1 00:00:02,400 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. It is October. Today's classic is one where 2 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:10,560 Speaker 1: we kick things off being very excited about it being October, 3 00:00:10,680 --> 00:00:13,119 Speaker 1: and that is the bell Witch. Oh. I love this 4 00:00:13,240 --> 00:00:17,120 Speaker 1: story and it originally came out on October fifth, twenty sixteen. 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:33,480 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 7 00:00:33,520 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: Holly Frye and I'm Tracy d Wilson. Tracy, what is 8 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,440 Speaker 1: that time of year again? Is that time Autumn? It's 9 00:00:44,479 --> 00:00:47,800 Speaker 1: the best time of year, not just Autumn, but halloweeny time. 10 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: So as we get into October, for any of our 11 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: new listeners that might not know, we can talk about 12 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 1: some fun spooks and haunts and scary stories. We can 13 00:00:56,680 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: talk about them year round, there's no law against it, 14 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: but we like to get some extra spooky stuff going 15 00:01:01,680 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: on here as we get into the Halloween season and 16 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: make a special point. Yeah, it's a special enough point 17 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 1: that for long time listeners last year when literally the 18 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: first two podcasts in October were not Halloween, so people 19 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: got real mad. And today's topic is one that we 20 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: often get requests for, and it's a little bit tricky, 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: as many stories along these lines can be because a 22 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: lot of the information is not just apocryphal, it is 23 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: flat out made up. But we're going to talk about 24 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: how the legend of the Bell Witch became a well 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: known part of American lore. But first we are going 26 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:40,399 Speaker 1: to indulge in the fall fantasy of talking about the 27 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: alleged paranormal story as it is often told. So the 28 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: primary account of the Bell family and what happened on 29 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 1: their Tennessee land is a book that was written in 30 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 1: eighteen ninety four by Martin van Buren Ingram, and it's 31 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: entitled An Authenticated History of the Famous Bell Witch. But 32 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: that book was written more than seventy five years after 33 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,320 Speaker 1: the events of the story, and even in the introduction 34 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: it kind of sets up this scenario that makes it 35 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,320 Speaker 1: impossible to refute. Ingram claimed that he was working from 36 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: an account that was written by a member of the family, 37 00:02:12,639 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: William Bell, and that the family had declined to publish 38 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:18,519 Speaker 1: that account while any of the involved parties were still living, 39 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:20,960 Speaker 1: but that he had come in and you know, managed 40 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,359 Speaker 1: to make this deal and promised that he would tell 41 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 1: the true story. By the way that manuscript that he 42 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: claimed to have used, there's no evidence of it ever existing. 43 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: But he also and when I say he, I mean 44 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:39,440 Speaker 1: Ingram also acknowledges that many people had already come to 45 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: the conclusion that the entire haunting was a hoax, possibly 46 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: perpetrated by members of the Bell family for some sort 47 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: of financial gain, but he dismisses that by describing how 48 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: William's account was written in an effort to clear the 49 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: family name and prove once and for all that the 50 00:02:55,040 --> 00:02:57,200 Speaker 1: whole thing really happened. It's one of the things that 51 00:02:57,200 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: once he lays it all out there, like the rebuttal, 52 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: is of nah. Right. So first we're going to talk 53 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: about the story as it is laid out in that book, 54 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:10,519 Speaker 1: and then we will talk about it from a more 55 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:14,680 Speaker 1: skeptical perspective. The story all starts with the family patriarch, 56 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,960 Speaker 1: John Bell, who was born in Halifax County, North Carolina 57 00:03:18,040 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: in seventeen fifty. He apprenticed as a cooper for a while, 58 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: but eventually decided to become a farmer. At the age 59 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,040 Speaker 1: of thirty two, he got married to Lucy Williams, who 60 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: was twenty years younger than he was. Yeah, that was 61 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,840 Speaker 1: one of those things that when I first did the 62 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: math there I got real creeped out, and then I 63 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: was like, oh, this can't be right. And then I 64 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: kept looking at other sources and it kept lining up. 65 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,040 Speaker 1: The couple had their first child, a son named Jesse, 66 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: eight years later, so at that point Lucy would have 67 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: been twenty in seventeen ninety, and the Bells initially did 68 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: