About SPIRIT
SPIRIT:
The Authentic Story of the Bell Witch of Tennessee is based on Richard
Williams Bell’s memoir entitled, “Our Family Trouble.” The memoir
is an eyewitness account of the Bell Witch hauntings, which took place
between 1818-1820 in Adams, Tennessee.
In
1804, middle Tennessee was still the frontier. That year, for
reasons never fully explained, John bell uprooted his large household
from North Carolina and settled in rugged Red River, now Adams.
Some time later, strange noises were heard in the house. The
sounds slowly evolved into an eerie voice that called itself
Kate. She tormented the Bell family, moving objects with
invisible hands, even pinching and slapping members of the
household.
Kate
held particular hatred for John Bell and Betsy, his youngest
daughter. Betsy bore the brunt of the witch’s physical abuse for
years, even when guests would visit the Bell home to be “entertained”
by the witch. The events culminated in John Bell’s death, for
which Kate gleefully claimed responsibility, singing bawdy songs at his
funeral.
Word
of the events spread far and wide, and today the legend is well
known. Countless theories have emerged to explain the phenomenon,
but the mystery of the Bell Witch remains unsolved to this day.
