The Bell Witch: The Full Account (15 page)
The Spirit had gone from a simple, question-and-
answer dialog, to an uncontrolled fit of laughter that
lasted until Porter reached his front porch and
hurriedly locked the door. The Spirit returned to the
Bell home and commenced its nightly torment and
demonstrations, describing in vivid detail how it had
scared “Ol’ Alex Porter” on his way home.
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CHAPTER TEN
The Terror Escalates
A S IF THE SPIRIT’S random demonstrations,
acts of violence, and animal-like apparitions
were not baffling enough, the Spirit now set
its sights on further confusing the Bells and others
by assimilating the voices and characters of four,
distinct entities that it collectively referred to as the
“witch family.”
The Witch Family – Multiple Entities
In addition to assimilating the voices of people in
the community and occasionally speaking in its own
voices, the Spirit’s introduction of the “witch family”
brought new voices and characters never heard of
before, which ultimate proved to be the most
remarkable demonstration ever performed by the
Spirit.
The first character, “Blackdog,” spoke in a rough,
feminine tone and was the self-proclaimed head of
the “witch family.” Both the characters of
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“Mathematics” and “Cypocryphy” spoke with the
voices of young girls, and the character of
“Jerusalem” spoke with the voice of a young boy.
Almost every evening for several months, the
“witch family” made its presence known by putting
on “shows” at the Bell home for everyone present.
Each demonstration commenced with a series of
faint whispers, usually right after the candles
flickered out for no apparent reason. The “witch
family” began each demonstration by filling the room
with the odor of corn whiskey, which “Blackdog” said
they had taken from nearby Gardner’s still. A reason
was never given as to why the “witch family” seemed
to be intoxicated during most of its demonstrations.
Often boasting slurred speech and overly festive
attitudes, the “witch family” sang hymns and gabbed
with the Bells and their visitors, sometimes all night
long. As the self-proclaimed leader, “Blackdog”
always had the final word and often shouted
profanities at other members of the “witch family.”
The “witch family” demonstrations were not
confined just to the evening hours and at the Bell
home, however. Demonstrations took place at other
times and places as well, and often proved more
frightening than those that took place at the Bell
home. One such case of a daytime “witch family”
demonstration took place when the “witch family”
appeared at the farm of Alex and Esther Porter one
afternoon.
Apparition at the Porter Farm
Elizabeth Bell arose one morning and decided it
would be a good day to visit her sister, Esther. After
a quick breakfast, she proceeded to the Porter farm
where Esther greeted her at the door. Esther’s
husband, Alex, was away doing some construction
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work at nearby Fort’s Mill, so Elizabeth and Esther
were the only people at the farm that day. What they
witnessed later that afternoon was one of the most
baffling and terrifying accounts of Spirit ever told or
written.
As Esther began to cross the road to collect eggs
from the hen house, she casually glanced down the
road and noticed a pale-looking young woman
walking towards her. Eager to properly greet the
woman, she quickly gathered up the eggs and
returned to the road. Upon returning to the road,
she approached the woman who was then standing
directly in front of the house and brushing her long,
dark hair.
Thinking she recognized the woman as being one
of her new neighbors, Esther politely greeted her and
tried to strike up a conversation. The woman stood
speechless, staring off into the distance as she
continued brushing her hair. After having been
ignored for some time and sensing that the woman
was troubled about something, Esther walked into
the house and told Elizabeth about the woman.
Elizabeth said she had been watching the young
woman through the window and noticed that she
looked to be frightened or preoccupied with
something.
After a half-hour, Esther and Elizabeth looked out
the window again and noticed that the woman had
not moved. They both grew very frightened, as they
knew something different about the young woman.
Her pale skin and seemingly obscure demeanor made
her like no woman they had ever seen before.
After several minutes, the woman climbed onto the
fence and sat there. She tucked her hair and put her
bonnet back on, and then climbed down and began
walking across the road toward the hen house. She
finally veered away from the hen house and walked
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out into the middle of a small field that contained
several saplings and a large, knotty log. Neither
Elizabeth nor Esther could figure out who this
woman was and why she was acting so strangely.
Suddenly, and seemingly out of nowhere, came
two little girls and one little boy who joined the
woman in the field. Each of them, including the pale
woman, grabbed a sapling and bent it in half. All
four began bouncing up and down on the saplings as
if they were at play.
Esther’s husband was returning by this time, and
she quickly ran outside and told him about what was
happening in the field across the road. Taking a look
for himself, Alex Porter saw the saplings bouncing up
and down but not the young woman and children
who were sitting on them. Esther and Elizabeth were
still able see them, however. Realizing that both
women were terrified, Porter suggested that the
figures bouncing on the saplings were “witch”
apparitions and that he would take care of the
problem if Esther brought him his gun.
While Esther was fetching the gun, Elizabeth saw
the woman and children jump down from the
saplings and take cover behind the knotty log. When
Esther returned with the gun, Elizabeth asked Alex
Porter to shoot next to a large knot near the middle
of the log where she had seen the little boy raise his
head for a split second. Porter fired a shot but
nothing happened. They found nothing but the bent
saplings and a mark where Porter’s shot had grazed
the log upon inspecting the field a few minutes after
the apparition took place.
