The Bell Witch: The Full Account (5 page)

mid 1850’s.

Doctors were scarce, with most being located at

major trading centers. The community doctor was

Dr. George Hopson of Port Royal. b While quite a

distance from most other settlements, Hopson was

said to have always been where he was needed in the

blink of an eye.

There was one school in the area, located on

James Johnston’s farm near the Bell property line.

30 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

Johnston had donated this particular tract of land to

be used as a school. The first class was held in 1812

and was taught by Reverend James Gunn, who had

recently moved to the area. Among his pupils were

Jeremiah Batts, Jr., Thomas and William Martin,

James Christy, and James, Joseph, William and

Edward Gunn. The tuition paid was 50 cents per

month. 10

Several of the Bell children were later educated at

this school under the tutelage of Professor Richard

Powell, a bright, young mathematician who came to

the area about 1815 from Halifax County, North

Carolina. Powell was known to be very strict on his

students, often detaining them after school and on

into the evening until they had fully understood and

completed the day’s lesson. He was also one of the

very few teachers in Tennessee at the time that was

educated beyond the basic level of schooling.

Tennessee Historian Albert Virgil Goodpasture

describes what schools were like in the early days of

Robertson County, Tennessee:

“In the early days of the county there were no

schools which afforded more than an elementary

education. They were usually taught in rude log

houses built in some old field, and were

supported by subscription, or the tuition of

pupils.

The curriculum embraced reading, writing,

arithmetic, grammar, and geography, with the

first three receiving the greater part of the

attention. The teachers were frequently of very

limited education, and one who could take a

10 Albert Virgil Goodpasture,
Goodspeed History of Tennessee – Robertson County
, 1886, p. 861.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

31

class through the ordinary arithmetic was

considered an excellent scholar.” 11

There were several towns in the general vicinity of

the Bell farm, including Port Royal, Springfield,

Clarksville, and Nashville, all in Tennessee. Just

over the Kentucky state line and only a few miles

away were Keysburg and Adairville, Kentucky.

Port Royal, situated on the Red River about seven

miles upstream from the Bell farm, was the principal

trading center of Robertson County at the time.

More navigable in those days, the Red River was an

important steamboat route to New Orleans and other

ports by way of the Cumberland, Ohio, and

Mississippi rivers. In addition to being a stop along a

key stage route, Port Royal was also the point of

convergence for several roads major roads connecting

Adairville, Clarksville, and Springfield.

The significance of Port Royal as a trade center

diminished after the Edgefield and Kentucky

Railroad, which later became the Louisville and

Nashville Railroad, was built in 1859 to serve nearby

Adams Station and Springfield. By 1879,

steamboats had stopped calling on Port Royal and

the once-thriving trade center became a “ghost

town.” Port Royal is now a state park in Montgomery

County, Tennessee near Clarksville.

Religion

John Bell was accepted into Red River Baptist

Church in 1805 by a letter of dismission issued from

his former church in North Carolina. 12

Ministers John Taylor and Ambrose Dudley of

11 Albert Virgil Goodpasture,
Goodspeed History of Tennessee – Robertson County
, 1886, p. 860.

12
Red River Baptist Church Minutes (1791-1826)
, P. 161.

32 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

Kentucky, along with Elias Fort and William Prince,

established the Red River Baptist Church in 1791

near the confluence of the Red River and Sulphur

Fork Creek in Port Royal. The church has changed

its location five times since its inception, and is

currently located in Adams, Tennessee.

Red River Baptist Church in Adams, Tennessee

as it appears today.

The first leaders of Red River Baptist Church were

the Forts, who emigrated to middle Tennessee from

North Carolina in 1788 and settled between the Red

River and Elk Fork Creek. Elias Fort had been

actively involved with the Tar River Association in

North Carolina before moving to Tennessee, and was

one of many friends who wrote letters to the Bells

telling them about the beauty and fertility of the Red

River bottomland.

Two of Fort’s sons, Josiah and Sugg, served as

clerk of Red River Baptist Church at different times

during the church’s early years. c Sugg Fort

eventually became the church’s pastor. As families

continued to migrate to the area, more churches

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

33

sprang into existence; and the area became evenly

split between the Baptist and Methodist faiths.

Most families who professed the Methodist faith

worshiped at nearby Bethel Methodist Church with

Reverend James Gunn. Reverend James and

Reverend Thomas Gunn were the pioneers of

Methodism in the area. The Gunns preached to

various congregations that comprised “circuits,”

some of which still exist today.

The fact that the Bell family was of a different

religious faith than the Gunns did not preclude a

lifelong friendship between the two families.

Reverend Thomas Gunn officiated at several of the

Bell children’s weddings, and his daughters, Martha

and Elizabeth, married sons of John Bell.

