The Bell Witch: The Full Account (10 page)

was quiet, and Williams became very impatient.

Speaking to several other men, Williams

commented that he was convinced the disturbances

were a series of tricks performed by the Bells in an

attempt to make money, and that they were afraid to

do any tricks while he was there for fear of being

exposed. John Bell got word of what Williams had

said and became angry. When he began pondering

the idea of ordering Williams to leave, he heard the

Spirit’s voice say, “No you don’t, Ol’ Jack, let him

stay; I will attend to the gentleman and satisfy him

that he is not as smart as he thinks.”

The Bells had many visitors that evening, each

wanting to witness the Spirit’s demonstrations. As

was the case the last two evenings, the crowd sat in

the family room talking until late at night without

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hearing anything from the Spirit, as if it had decided

to leave and never come back. Disappointed but

relieved, everyone finally retired after the long

evening of praying, singing and waiting. The candles

were blown out, and the sounds of bedtime

conversation soon gave way to snores. A short time

later, everyone was awakened by Mr. Williams’ loud

screaming.

His shoulders were pinned to the floor and his face

was being slapped repeatedly, back and forth. The

slapping continued as Williams, unable to move his

body, pleaded for his life. The slapping stopped only

long enough for an angry voice to ask, “So, which one

of the Bells do you think I am?” The slapping

resumed with more force, then stopped several

minutes later. Williams sat in a chair and held a

burning candle by his side for the rest of the night.

Williams heard the mysterious voice insult and

ridicule him every few minutes, repeatedly ordering

him to answer the question about which one of the

Bells “it” was, and whether he was satisfied with the

findings of his investigation. No longer able to speak,

Williams sat trembling and gasping for breath while

occasionally being kicked onto the floor where he was

beaten, choked, and stabbed with pins by the angry,

invisible force.

When day broke, Mr. Williams loaded his

saddlebags and bade John Bell and his family a

quick goodbye. The horse would not move forward.

Williams kicked, whipped, and yelled at the horse,

but it continued raring up and kicking in its tracks.

He began petting and consoling the horse, hoping to

calm whatever fear had developed. Upon mounting

the horse again several minutes later, he found that

it still would not go. Suddenly, a voice that

seemingly came with the wind exclaimed, “I can

make that horse go. Let me get on behind!”

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69

The horse took off in a wild rage; galloping in a

circle around the yard with the Spirit yelling, “Hold

on old man, hold on!” After several circles around

the yard, the horse ran to the gate and down the lane

with Mr. Williams clinging tightly to its neck and

screaming for his life. For the next week, the Spirit

told of the incident with much glee and laughter.

“Lord Jesus, I scared that old man nearly to death. I

stuck him full of brass pins. He will spit brass pins

and foxfire for the next six months. Lord Jesus, how

he did beg. I told the old scoundrel that he came

here to kill me, and I was not going to let him off

easy. He said if I would let him alone, he would

never come here again. I broke him from trying that

caper anymore!

Dr. Mize the Witch Hunter

Nothing that had been asked or tried thus far

yielded a definitive clue with respect to the Spirit’s

identity and purpose, and everyone involved was

overwhelmed by the perplexity that resulted from its

astonishing and terrifying demonstrations. Those

who came from far-away places and claimed there

was no Spirit, or acknowledged the Spirit but could

not get rid of it, numbered in the hundreds. Their

predictable antics and the consequences that

followed were all pretty much the same, and the Bells

quickly grew tired of these so-called, “witch hunters.”

One evening when John Bell, James Johnston,

and Drewry Bell were discussing the Spirit, they

concluded that the time had come to bring in an

outside party — someone knowledgeable about evil

Spirits and possessing the ability to remove them.

“I’ve asked many of our guests if they knew of any

man who is knowledgeable about such matters and

can lay claim to having actually removed evil Spirits,”

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commented Drewry, “and a good many have told me

that if any man can do it, it is a ‘Dr. Mize’ of

Franklin, Kentucky.” “From where or what power

does this man derive his authority to eradicate evil

Spirits?” inquired James Johnston; “evil Spirits are

mentioned all throughout the Bible, and I firmly

believe that the Almighty Creator is the only power

that can eradicate them.” “I know not from where

his authority comes,” replied Drewry, “but he is

known as both a magician and master of the surreal

world. Some very fine people have recommended

him.”

“James, it’s worth a try. This man is certainly not

God, but neither is the Spirit. Let us fight fire with

fire and see what happens. As a family, we are at the

end of our wits,” John Bell exclaimed, “and, these

disturbances have gone on for a long time without an

explanation; we can’t take it any longer. I am willing

to try anything that might rid my family, my house

and my soul of this terrifying and demonic creature

from Hell.” Johnston responded, “John, I agree. No

family anywhere, for any reason, deserves this kind

of treatment; so to that end, I will go along with your

wishes even though I still believe that only the

Almighty can eradicate evil Spirits.”

Drewry then suggested, “If it will make you feel any

better, I would like for you to journey with me to

Franklin, Kentucky and discuss our trouble with ‘Dr.

Mize.’ Although he comes highly-recommended,

father and I would feel uncomfortable having him as

a guest here without your first discussing the topic of

religion with him.” “I would feel most honored to join

you, Drew; that is, provided your father has no

objections,” replied Johnston. “Not at all, James; I

appreciate your continued sympathy and concern

during in this unfortunate time of need,” John Bell

responded.