really well with their farm in Edgecombe County, North Carolina, 69 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: and they also had three more sons. Over the course 70 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,320 Speaker 1: of several years. Starting in eighteen oh one, though, they 71 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: started to have issues with their crops, and eventually they 72 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,520 Speaker 1: decided to leave that farm in North Carolina and move west, 73 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,200 Speaker 1: as so many of their friends and acquaintances had already done. So. 74 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: In eighteen oh four, John, Lucy and their children, along 75 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: with a slave named Chloe who had been given to 76 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,039 Speaker 1: the couple by Lucy's father when they got married, and 77 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: Chloe's eight children, made their way to Red River, Tennessee. 78 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: This is near the area that's now known as Adams, Tennessee, 79 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: which is not far from Nashville, and the Bells were 80 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,280 Speaker 1: welcomed into the community, where John bought a home and 81 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: some property that included both barnes and an orchard, and 82 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: the family established their farm, and they were again pretty prosperous, 83 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: and everyone really adored Lucy. That comes up over and 84 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:51,239 Speaker 1: over that everyone just loved this woman. And over time 85 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 1: Bell added to his landholdings and he became one of 86 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: the most wealthy, influential, and respected men in the area. 87 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,039 Speaker 1: As the farm got bigger, as so often the case, 88 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: the family did too. The Bells had several more children, 89 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,600 Speaker 1: including a daughter born in eighteen oh five named Elizabeth. 90 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 1: She was called Betsy, and she becomes central to this 91 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: whole haunting legend. After thirteen years in Red River, things 92 00:05:16,760 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: started to shift from the happy prosperity that the Bell 93 00:05:19,720 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: family had enjoyed up to that point. Initially, the first 94 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:26,799 Speaker 1: thing that happened was that John Bell saw a weird animal. 95 00:05:27,279 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: He spotted a creature out in the cornfield that he 96 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: would later describe as having a dog's body and a 97 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: rabbit's head. He shot at it and he missed, and 98 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:40,480 Speaker 1: one of his sons, Drew Bell, saw a massive bird 99 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: on a fence near the home. When he went to 100 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 1: get a gun to shoot at it, the bird, which 101 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: he thought was a turkey, revealed itself to be a 102 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: strange bird that he just couldn't identify. Betsy. At one point, 103 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: was walking in the woods with the younger children of 104 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: the family one evening when she saw what appeared to 105 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 1: be a little girl in green dress swinging in the trees. 106 00:06:02,839 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: That girl was not actually there. And then one of 107 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: their servants named Dean, claimed that he had seen a 108 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: black dog on his regular walks to visit who his wife, 109 00:06:11,560 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: who was also a slave and was owned by a 110 00:06:13,640 --> 00:06:16,599 Speaker 1: friend of the family named Alex Gunn, and this dog 111 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: would allegedly trot along in front of Dean while he 112 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: walked over to the gun home, and then the dog 113 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,800 Speaker 1: would vanish just as they arrived there. The next strange 114 00:06:25,880 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: happening was a variety of tapping noises inside the family home, 115 00:06:30,240 --> 00:06:32,479 Speaker 1: and they couldn't figure out what the source of these 116 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:36,120 Speaker 1: noises was. These noises had actually been going on for 117 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: some time, and at first they had been attributed to 118 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: much more ordinary things like the children being mischievous, but 119 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: it continued to get more frequent and louder. There was 120 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:50,599 Speaker 1: a faint voice that the members allegedly started to hear. 121 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:53,400 Speaker 1: It was too feeble for anyone to make out the 122 00:06:53,440 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: words or the songs, but they sounded like they were 123 00:06:56,800 --> 00:07:01,560 Speaker 1: coming from an elderly woman, and according to the Bell children, 124 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: their bedding began to be pulled off of them in 125 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: the night, and they also reported that animals, possibly rats, 126 00:07:08,040 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: could be heard chewing on their bed posts, but that 127 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 1: whenever the noises were investigated and someone lit a candle 128 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:17,440 Speaker 1: or tried to look, nothing was actually there. Then they 129 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,920 Speaker 1: started to report that they heard what sounded like dogs 130 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: fighting in the house, and then there were sounds of 131 00:07:23,520 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: chains on the floor, and then additional creepier noises were 132 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: also detailed in William