The Bell Witch: The Full Account (22 page)

earnest.” 34

Kate’s voice blowing through the trees had also

been heard by the other couples and cast a dark

shadow over what had begun as a most enjoyable

Easter Monday. Silent and downhearted, Elizabeth

and Joshua made their way back to the field where

the other couples had gathered in preparation of

34 M.V. Ingram,
Authenticated History of the Bell Witch
, (1894).

160 P A T

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leaving. Given the terrifying and gut-wrenching

event that had just occurred, fishing and frolicking

was the last thing on everyone’s mind.

As the three couples left and began their long stroll

across the meadow, Elizabeth and Joshua’s friends

walked a fair distance behind them. Knowing how

badly their hearts had been broken, there was no

sense in trying to console them — the damage had

been done.

One by one, the young people broke away from the

group and went home. Because their farms were in

the same direction from the river, Elizabeth and

Joshua were the last ones to split from the group. As

they approached the Bell property line, Elizabeth and

Joshua silently parted — never to see each other

again. Kate had now accomplished her second and

final mission, which was to make sure that Elizabeth

Bell and Joshua Gardner didn’t marry.

In the months that followed Easter Monday of

1821, Theny Thorn married David Alex Gooch, and

Rebecca Porter married James Long. Joshua

Gardner soon got his affairs in order and moved to

Henry County in western Tennessee, where he

remained for some time before moving to Weakley

County, Tennessee in 1840. Twice married, Joshua

Gardner had two sons and died at the age of 84 after

a successful career as a magistrate and farmer.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

161

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Kate” Leaves for Seven Years

KATE’S VISITS BECAME FEWER after that

fateful Easter Monday in 1821, and the

power and intellect she once possessed

rapidly diminished. What little Kate had to do with

the Bells was in the form of an occasional

conversation with Lucy Bell or mildly scolding the

Bell children when they did not follow their mother’s

orders.

“Kate” Says Goodbye

Late one afternoon in May of 1821, Lucy Bell, Joel,

Richard, and Elizabeth were talking in the hallway

when it suddenly filled with smoke. The smoke

cleared as quickly as it came, and a round object

resembling a cannon ball rolled down the hallway,

into the front room, and across the floor to the

fireplace. Kate’s voice was then heard, “Goodbye,

Luce and the rest of you. I will be absent for a period

of seven years. I will visit your home, as well as

162 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

every other home in this area, upon my return.

Farewell!” The mysterious ball then shot up the

chimney in a fury of smoke and blue blazes.

While the Bells were happy to learn of Kate’s

departure, Elizabeth, still broken-hearted and

grieving her loss of Joshua Gardner, did not seem

phased. She often spent entire days laying in her

bed crying, hoping, and praying that she would wake

up any moment to discover that Kate was only a bad

dream and that Joshua was waiting for her

downstairs. Nevertheless, knowing the difference

between fantasy and reality, Elizabeth was

determined to deal with her anguish as best she

could.

Elizabeth’s New Suitor

Over time, Elizabeth Bell conquered much of her

anguish and began casually associating with the

man who many times came to comfort her by reciting

poetry and witty sayings, that man being none other

than Professor Richard R.P. Powell, her former

schoolteacher and long-time admirer.

Powell called on Elizabeth more frequently as time

went on, and they slowly grew closer together and

began a courtship. Their courtship lasted two years,

culminating in their marriage on March 21, 1824 at

Red River Baptist Church. 35 Elizabeth had kept the

promise she made three years earlier, that Professor

Powell would be present at her wedding.

Richard Powell’s marriage to Elizabeth Bell was not

his first, however. On December 7, 1815, he married

Esther Scott of Williamson County, Tennessee, and

formerly of Dickson County, Tennessee. 36 Esther

35 Richard Powell
Ciphering Book
, TN Manuscript Accession Number 75-260, p. 222.

36 Richard Powell,
Ciphering Book
, TN Manuscript Accession Number 75-260, p. 179.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

163

Scott is believed to have been eighteen years Powell’s

senior n and had been married previously. 37 Records

indicate that Esther Powell died in 1821 of

unspecified causes. 38

Richard and Elizabeth Powell made their home on

present-day Route 1012, between the towns of Cedar

Hill and Springfield, Tennessee. Richard Powell

became increasingly involved in the state’s social and

political circles, eventually giving up his job as

schoolmaster to pursue a career in politics. 39

37Williamson County TN Circuit Court,
Minute Book 1
, p. 504.

38 Robertson County TN,
Will Book 3
, pp. 506-507; Robertson County TN,
County Court
Minutes Book 6
, p. 392.

39 A complete biographical sketch of Professor Powell is included in Appendix A.

164 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“Kate” Returns

T HREE PEOPLE LIVED IN THE BELL HOME

after Elizabeth married and moved away in

1824 — Lucy Bell, Richard, and Joel. The

other Bell children made their homes elsewhere in

the Red River community.

Esther Bell and Alex Porter settled on Sturgeon

Creek, Drewry Bell settled across the Red River from

the original Bell farm, John Bell, Jr. built a house on

the Bell farm about a quarter-mile south of the

original house, and Jesse Bell was living about one

mile south of the Bell farm, near what is now

Bellwood Cemetery. They visited Lucy, Richard, and

Joel often, as did the Johnstons, Frank Miles, the

Reverends Gunn and Fort, and other close friends.