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“We need as little interference from the Spirit as

possible, so I would recommend that we leave around

three o’clock in the morning so we can be well out of

the area by daybreak,” advised Drewry; “the Spirit

has never manifested itself during that time.” “Three

o’clock is quickly approaching; you’d better get some

sleep now,” suggested John Bell.

At three o’clock the next morning, Drewry Bell and

James Johnston met at the Bell-Johnston property

line and headed toward Springfield, where they

picked up the main trail to Franklin, Kentucky.

When day broke, they were well beyond Springfield

and galloping up the trail to Franklin when they

happened upon what looked to be a sick rabbit lying

in the middle of the trail.

They stopped to give the rabbit a chance to move

out of the way, but it lay still. James Johnston

jokingly remarked, “Well, Drewry, I guess that’s your

‘Spirit’ there; take her up in our lap, she looks tired!”

“If the thing didn’t look so sick, I’d shoot it and fry it

up,” Drewry responded. As they proceeded to guide

their horses around the rabbit, it slowly hopped off

the trail and into the woods. They arrived in

Franklin by eight o’clock that morning to look for Dr.

Mize, who was easy to find because of his popularity

in the area.

Greeting them at his front door, Dr. Mize asked

Bell and Johnston what brought them to the area.

They took a seat and proceeded to describe in vivid

detail everything from when the Spirit first appeared

up until the present. Mize listened carefully as the

men told story after story of the Spirit’s remarkable

demonstrations and how it mercilessly and

relentlessly tortured the Bells and terrified everyone

in the community.

“Well, gentlemen, I must say that I have heard so

many different versions of this story in the past that I

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was convinced it was a ploy to entice people into

visiting that area to engage in the constant and

fervent worship it is known for; however, I am now of

a different opinion after hearing these remarkable

stories from one of the Bell family and a close

neighbor.” Mize continued, “The ‘sprit’ you speak of

is outside the realm of ordinary phenomena, but I am

confident that with my experience in wizardry and

exorcism, I can rid your home of this horrible

creature. With your permission, I would like to visit

the farm in about ten days to spend about one week

conducting experiments.”

“Yes, by all means!” exclaimed Drewry; “you are

most welcome in our home, and father and I will see

to it that you get anything you need to conduct your

experiments.” They thanked Dr. Mize for his time

and left for Springfield where they had business the

next morning. The men returned to the Bell home

the following evening to find the Spirit gleefully

telling everyone present about their trip to visit Dr.

Mize, repeating their exact words in their own voices.

“I knew something was amiss that morning when

Drewry wasn’t at breakfast and nobody could tell me

where he was. I got on his track and caught up with

him and Ol’ Sugar Mouth about twenty miles out and

overtook them. I followed them a long way, listening

to them talk about how they were going to approach

the old fool when they got to Kentucky. I finally

hopped out in front of them like an old, sick rabbit,”

the Spirit exclaimed, “Ol’ Sugar Mouth told Drewry,

‘There is your Spirit; take her up in your lap, she

looks tired!’ Then Drewry said, ‘If it didn’t look so

sick, I’d shoot it and fry it up.’”

Both men confirmed that what the Spirit said was

indeed true, and Johnston insisted he was only

joking when he mentioned the Spirit after seeing the

rabbit.

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73

Mize arrived at the Bell farm ten days later,

boasting of his ability to cast out demons and evil

Spirits. John Bell and other family members were

not impressed by his comments as they had already

heard essentially the same claims made by others

before him. Mize was nevertheless welcomed into the

Bell home and extended the same hospitality that all

other guests received.

After three days elapsed with no sign of the Spirit,

Dr. Mize located an old shotgun and proclaimed that

it did not work because the Spirit had placed a “hex”

on it. He began cleaning the gun and adjusting its

trigger mechanism as he uttered several words in a

seemingly unknown tongue. He later took the gun

outside and fired several shots, proclaiming that the

gun worked because he had managed to remove the

hex that the Spirit placed on it. Mize then informed

John Bell that, because Spirits were “scared” of him,

the Spirit would probably never return to the Bell

farm.

Dr. Mize stayed another night at the farm, mixing

strange concoctions and performing various

incantations to the amusement of the Bells and the

other guests.

After the Spirit had all it could take of Mize’s

antics and pseudo-rituals, it finally spoke, asking a

long series of irrelevant questions as if it was trying

to annoy him. Despite his look of fear and worry, Dr.

Mize continued performing his strange pseudo-

rituals and incantations. After the questions had

continued for several minutes, Mize exclaimed, “This

is not any of your business, and you have no

knowledge of what I am doing.” “Oh?” exclaimed the

Spirit; “well you have omitted some very important

ingredients from your mixture.” “And just what is

that?” inquired the terrified wizard. “If you were a

witch doctor you would know how to aerify that mess

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so as to pass into the aeriform state and see the

Spirit that talks to you, and without asking all of

those silly questions,” the Spirit responded. “What

do you know about this business, anyhow?” inquired

an astonished Dr. Mize. “You are nothing but an old

fool, and you know nothing about what you’re

pretending to do,” the Spirit replied.

Overcome by fear and embarrassment, Dr. Mize

reluctantly said to John Bell, “That ‘thing’ knows