Bell's account, including what sounded like 133 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: the smacking of lips and occasional gulping. Those are like 134 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: the sort of great details for me, Like that's such 135 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: a good creepy noise detail. Like if you were just 136 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:45,080 Speaker 1: lying in bed and you heard what sounded like someone 137 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: gulping or smacking their lips near you, wouldn't that be 138 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,000 Speaker 1: delightfully creepy? And at this point, the symptoms of their 139 00:07:52,040 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 1: haunting are kind of like a haunting Schmorgus board. It's 140 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: like we're just gonna have a buffet things happening, and 141 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: then we're gonna new strange things and then different strange things. Yeah, 142 00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:08,200 Speaker 1: and the next strange thing was that William recounted that 143 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:10,800 Speaker 1: he felt as though someone had grabbed his hair in 144 00:08:10,840 --> 00:08:13,480 Speaker 1: the night and began to lift him off the bed 145 00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: by his head with it. So this elderly woman's frail 146 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: voice we've been talking about that had been too faint 147 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:25,480 Speaker 1: to make out not so much the case when speaking 148 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 1: to Betsy. This witch is said to have given some 149 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:32,920 Speaker 1: very clear direction that Betsy should not marry her intended, 150 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: which was a boy named Joshua Gardner. And we were 151 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:37,800 Speaker 1: gonna get back to that in a little bit, but 152 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: before we talk about how the family handled all of 153 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: this wacky stuff that was happening. Like Tracy said, it 154 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,360 Speaker 1: is sort of the haunting Smorgasboard. We're gonna pause for 155 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:59,559 Speaker 1: a word from one of our fantastic sponsors. So getting 156 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:02,600 Speaker 1: back to the John Bell, the patriarch of the family, 157 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:05,280 Speaker 1: started to have some medical issues during all of this, 158 00:09:05,679 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 1: and his condition gradually worsened. Initially, it was described as 159 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: quote a stiffness of tongue. So when he was having 160 00:09:13,840 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: an episode of this illness, he couldn't eat, and he 161 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 1: described it as feeling as though a stick was lodged 162 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,280 Speaker 1: sideways in his mouth between his cheeks preventing him from eating, 163 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:26,240 Speaker 1: so when he would try to eat, the food would 164 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,319 Speaker 1: kind of fall right back out. At first, john was 165 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 1: encouraging the family to keep the strange happenings at the 166 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:35,440 Speaker 1: farm and his mystery illness under wraps, but eventually he 167 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: disclosed what was going on to a neighbor and friend 168 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: named James Johnson. Johnson and his wife spent a night 169 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: at the Bell home at John Bell's request, and they 170 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: were hoping that they could maybe shed some light on 171 00:09:48,320 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: this situation and offer an outsider's perspective as to what's 172 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: going on. And after leading the family in prayer and 173 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: then retiring to bed, Johnson and his wife witnessed the 174 00:09:59,440 --> 00:10:03,400 Speaker 1: same Finni that the Bells had been experiencing, including hearing 175 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,319 Speaker 1: all of the noises in racket, having their bed covers 176 00:10:06,360 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: pulled off of them as they slept, and mister Johnson 177 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 1: apparently had the presence of mind to try to speak 178 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:15,960 Speaker 1: with the mysterious entity, and he determined that a it 179 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,679 Speaker 1: was intelligent and b it would cease its actions when 180 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,560 Speaker 1: spoken to, and then c that John Bell should no 181 00:10:23,640 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: longer keep this situation secret, but should seek the help 182 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,800 Speaker 1: of the community. So a lot of people started going 183 00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,679 Speaker 1: to the Bell Home to visit and to investigate this spirit, 184 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,240 Speaker 1: who at this point people were saying was called Kate, 185 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:38,160 Speaker 1: And really all they were figuring out was that Kate 186 00:10:38,280 --> 00:10:41,840 Speaker 1: really hated John Bell and seemed like basically a gossipy, 187 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:46,360 Speaker 1: busybody and not an actual problem. Her manifestations did start 188 00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: to have become stronger, and it became clear that she 189 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:53,320 Speaker 1: was speaking Bible verses and singing hymns. When asked who 190 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:56,000 Speaker 1: she was and what she wanted, she replied, I am 191 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: a spirit. I was once very happy, but have been 192 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: disturbed later after she grew more adept at communicating. The 193 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,440 Speaker 1: spirit apparently said that she had been buried nearby, but 194 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,560 Speaker 1: that her grave had been disturbed, and that one of 195 00:11:10,600 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: