This is the only known oilpainting of John Bell |
In
the early 1800s, John Bell moved his family from North Carolina to the Red River
bottomland in Robertson County, Tennessee, settling in a community that later
became known as Adams. Bell purchased some land and a large home for his family.
The Bells quickly made many friends and gained prominence in the community. John
Bell acquired additional land and cleared a number of fields over the next
several years.
One day in
1817, John Bell was inspecting his corn field when he encountered a
strange-looking animal sitting in the middle of a corn row. Shocked by the
appearance of this animal, which had the body of a dog and the head of a rabbit,
Bell shot several times to no avail. The animal vanished. Bell thought nothing
more about the incident--at least not until after dinner. That evening, the
Bells began hearing "beating" sounds on the outside walls of their house.
The Bell house 1909 |
These
mysterious sounds continued with increased force each night. Bell and his sons
often hurried outside to catch the culprit but always returned empty-handed. The
noises were soon followed by more problems. The Bell children began waking up
frightened and complaining of sounds like rats gnawing at their bedposts. It
wasn't long until the children began complaining of more terrifying
things--having their bed covers pulled and their pillows were tossed onto the
floor by a seemingly invisible force.
Johnston
and his wife spent the night at the Bell home, where they were subjected to the
same terrifying disturbances that the Bells experienced. After having his
bedcovers repeatedly removed, and being slapped, Johnston sprang out of bed,
asking, "I ask you in the name of the Lord God, who are you and what do you
want?" There was no response of any type, but the remainder of the night was
peaceful.
As
word of the Bell disturbances spread throughout the community, so did the
entity's antics. Over time, its voice strengthened to the point it was loud and
understandable. It sang hymns, quoted scripture, carried on intelligent
conversation, and once quoted, word-for-word, two sermons that took place at the
same time thirteen miles apart. During this time no one knew who or what the
entity was, or its purpose for tormenting the Red River Settlement.
Word eventually spread outside the settlement, even as far as Nashville, where one Andrew Jackson became interested. John Bell, Jr. and Jesse Bell fought under General Andrew Jackson in the Battle of New Orleans, and had developed a good rapport with him. In 1819, Jackson got word of the disturbances at the Bell home and decided to pay a personal visit. Jackson and his entourage, consisting of several men and a large wagon, journeyed from Nashville to the Bell home. As the entourage approached the Bell property, the wagon suddenly stopped. The horses tried pulling but to no avail--the wagon simply would not move.
USA President Andrew Jackson
After several minutes of cursing and trying to get the wagon to move, Jackson exclaimed that it must have been the "witch." As soon as Jackson uttered these words, an unidentified female voice spoke, telling Jackson and his men that they could proceed, and that "she& would see them again later that evening. The men were finally allowed to continue.
Andrew Jacson entourage
Jackson and
John Bell had a long discussion about the Indians and other topics while
Jackson's men patiently waited to see if the "spirit" was going to manifest
itself. One of the men in Jackson's entourage claimed to be a "witch tamer."
After several uneventful hours, this man decided to "call" the "spirit." He
pulled out a shiny pistol and made his intent to kill the "spirit" known to all
that were present.
Bell farm |
Almost
immediately, the man began screaming and moving his body in many different
directions. He said he was being stuck with pins and being severely beaten. The
man quickly ran out the door, and the "spirit" announced that there was yet one
more "fraud" in Jackson's party, and that he would be identified on the
following evening.
The
encounters decreased after that heartbreaking Easter Monday, although the
"Spirit" continued to express its dislike for "Ol' Jack Bell," and relentlessly
vowed to kill him. As Bell's health grew worse, the "Spirit" would torture him
more severely, sometimes removing his shoes from his feet and relentlessly
slapping his face while he was experiencing seizures.
On
the morning of December 20, 1820, after a long battle with a crippling nervous
system disorder, John Bell breathed his last breath. Immediately after Bell's
death, the family found a small vial of unidentified liquid that Bell had
partaken of the evening before his death. John Bell, Jr. gave some of the liquid
to the family's cat, and the cat died almost instantly. The "Spirit" suddenly
spoke up exclaiming, "I gave Ol' Jack a big dose of that last night, and that
fixed him." John, Jr. quickly threw the vial into the fireplace, where it shot
up the chimney in the form of a bright, blue flame. As family and friends began
to leave John Bell's burial site, the "Spirit" laughed loudly and sang a
cheerful song about a bottle of brandy.
In
April of 1821, the "Spirit" visited Lucy Bell and told her that "it" would
return in seven years for a visit. Seven years later, in 1828, the "Spirit"
returned as promised. Most of this visit centered around John Bell, Jr. The
"Spirit" discussed with him such things as the origin of life, Christianity, the
need for a mass spiritual reawakening, and other in-depth topics. Of particular
significance were the "Spirit's" predictions of the Civil War, World War I, the
Great Depression, and World War II.
The cause
of the Bells' torment nearly 200 years ago and today's unexplained
manifestations has remained a mystery. Numerous versions and theories that
purportedly explain the cause of the disturbances abound, and vary from person
to person. The only constant is that there was "something" wrong on the Bell
farm in the early 1800s, and there is still "something" wrong at the old Bell
farm today, nearly 200 years later. It happened to the John Bell family in 1817.
Maybe next time it will happen to your family.