Episode 16
The Bell Witch Cackled at My Father's Funeral
Up nextEp 17: The Ghost Who Testified at a Murder TrialThe documented facts
- In 1804, John Bell Sr. moved his family to the Red River country of Robertson County, Tennessee.
- John Bell Sr. died on December 20, 1820, after a strange vial replaced his medicine; the family cat died when tested on it.
- The entity called itself Kate Batts' witch, naming a neighbor the old accounts say believed Bell cheated her in a land deal.
- Captain John R. Bell's 1820 expedition journal records hearing of the voice while the haunting was still active.
The Draugr does not invent. He documents.
The Bell Witch of Adams, Tennessee
The facts
- 1804John Bell Sr. moves his family to the Red River country of Robertson County, Tennessee.
- 1820Captain John R. Bell's expedition journal records hearing of the voice while the haunting is still active.
- December 20, 1820John Bell Sr. dies after a strange vial replaces his medicine. The family cat dies when tested on it.
The evidence
- The entity named itself Kate Batts' witch, after a neighbor the old accounts say believed Bell cheated her in a land deal.
- Bell's medicine was swapped for a strange liquid in a vial. It killed the family cat when they tested it on the animal.
- A serving U.S. Army captain's 1820 journal mentions the haunting while it was still happening: a contemporary record, not a later retelling.
Sources
The words, as I spoke them.
Transcript
Heh heh... boils and ghouls, a TRUE terror! Adams, Tennessee, 1817. Something invisible moved into our farmhouse, and it could TALK.
It called itself Kate. It screamed through our walls all night, struck my father. No one could see it. No one could stop it. Heh heh heh!
My father wasted away before our eyes. And Kate cackled: "I poisoned Old Jack Bell! I'll kill him, and you'll bury him!"
December 1820. My father died. At his funeral, as dirt hit the coffin... we heard it. Kate. Laughing. Ah ha ha ha! Still laughing.
Dramatized for the telling. The facts above are documented; the narration is the Draugr’s retelling of them.
Wear the nightmare
The Dreaded wear the mark.
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