her teeth was under the Bell Home and she was 196 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:16,160 Speaker 1: looking for it. Yeah, there is a whole wack a 197 00:11:16,160 --> 00:11:20,480 Speaker 1: doodle story about an animal's head showing up and a 198 00:11:20,559 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: tooth falling out of it and into a crack in 199 00:11:22,440 --> 00:11:27,360 Speaker 1: the floor, but we don't know well. And this whole 200 00:11:27,360 --> 00:11:29,360 Speaker 1: thing we were talking about before the break, that was 201 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,679 Speaker 1: like and then there were noises, and then there was singing, 202 00:11:31,760 --> 00:11:33,640 Speaker 1: and then there was levitation, and then there was someone 203 00:11:33,679 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: grabbing my hair. I'm like, none of these things are 204 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: really creepy to me. But then we get to this 205 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: part where she's like, and my tooth is under your house, 206 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: and I'm like, all right, come out out of the story. 207 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: Ghostly Dentistry is where Tracy draws the line. And this witch, though, 208 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: was devoted to John's wife Lucy, just like everyone else. 209 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 1: She loved Lucy, And as we said, she had come 210 00:11:57,040 --> 00:12:01,319 Speaker 1: to be known as Kate, and this consequently has associated 211 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:03,560 Speaker 1: her with a neighbor of the Bells, a woman named 212 00:12:03,640 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: Kate Bats. And we're going to talk about Kate Bats 213 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,680 Speaker 1: a little bit later in the episode, and there's even 214 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: the suggestion that she, this disembodied voice claimed herself to 215 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: be Kate Bats. But whatever her true origin, whether it 216 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: was Kate Bats or just a mystery person, she became 217 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: downright famous in the area, and for a time she 218 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,479 Speaker 1: almost seems to have been seen as a good influence. 219 00:12:29,960 --> 00:12:33,360 Speaker 1: People were just afraid enough of her that they lived good, 220 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: honest lives. According to Ingram's writings, quote, everybody got good. 221 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: The wicked left off swearing, lying and whiskey drinking. The avaricious. 222 00:12:42,800 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: We're careful not to covet or lay hands on that 223 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: which belonged to their neighbors, lest Kate might tell on them. 224 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:51,080 Speaker 1: No man allowed his right hand to do anything that 225 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,439 Speaker 1: the left might be ashamed of, And the story of 226 00:12:55,080 --> 00:12:59,280 Speaker 1: what the spirit was troubled about, i e. That lost tooth, 227 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:02,800 Speaker 1: among other things, did not stay consistent, though, so later 228 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:05,680 Speaker 1: she told a visitor that she had once had a 229 00:13:05,679 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: great deal of wealth, but had buried it, and she 230 00:13:07,960 --> 00:13:12,199 Speaker 1: would only tell Betsy Bell the location of this buried treasure. 231 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: She later eventually told several men in the family as 232 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,840 Speaker 1: well as close friends of the family, on the stipulation 233 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 1: that they give every dollar that was buried to Betsy. 234 00:13:22,840 --> 00:13:24,800 Speaker 1: And these men went out and they dug, and they 235 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,920 Speaker 1: dug in the named spot, which was this very tricky area. 236 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 1: I think it was near a stream, but it was 237 00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: like a there was a lot of heavy rock over it. 238 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: And they found nothing. And the spirit when they reported 239 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:40,560 Speaker 1: back to the house that no, there's nothing in that spot, 240 00:13:40,679 --> 00:13:43,920 Speaker 1: the spirit allegedly laughed at them that night and taunted 241 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: them for being so easily duped. In eighteen eighteen, as 242 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:49,760 Speaker 1: the stories of Kate were becoming a lot more well 243 00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:54,720 Speaker 1: known in the area, the church excommunicated John Bell. Sometimes 244 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: this is reported as being due to his association with 245 00:13:57,520 --> 00:14:01,200 Speaker 1: supernatural events, but there was a more mundane element to 246 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,960 Speaker 1: the story. You're going to talk about it in a bit, yeah, 247 00:14:05,000 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 1: and I will give you a slight spoiler alert that, 248 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,600 Speaker 1: for my money, the reason he was excommunicated is way 249 00:14:11,600 --> 00:14:17,840 Speaker 1: more troubling than any paranormal thing. There was also allegedly 250 00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 1: a notable human visitor to the Bell farm in eighteen nineteen. 251 00:14:22,800 --> 00:14:26,240 Speaker 1: The claim is that Major General Andrew Jackson came to 252 00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: stay and during the War of eighteen twelve, the three 253 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: eldest bell Sons had served under Jackson at the Battle 254 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:36,080 Speaker 1: of New Orleans. Jackson had heard, according again to this 255 00:14:36,240 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: tale of the alleged haunting, and even made a joke 256 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:41,280 Speaker 1: that the witch must be holding them up when the 257 00:14:41,320 --> 00:14:44,400 Speaker 1: horses he was that were part of his travel group 258 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 1: suddenly stopped as they approached the Bell farm, and according 259 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 1: to Ingram's accounts of the visit, this entourage that was 260 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: following Andrew Jackson was intending to spend