Family Curse: A Scary Story of the Bell Family Witch

In 1804, farmer John Bell and his wife settled on 300 acres of land in northern Tennessee, a state in the eastern United States. For thirteen years, they managed to have two children and organize their lives. Nobody expected that in 1817 their life would change radically.

It all started as a horror movie, the only difference being that Bell didn’t watch horror. Doors slammed, although there was nowhere to take drafts, invisible chains shook … Soon an unknown creature appeared in person. Seeing him, John couldn’t move in horror, because something between a dog and a rabbit appeared before his eyes. John’s son Drew claimed to have seen a huge bird land on the fence, and his daughter Betsy said to have seen a girl in a green dress swinging on an oak branch.

But these events turned out to be just the beginning of a dark story, not the end. Something began to enter the house, tormenting and tormenting John and his wife Lucy in their sleep. They woke up to someone scratching them, and later found bruises and scratches on their bodies as confirmation that they hadn’t dreamed it all. To make sure they weren’t mad or lying, Bell was invited to spend the night at their neighbors in Johnston.
James Johnston not only heard strange sounds, he even made out the words: “They’re listening to hymns.” Someone said it in a loud, clear voice and introduced themselves – unintelligible, but neighbors claimed they could clearly make out the word “witch”.

Above all, the spirit went to the youngest daughter Betsy. The witch pulled her hair, pulled it out of the roots, pinched it, stabbed it and beat it so that the bruises wouldn’t leave Betsy’s body. She was only 11 years old and neither then nor later could she explain why she had been the victim of a witch. The ghost interfered in her life until she grew up. Betsy died in 1888 at the age of 82 and she never discussed the family curse outside the family circle and never slept alone.

The most amazing thing is that the witch was very fond of John’s wife Lucy, even called her the best woman on Earth, gave her fresh fruits and sang to her. Lucy and John’s son, John Bell Jr., was also kind to the evil spirit.

But who is this wicked witch from Tennessee, and why did the Bell family anger her so much? The most popular hypothesis is that the land’s former owner, Kate Butts, turned into a witch after her death, who was sure that John had cheated by buying her land. The spirit answered Kate’s name.

John Bell died in 1820. He was found dead in his bed with a vial of an unknown liquid beside him. A few drops were given to the cat to lick off, and she immediately died. Witch Bell also did not stand aside here, she completely took responsibility for John’s death, and at the funeral she even sang funny songs in a drunken voice. A year later, Betsy tried to marry a guy named Joshua Gardner, but the witch was against this union – she revengefully tormented the girl and covered with threats, claiming that Betsy would not be happy with Joshua. The guy got scared and called off the engagement.

Gradually, the paranormal phenomena fade, before her final disappearance, the witch promises to return in 1935, after 107 years. It is said that after John’s death, she found refuge in a cave near the farm.

In 1937, Louis Garrison, the new owner of the farm on which Bell Cave stood, complained of constantly hearing strange sounds coming from there. Descendants of the Bell family claimed that they constantly hear the same sound, like something rustling on the floor and window frames, sometimes the sound of a piano is coming from somewhere. Many years have passed, but in the small town of Adams, they still believe that an evil spirit lives in these places.

Who knows which family the witch will choose as her next victim?