The Bell farm was now seemingly back to normal

— no more torment and demonstrations, no more

unexpected visitors lined up outside the door, and no

more “witch doctors” mixing strange concoctions in

the family room. The Bells still had a few infrequent

visitors, but nowhere near the number they had at

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

165

the height of Kate’s disturbances. Few visitors

wanted to spend the night or sit and talk; instead,

they usually just asked the question, “Has it come

back yet?”

January of 1828 came without incident. While

happy that Kate had yet to make her return-visit, her

promised 1828 return loomed in the minds of the

Bells still living in the Red River community. The

subject of Kate’s promised return was discussed but

a few times since her 1821 departure, and Mrs. Bell

took comfort in the notion that she might not return

at all. All of this wishful thinking turned out to be

for nothing, however. For in February of that year,

Kate made good on her promise to revisit the Bells.

Richard Williams Bell wrote of Kate’s return-visit:

“The demonstrations announcing its return were

precisely the same that characterized its first

appearance. Joel occupied a bed in mother's

room, and I slept in another apartment alone.

After considerable scratching on the

weatherboarding on the outside, it appeared in

the same way on the inside, scratching on the bed

post and pulling the cover from my bed as fast as

I could replace it, keeping me up nearly all night.

It went on in this way for several nights, and I

spoke not a word about it, lest I should frighten

mother.

However, one night later, after worrying me for

some time, I heard a noise in mother's room, and

knew at once what was to pay. Very soon, mother

and Joel came rushing into my room, much

frightened, telling me about the disturbance and

something pulling the cover off.

We sat up until a late hour discussing the matter,

satisfied that it was the same old Kate, and agreed

not to talk to the witch, and that we would keep

166 P A T

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the matter a profound secret to ourselves,

worrying with it the best we could, hoping that it

would soon leave, as it did, after disturbing us in

this way for two weeks.” 40

“Kate” Visits John Bell, Jr.

After spending some time at the Bell home with

Lucy, Richard and Joel, Kate then paid a visit to the

man who was undoubtedly her harshest critic and

the mortal whom she feared the most: John Bell, Jr.

Late one night in March of 1828, John Jr. picked

up a military book from his bureau and proceeded to

his chair where he sat down to relax and read by

candlelight. A former soldier, John Jr. was very

interested in military history and spent a good deal of

time reading military books and battle maps. He

often told his friends the reasons why particular

battles were lost and how they possibly could have

been won. He would later in life tell others about

why the Confederacy would never be able to win the

Civil War, although he only lived to see a short part

of it.

As he thumbed through the book’s pages and

studied Napoleon’s actions at Waterloo, Bell’s eyes

grew tired and he decided to read only one more page

before retiring for the evening. Kate was the very last

thing on his mind. As he read the last page and

slowly began nodding off, an old and familiar voice

began filled the room.

“John, I am in…” “Go straight to Hell!” John Jr.

quickly interrupted as he sprung from his chair,

“wherever you have been, or wherever you are, your

proper place is in Hell, and the next visit you make

40 Richard Williams Bell,
Our Family Trouble
, 1846 (Mini-Histories: Nashville, 1985).

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

167

you should go there and stay!” Kate responded,

“Again, John, I am in hopes you will not be as angry

at me on this visit as you were on my last. I shall do

nothing to cause you offense; I have been in the West

Indies for seven years, and…” “Oh shut your nasty

mouth you old bitch from Hell; and stay away from

me, my family, and everyone else!” John Jr. angrily

interrupted.

Maintaining her composure, Kate responded,

“John, I knew you would not understand why I came;

but if you could, you would know that some of the

things I have done will at last result in the best for

succeeding generations.” She continued, “You are

telling me to go to Hell, John; such Spirits as I

sometimes get a vacation, even banishment from

their abode; but I will tell you there are thousands of

human beings now living on this earth who are worse

than I; they are only restrained by their fellow beings.

If, after reaching their future abode, their Spirit could

return to this earth, they would raise a thousand

times more Hell than I have done.” “I fail to

recognize how that could be true!” replied John Jr.

The Past, Present, and Future

“Don’t forget that each one of you will have a

Spirit, and that men on earth are best controlled

through Spiritual influence. If this influence is not

recognized finally, the world will be lost. As you

think of me now, you would add millions of others to

your thoughts and think a thousand times worse of

most of them, if their Spirits came back on earth,”

responded Kate; “there are Spirits millions of years

old, John, that never have been connected with a

body, but were created Spirits. Here on earth, only

the physical part of man, under mental control, is

visible to his fellows. What a difference, John, if you

168 P A T

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knew what they are thinking! I know what you are

thinking now.”

John Jr. responded, “I want you to know what I

am thinking! It is that I would give my life freely if I

could tangibly grasp your form in my arms and

crush you slowly, giving you the pain you caused my

father scores of times, and then throw you straight

into the fires of Hell, if there be any such place!

“You would not be here if you did not know of

your safety. I think you are thrice a demon Spirit;

you belong to a world of demons; you come to this

world where its inhabitants cannot harm you. You

are now neither of this world nor your own — a

wandering thing between this world and some other;

you must be as unhappy as you admit. I feel as if

you would like to get back to your home, if they

would let you stay there. You are too mean for them