a week there, 261 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 1: but they left after just one night. She went on 262 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 1: to spend different arns to subsequent visitors to the Bell 263 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: home claiming at one point to be the spirit of 264 00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:06,960 Speaker 1: a young girl and another to be the ghost of 265 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:11,840 Speaker 1: a family friend's stepmother. Nothing was consistent, much like all 266 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:15,960 Speaker 1: the earlier symptoms of the haunting, and it seems like 267 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 1: things were shifting away from jovial toying into being a 268 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:25,400 Speaker 1: little more sinister. At one point, when family friend William 269 00:15:25,440 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: Porter was staying at the house, Kate claimed to want 270 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:30,880 Speaker 1: to get in the bed with him, and he said 271 00:15:30,920 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: that the bedcovers slowly twisted into a human shape next 272 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: to him and sort of curled up next to him, 273 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,920 Speaker 1: and thinking at that point that he had the witch captured, 274 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 1: Porter picked up all of those bedclothes and intended to 275 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,720 Speaker 1: throw them in the fire, but they began to emit 276 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: a really foul smell and he dropped them on the floor. 277 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:53,320 Speaker 1: In September of eighteen twenty, Lucy Bell had pleurisy, and 278 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: the spirit allegedly acted as a nursemaid, singing to her 279 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:58,680 Speaker 1: and checking in on her and what's described as a 280 00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: very loving way. According to William's account, Kate even brought 281 00:16:03,840 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: hazelnuts and grapes to the sick woman, and the manifestations 282 00:16:11,160 --> 00:16:14,520 Speaker 1: then had shifted from irritating we said, they kind of 283 00:16:14,600 --> 00:16:17,120 Speaker 1: ratcheted up and were less jovial, but then they became 284 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: downright chilling. So Betsy Bell began experiencing attacks that harkened 285 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: back to the descriptions of spirit torture from the Salem 286 00:16:25,160 --> 00:16:27,560 Speaker 1: witch trials that had happened more than one hundred years 287 00:16:27,560 --> 00:16:31,240 Speaker 1: prior to the events on the Bell farm. She described 288 00:16:31,240 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: the sensation of feeling like she was being pricked with 289 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: pins and as though she was being slapped by a disembodied, 290 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: non corporeal hand, and her friends actually said that they 291 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 1: witnessed welts appearing on her face and saw at times 292 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 1: even her shoes being forcibly pulled off of her body. 293 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: The attacks on Betsy slowly subsided, but as they did, 294 00:16:53,960 --> 00:16:58,160 Speaker 1: John Bell's health really deteriorated. He started having spells that 295 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: lasted a day or two, during what his tongue would 296 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,280 Speaker 1: once again seem to stiffen and his face would go 297 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: into spasms. Once these spells had passed, he seemed to 298 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:09,040 Speaker 1: be in fine health and he went about his life, 299 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: but the incidents became more frequent and longer and more 300 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,879 Speaker 1: severe over time. Additionally, John Bell was tormented in a 301 00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 1: more assaulted way he started to experience this feeling of 302 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:24,879 Speaker 1: being slapped in much the same way that Betsy had described, 303 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,159 Speaker 1: as well as also having his shoes jerked off his 304 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: feet repeatedly as he attempted to walk in the fields. 305 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: On the morning of December nineteenth, eighteen twenty, John Bell 306 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: could not be roused from sleep. A vial was found 307 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:41,600 Speaker 1: near his body that contained a dark liquid, and according 308 00:17:41,600 --> 00:17:45,479 Speaker 1: to William's story, the family sent for a doctor from 309 00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:48,159 Speaker 1: Port Royal, and the spirit could be heard saying that 310 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: the family patriarch would never rise from his bed again. 311 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: This part's really hard for me, So if you're an 312 00:17:55,280 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 1: animal person, maybe don't listen for the next twenty seconds. 313 00:18:00,359 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: Contents of that mystery vial were tested by giving it 314 00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: to a cat, and that cat, of course, quickly died. 315 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:08,680 Speaker 1: The remaining bits of liquid were thrown in the fire 316 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,359 Speaker 1: and then produced a blue flame. John Bell died on 317 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,160 Speaker 1: December twentieth, and the witch is said to have sung 318 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: joyously throughout his burial there on the farm. After John's death, 319 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,280 Speaker 1: the spirit is said to have largely stopped in her activities, 320 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:26,160 Speaker 1: although she lingered into eighteen twenty one before she told 321 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,399 Speaker 1: Lucy that she would go but return another seven years later. 322 00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: Of course, she stayed true to that in Ingram's book 323 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:37,520 Speaker 1: and appeared at the farm again in eighteen twenty eight. 