures nearly 500 feet in length. It’s located on the original Bell farm and has become the Bell Witch’s home in recent years.
The entity haunting the farm has always been mysterious. The rumors can’t pin down who or what it is, so people have been free to add to the legend. The discovery of Bell Witch Cave changed the myth and gave the witch a home.
The modern version of the urban legend argues that when the spirit that haunted the Bell home left, she took refuge in the cave, where she remains today. Paranormal investigators cement these new additions by focusing their efforts on Bell Witch Cave. Of course, this may only be the case because the original Bell home no longer exists. In its place is a replica — one with no ties to the alleged spirit.
How the Bell Witch is Tied to John Bell’s Death
The Bell Witch has been a local scapegoat since John Bell first announced his supernatural experiences to the community. According to An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch, anything out of the ordinary was pinned on the spirit up to the book’s publication in 1894. This includes John Bell’s death.
The Bell patriarch died in December 1820 — he was 70 years old. Rumors allege Bell had grown weak and sick due to the witch’s presence. Over time, the toll became too much for him to bear.
Just before Bell’s death, he fell into a coma. His family was worried there were unnatural forces at play, so they checked his medicine. The fact that this was their first thought seems odd, which makes the myth appear illogical, even for a haunting. Regardless, they opened the medicine cabinet to discover his treatment had been replaced by a strange liquid. Their father had been poisoned, and the Bell Witch was to blame.
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Paranormal Evidence Used to Prove Bell Witch Cave is Allegedly Haunted
These days, anyone can pay for overnight paranormal investigations at Bell Witch Cave, and the internet has taken advantage of it. YouTubers and paranormal buffs release new supposed evidence of the cave’s haunting daily.
One Reddit user claiming to be a neighbor of the Bell property lists several experiences they had near Bell Witch Cave:
- Pounding and knocking, similar to what the Bells experienced in their cabin.
- Whispering that seemed to come from only feet away.
- A ghostly apparition in their home.
- Repeated encounters with a spectral woman in white.
- Mysteriously waking up next to nearby graves.
Now, most evidence related to the witch or the cave isn’t this compelling, which makes these unverified claims more difficult to believe. For the most part, investigators experience electronic voice phenomena, lights turning on and off, elevated levels of EMF, and other commonly used metrics.
For example, Exploring with Josh investigated the replica house and captured EVP talking to them, the sound of footsteps, and more. The OVERNIGHT crew also caught EVP in Bell Witch Cave, caught apparitions out of the corners of their eyes, and reasoned the spirit was tricking them into going deeper within the cave.
What Ghost Adventures found at Bell Witch Cave
Ghost Adventures conducted the most famous paranormal investigation to take place at Bell Witch Cave in 2015. Before their official examination, they supposedly caught strange voices on equipment they had set up earlier that day.
“… listen to me…” the voice says.
When analyzing the footage ourselves, the noises on the recording do sound like a voice, but the message is unclear.
Later that night, special sensors designed to detect energy began firing at the front of the cave. The crew panicked and asserted they physically felt electric currents running through the area. They also caught “orbs” of light floating towards their cameras. From a skeptical point of view, these orbs appeared to be dust, but to investigators, this was confirmed spirit activity.
Coincidentally, this phenomenon happened directly after crew leader Zak Bagans asked the Bell Witch to “appear as a ball of light.” Accompanying the visual is a sound the crew believes was a voice saying, “…here I come…”
It’s important to remember that Ghost Adventures is as much an entertainment program as it is a documentary of paranormal investigations. And while we’re skeptical about the existence of the Bell Witch, we think it’s important to present the evidence and let you decide for yourselves. If you think you’re brave enough, you can always investigate Bell Witch Cave yourself.