Both the Red River Baptist Church and Bethel

Methodist Churches continued to grow, with families

from all over Robertson and Montgomery Counties

increasing their participation in worship services and

invigorating revivals. Sugg Fort’s ministerial duties

now encompassed both Red River Baptist Church

and newly formed Drake’s Pond Baptist Church near

the present town of Guthrie, Kentucky. d

In addition to traditional worship services, church

members often congregated in homes throughout the

community to read scripture, sing hymns, and pray

to the Almighty.

The Bells Prosper

John and Lucy Bell had three more children —

Elizabeth, Richard Williams, and Joel Egbert Bell, in

the years following their emigration to Tennessee.

Around 1814, the Bells’ two oldest sons, Jesse and

John Jr., joined the 2nd Tennessee Regiment and

fought under then Major General Andrew Jackson, at

Horseshoe Bend in 1814 and New Orleans in 1815.

34 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

During this time, the Bells also patented an

additional 100-acre tract of land, which increased

the size of their farm to 320 acres. 13 Along with

Dean and the other slaves, Bell and his sons cleared

new fields and planted orchards that still exist today.

John Jr. and Drewry Bell, along with neighbor Alex

Gunn, engaged in flatboating between Port Royal and

New Orleans. During the summer, they built

flatboats and loaded them with goods and produce to

sell for high dollar in New Orleans. When the Red

River rose enough for safe passage, usually in the

spring, they would begin their journey up the Red

River to the Cumberland, then to the Ohio and

Mississippi rivers, landing in New Orleans some

weeks later. After selling their goods, they would sell

the scrap lumber from their flatboats for extra money

to return home on.

The first marriages in the Bell family took place in

1817 when daughter Esther and son Jesse married

their neighborhood sweethearts, Alex Porter and

Martha Gunn, respectively.

Because of their acts of kindness, fair business

dealings, and strong religious convictions, the Bells

became a family of great prominence and enjoyed a

good rapport with other families in the community.

John Bell was a man of great wealth and influence in

the community, eventually becoming an elder of Red

River Baptist Church, an honor that he and his

family held in the highest regards. 14 The Bell home

was the site of many social gatherings where the

Johnstons, Gunns, Forts, Frank Miles, and others

frequently gathered for dinner, chat and worship.

One of the most frequent visitors to the Bell home

was Professor Richard Powell. A man of knowledge

13
Tennessee Grant Book K
, p. 403.

14
Red River Baptist Church Minutes (1791-1826)
.

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

35

and polite manner, Powell always made it a point to

visit the Bells when he was in the area. He always

began his visits by praising Elizabeth’s progress in

school, and often spoke of her irresistible charm and

beauty.

Another frequent visitor to the Bell home was

Joshua Gardner, a handsome and well-mannered

young man who lived on a farm that bordered the

south side of the Bell property. It seemed the only

thing Gardner and Professor Powell shared in

common was their unmistakable fondness for

Elizabeth Bell.

Joshua Gardner, six years Elizabeth’s senior, was

known as one of the brightest and most outspoken

young men in the community, and never once

attempted to hide his fondness for her. The Bells

were very fond of Gardner and his family, and had no

problems with his visiting Elizabeth on a regular

basis. At the young age of 12, Elizabeth was not yet

ready for serious courtship and spent much of her

time with other girls.

Elizabeth’s two closest friends were Rebecca Porter

and Partheny (Theny) Thorn. Rebecca Porter was the

younger sister of Alex Porter, who married Elizabeth’s

older sister, Esther. Theny Thorn was the adopted

daughter of James and Jane Johnston. The three

girls were the best of friends, and often slumbered,

went on picnics, and took hikes together through the

forest and along the Red River.

36 P A T

F I T Z H U G H

CHAPTER THREE

Trouble Begins

A LARGE AND HAPPY FAMILY, the Bells

enjoyed everything life had to offer — until

one day in 1817. What happened on that

cool, fall day would remain with John Bell’s family

for the next eleven years, inflicting terror and

humiliation that would alter their lives forever and

baffle the most learned of scholars.

Strange Animals and People Appear

John Bell was walking through one of his

cornfields when he came upon a strange-looking

animal standing in a corn row. Its body was

unmistakably that of a dog, but the head closely

resembled that of a rabbit and had bright, green

eyes. Unlike anything Bell had ever seen before, the

creature stared at him for several minutes without

moving.

Baffled and somewhat frightened, Bell loaded his

shotgun and took aim at the creature. As quickly as

THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT

37

he could put his finger on the trigger, the creature

ran away. He looked through every corn row for the

creature but found nothing, not even a track.

Although he could not easily forget the sinister look

that the creature gave him, Bell decided it was

probably a mix-bred dog that had strayed into the

cornfield.

Bell thought nothing more of the incident until

dinner one evening about a week later when

Elizabeth and Drewry mentioned having seen an old

woman walking in the orchard and mysteriously

disappearing after a short time.

Upon hearing this, he told them that who they saw

was probably a new neighbor who had accidentally

wandered onto the property and quickly exited upon

seeing them and realizing their trespass. Given the

large number of people migrating to the area at the

time, this was a reasonable explanation and nothing