324 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: So when she reappeared, she started doing the same sorts 325 00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,040 Speaker 1: of things as she had been doing early on in 326 00:18:44,119 --> 00:18:48,120 Speaker 1: eighteen seventeen, tapping around the house pulling covers off of beds. 327 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,320 Speaker 1: But this only went on for two weeks and then 328 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,600 Speaker 1: Kate once again vanished. So at that point William, his 329 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: brother Joel, and their mother Lucy were the only people 330 00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,679 Speaker 1: still living in the house, and they had all agreed 331 00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: to it nor the spirit and not engage with it. 332 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:05,240 Speaker 1: And apparently that worked, as she left the Bell family 333 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: seemingly for good. And now that we've given some of 334 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: the highlights of the Bell Witch's time in Tennessee, as 335 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: based on William Bell's alleged recollection, we will talk about 336 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:19,159 Speaker 1: things from a more critical perspective. Before we do that, 337 00:19:19,160 --> 00:19:21,160 Speaker 1: we're going to take a brief word from a sponsor. 338 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 1: There are a lot of theories about the reality of 339 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:38,880 Speaker 1: the Bell Witch and what was actually going on at 340 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:41,800 Speaker 1: this farm if it was a ruse. One of the 341 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:44,760 Speaker 1: theories is that someone wanted to break up the relationship 342 00:19:44,760 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: between Betsy Bell and her fiancee, Joshua Gardner, and if 343 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 1: that had been the motivation, the ruse was in fact successful. 344 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: Betsy was frightened enough by the witch's admonitions against her 345 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: marriage to Gardner that she broke up with him in 346 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:01,439 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty one. One of the can Temprairie explanations, and 347 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,280 Speaker 1: one that we alluded to in the intro to the episode, 348 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:07,560 Speaker 1: was that two of the Bell boys had learned ventriloquism 349 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:10,119 Speaker 1: when they had traveled to New Orleans on trading trips, 350 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,159 Speaker 1: and then they had taught Betsy the skill, and the 351 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:16,119 Speaker 1: three of them got together to basically lonch to make hopes. 352 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:18,879 Speaker 1: But there were some times during these events of the 353 00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:21,320 Speaker 1: alleged haunting when one or the other of the Bell 354 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,959 Speaker 1: boys was away from the family home, and then there 355 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:26,920 Speaker 1: were also times when all three of them were present 356 00:20:27,119 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: in plain sight when the noises in the witch's voice 357 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:34,600 Speaker 1: were heard. And Betsy was, by all accounts a lovely 358 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:37,199 Speaker 1: girl and very bright as well, who was admired by 359 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: virtually all of the young men in the area, and 360 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:42,679 Speaker 1: there have been theories that a romantic rival may have 361 00:20:42,720 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: been behind the hauntings. And while the issues began when 362 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: she was only twelve. By the time she had been 363 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:51,960 Speaker 1: moved to break up with her longtime sweetheart Joshua, she 364 00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,399 Speaker 1: was sixteen. One of the more likely suspects in the 365 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: whole suitor theory is a man named Richard Powell. Richard 366 00:20:59,200 --> 00:21:02,399 Speaker 1: had been the Belchi children's teacher, but as Betsy grew 367 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: toward adulthood, he seemed to take a romantic interest in her, 368 00:21:05,800 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 1: and he was also a close friend of the family. 369 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:11,640 Speaker 1: And one of the things that makes Powell look so 370 00:21:11,720 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: suspicious is that while he did not apparently tell his 371 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,880 Speaker 1: friends in the area he was married, his wife Esther, 372 00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: was almost twenty years older than he was, and she 373 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: died of unspecified causes the same year that Betsy finally 374 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 1: broke off her engagement to Joshua Gardner. And I just 375 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: want to note that while this is mentioned in several 376 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: texts with a citation of the records of Robertson County, Tennessee, 377 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: I found this little bit of information too late in 378 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:43,679 Speaker 1: the game to actually get eyes on those records for confirmation, 379 00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,920 Speaker 1: but it does show up in multiple different accounts. Richard 380 00:21:47,000 --> 00:21:50,760 Speaker 1: Powell started to openly pursue Betsy after her ties to 381 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,840 Speaker 1: Gardner were severed, and he and Betsy were married in 382 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: eighteen twenty four. Richard died seventeen years later, and Betsy 383 00:21:58,040 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 1: remained a widow for the rest of her life her 384 00:22:00,320 --> 00:22:04,160 Speaker 1: death in eighteen ninety. So, yeah, some people think that 385 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:07,560 Speaker 1: that sort of chain of events points circumstantially to Richard 386 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,440 Speaker 1: Powell having orchestrated the whole thing. And remember that thing 387 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:14,920 Speaker 1: about John Bell being excommunicated from the church. It did 388 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:17,880 Speaker 1: not have to do with anything paranormal. It actually had 389 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:21,840 Speaker 1: to do with some shady lending practices and some usury 390 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,040 Speaker 1: in relation to the sale of slaves. So John Bell 391 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,920 Speaker 1: was basically making some shady business deals and the church 392 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: did not like that, so that is why he was excommunicated. 