When the “witch family” visited the Bell home that
evening, “Blackdog” exclaimed, “Ol’ Alex Porter sure
is a good shot. He shot ‘Jerusalem’ from seventy-five
yards and broke his arm!”
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A Sick Dog at the Door
Just before retiring later that same evening, the
Bells and several visitors heard a strange, panting
sound coming from outside the front door. John Bell
opened the door and found a stray, black dog
standing on the porch, looking as if was in need of
attention. As Bell held the door open, the dog slowly
walked into the family room where Elizabeth and
John Jr. began petting it. The dog let out several
short growls and they quickly backed away from it.
Fearing that the dog was sick and a possible threat
to his family’s health, John Bell fetched his gun and
started to take the dog outside. Lucy Bell talked him
out of killing the dog, which at that very second
rolled several times across the floor in the direction
of the door and exited quickly. The Spirit, speaking
with the voice of “Blackdog,” spoke up and
exclaimed, “Look out, Ol’ Jack, here comes
Jerusalem!”
After several uneventful minutes, John Bell
inquired, “Where is Jerusalem?” “There he is, on the
wall!” replied the Spirit. The Bells and their guests
began looking at the walls and soon noticed a bug
crawling up the side wall. “Well, if that is Jerusalem,
I will kill him!” exclaimed John Bell. Bell killed the
bug. Now roaring with laughter, the Spirit yelled,
“Lord Jesus, what a fool I did make of Ol’ Jack Bell!”
The “witch family” demonstrations were very
frightening and intense when they occurred;
however, it was only a short time until the “witch
family” ceased its demonstrations. It was never
heard from again in the 1800’s.
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Elizabeth’s Problems Escalate
All during the period of the “witch family”
demonstrations, the Spirit maintained its persistent
tormenting of the Bell family. Covers were jerked,
rats continued gnawing at the bedposts, John Bell
was kicked and slapped from one end of the house to
the other, and Elizabeth was still being beaten within
inches of her life almost every night.
Over time, Elizabeth developed many scars on her
arms where the Spirit pinched her repeatedly until
she bled. Her face was bruised and covered with
handprints most of the time as well, because the
Spirit frequently slapped her face and pulled her
hair. Her two closest friends, Theny Thorn and
Rebecca Porter, supported and comforted her
throughout her trials and tribulations and never let
her down in time of need.
The Spirit Spanks a Baby
Elizabeth often spent the night with friends and
neighbors in hopes of getting relief from the Spirit’s
constant torment, a tactic that was successful only a
few times before the Spirit began following and
tormenting her and others everywhere she went.
On one occasion, the Spirit followed her to the
home of John and Martha Johnston, where as soon
as she began to fall asleep it commenced disturbing
the entire Johnston home by pulling covers,
whistling, and turning over chairs. The ruckus
quickly awoke the Johnstons’ new baby, Nancy, and
her mother assured her that everything was all right
and rocked her back to sleep.
The disturbances soon started up again, and baby
Nancy was once again awake and crying. Angrily,
the Spirit exclaimed, “Martha, why don’t you slap
that child and make it behave itself? If you won’t, I
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will!” Less than a minute later, everyone in the
Johnston home heard the sounds of slapping
followed by baby Nancy’s ear-piercing screams. They
rushed to her cradle but found nothing out of the
ordinary. Baby Nancy soon stopped crying and
remained quiet for the rest of the night.
It finally reached the point that Elizabeth could not
spend the night with friends because her presence
invited the Sprit, which in turn harmed not only her,
but her friends and their families as well. Joshua
Gardner eventually found out about the Spirit’s
torturing Elizabeth and remained supportive of her
at all times. They grew closer together in a very
short time, and Joshua spent many hours at the Bell
home comforting Elizabeth after being abused.
Elizabeth and the rest of her family were grateful to
Gardner for the attention and compassion he showed
her, and were thrilled about their courtship.
However, not everyone was happy about it.
Powell Learns of Elizabeth’s Courtship
Professor Richard Powell had the personal
misfortune of finding out about Elizabeth and
Joshua’s courtship when he paid one of his
customary, Friday afternoon visits to the Bell farm
and overheard Lucy Bell happily telling some other
visitors about Joshua and Elizabeth’s courtship.
Being eleven years Elizabeth’s senior, he made every
attempt to conceal his feelings for her and the
heartbreak he felt upon learning of the courtship.
Powell’s fondness for Elizabeth had been obvious for
quite some time; however, nobody ever commented
about it.
The Spirit Denounces Elizabeth’s Courtship
Another party was unhappy about Elizabeth and
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Joshua’s courtship — the Spirit. Convinced that
their courtship would continue and eventually
blossom into marriage, the Spirit often whispered
repeatedly in a faint, melancholy voice, “Please Betsy
Bell, don’t have Joshua Gardner. Please Betsy Bell,
don’t marry Joshua Gardner.” Elizabeth and Joshua
could not go anywhere to be alone and talk without
hearing the Spirit plead this sorrowful cry all around
them, in the wind and trees, in the ripples of the Red
River, and deep in the forest.
Although greatly troubled by the Spirit’s
disapproval of their courtship, Elizabeth and Joshua
agreed to hold strong regardless of any consequences
they might suffer as a result. The Spirit was often
asked why it opposed their courtship, but the only