393 00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:34,680 Speaker 1: It did not have anything to do with demonic possession. 394 00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: Another incongruity from the Ingram Book, which is the primary 395 00:22:39,280 --> 00:22:42,840 Speaker 1: source that most other Belwich authors draw from, is that 396 00:22:42,920 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 1: visit from Andrew Jackson. There's never been anything to document 397 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 1: Jackson making this trip. And Andrew Jackson never wrote about 398 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 1: it in his personal diaries. One would think that such 399 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:57,159 Speaker 1: a novel experience would merit at least a line or 400 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,560 Speaker 1: two in a diary. Yeah, and As for Kate Bats, 401 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:04,600 Speaker 1: it's kind of a world of no While there have 402 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: been a vast array of rumors about her, including that 403 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,879 Speaker 1: she and John Bell had a bad business dealing that 404 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,560 Speaker 1: led her to curse him. In another that she was 405 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:16,400 Speaker 1: in fact pregnant by John Bell, and that he killed her. 406 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: She actually died decades after John Bell, so she could 407 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,880 Speaker 1: not have been vengeance haunting him, and he definitely did 408 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: not kill her. It does appear, at least in the 409 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,080 Speaker 1: Angrim account, that Kate Bats was kind of an outsider 410 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,119 Speaker 1: in the community and was viewed with some suspicion. She 411 00:23:32,280 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: was loud and brash, which for a woman in the 412 00:23:34,520 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: late eighteenth and early nineteenth century basically meant scary rumors 413 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,479 Speaker 1: of witchcraft had been attached to her at various points 414 00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,600 Speaker 1: in time, but more because it seems like she was 415 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,879 Speaker 1: peculiar and not because of any actual malicious behavior, So 416 00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 1: it seems like she was really more of a convenient 417 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: figure for the people making up this story to pin 418 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:57,639 Speaker 1: on her, rather than somebody that actually was a ghost. 419 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,800 Speaker 1: And there was even in that first acout the link 420 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,560 Speaker 1: between the two suggesting that Kate Bats was somehow manifesting 421 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,320 Speaker 1: the various events through witchcraft. But apparently even when the 422 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,120 Speaker 1: Bell Witch was being perceived as a good thing, Kate 423 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,679 Speaker 1: Bats was incensed to be associated with it, so that 424 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:19,240 Speaker 1: idea really doesn't hold much water. And she was also 425 00:24:19,320 --> 00:24:22,440 Speaker 1: we should point out Lucy Bell's niece. She was related 426 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:25,920 Speaker 1: to the Bells. Her father was actually Lucy Bell's brother. 427 00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:29,160 Speaker 1: And there's also no record of this business deal gone 428 00:24:29,200 --> 00:24:33,080 Speaker 1: bad between her and John Bell that instigated this ill 429 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: will and there's no real motive for her to go 430 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 1: to so much trouble to pester this family. On top 431 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,720 Speaker 1: of all these facts that don't really add up, there's 432 00:24:41,760 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: the matter of the Angram Book and its truthfulness. Ingram, 433 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: a newspaperman, was writing it two generations removed from the 434 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:52,800 Speaker 1: actual events. We always talk about how unreliable even fresh 435 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:55,399 Speaker 1: eyewitness accounts can be, so even if he did have 436 00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: a manuscript that really was written by William Bell, that 437 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 1: manuscript would have been written according to Ingram's own introduction 438 00:25:02,840 --> 00:25:06,959 Speaker 1: in the eighteen forties, twenty years after the then adolescent 439 00:25:07,000 --> 00:25:10,040 Speaker 1: William had experienced the so called Bell Witch events. So 440 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:14,359 Speaker 1: it's number one a book. Ingram was writing much later 441 00:25:14,960 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: after William Bell had allegedly written it down twenty years 442 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,280 Speaker 1: after it had purportedly happened. And there's also the possibility 443 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,639 Speaker 1: that Ingram assembled this tale as a deceptive fiction to 444 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: capitalize on its sensational nature. There are just enough verifiable 445 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:35,920 Speaker 1: details about the family that it might convince readers, while 446 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:40,080 Speaker 1: the supernatural elements of it are entirely unverifiable. None of 447 00:25:40,080 --> 00:25:43,159 Speaker 1: it really passes muster as a true historical account of 448 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:46,879 Speaker 1: this alleged haunting. And then, I mean, this reminds me 449 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: of when we were talking about Anne Bonnie and Mary Reid. 450 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,080 Speaker 1: One of the things that seems the most telling about 451 00:25:54,119 --> 00:25:58,200 Speaker 1: how this whole account is that Ingram was incredibly insistent 452 00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: about how it was completely indisputable. Yeah, here is a 453 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,640 Speaker 1: passage that we're going to read that's particularly unrelenting in 454 00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,879 Speaker 1: how no one with any integrity could possibly ever doubt it. 455 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: Knowing the character of the men and women who testify 456 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: to these things, no one can disbelieve them or believe 457 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: that they would have willfully misrepresented the facts. Nor can 458 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,440 Speaker 1: it be reasonably said that so many reputable witnesses had 459 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,200 Speaker 1: fallen into an abnormal state of mind and were so 460 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:32,680 Speaker 1: easily deceived in all of their rigid investigations. A man 461 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:35,320 Speaker 1: may be arraigned for trial on the charge of murder, 462 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,120 Speaker 1: the court and jury knowing nothing about the facts and circumstances, 463 00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:42,440 Speaker 1: but they are bound by both physical and moral law 464 00:26:42,600 --> 00:26:45,480 Speaker 1: to believe and find the man guilty on the testimony 465 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:50,280 Speaker 1: of reputable witnesses detailing the facts and circumstances, and yet 466 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:53,040 Speaker 1: may form no opinion or idea as to the state 467 00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: of mind or cause that prompted the prisoner to commit 468 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,959 Speaker 1: the murder. So it is in this instance the testimony 469 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:03,280 Speaker 1: is convincing of the truth of the wonderful phenomena at 470 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:07,080 Speaker 1: John Bell's, but the motive or cause is beyond our comprehension, 471 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:12,159 Speaker 1: and to this extent the fact must be accepted. It 472 00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:20,439 Speaker 1: really happened, y'all. You're horrible if you doubt it. Of course, today, 473 00:27:20,520 --> 00:27:23,280 Speaker 1: the Bell Witch is a moneymaker. People love a good 474 00:27:23,320 --> 00:27:26,000 Speaker 1: haunting story, so it gets told and retold, and the 475 00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: details shift and changed, just like gooey ectoplasm. Aside from 476 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,680 Speaker 1: the dates associated with things like births and deaths, writings 477 00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,520 Speaker 1: about the Bell Witch often are really different in their details. 478 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,160 Speaker 1: I remember somebody telling me a story about the Bell Witch. 479 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,120 Speaker 1: I think when I was in college that had basically 480 00:27:44,119 --> 00:27:49,760 Speaker 1: a completely different cast of characters. Yeah, there was even 481 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: a book written recently by a clairvoyant that dispelled the 482 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: long standing myth that the family was cursed, and this 483 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 1: instead indicated that the land that they had moved to 484 00:27:59,600 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 1: intended was the source of this curse. Not only has 485 00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: this story been used as an ingredient in numerous films, 486 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 1: but also a variety of quote documentary examinations of the paranormal. 487 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: For a small fee, you can tour the bell Witch Cave, 488 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:17,280 Speaker 1: which is on the property and as allegedly haunted, possibly 489 00:28:17,320 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: by Kate herself, So if you're hankering to try to 490 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:22,920 Speaker 1: meet her, you can. It's probably what you're gonna see 491 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:29,280 Speaker 1: as a cave. Yeah, Yeah, it's one of those things 492 00:28:29,280 --> 00:28:31,639 Speaker 1: there you'll have people talk about like all of the 493 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: various components of it and how you know the blue flame. 494 00:28:36,800 --> 00:28:38,840 Speaker 1: One of the things that's a little more science based 495 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:43,080 Speaker 1: is that when they threw that liquid from that vial 496 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:45,120 Speaker 1: into the fire and it burned blue, that that could 497 00:28:45,120 --> 00:28:48,280 Speaker 1: be an indication of arsenic so that perhaps someone had 498 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: been systematically poisoning John Bell, But again it's unclear who 499 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: might have been doing that, although apparently he was kind 500 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:59,160 Speaker 1: of a weasel in some business dealings, so we don't know, 501 00:29:00,400 --> 00:29:02,920 Speaker 1: but it definitely doesn't when you really start to look 502 00:29:02,960 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: at the facts of things. All of the elements that 503 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:11,360 Speaker 1: get sensationalized is super spooky don't really hold up to scrutiny. 504 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:20,440 Speaker 1: So that's the scoop on the bell which thanks so 505 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,400 Speaker 1: much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like 506 00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 1: to send us a note, our email addresses History Podcast 507 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:30,240 Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com, and you can subscribe to the 508 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:33,640 Speaker 1: show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you 509 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:35,160 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.