Bell Farm Historic Site

The former location of John Bell's farm where the famous haunting began in 1817. Though the original farmhouse no longer stands, a replica cabin and the family cemetery remain as testament to Tennessee's most documented paranormal event.

The Bell Farm in Adams, Tennessee, is the site of what is widely considered the most documented and terrifying haunting in American history -- the only case in which a spirit has been officially credited with killing a person. In 1804, John Bell moved his wife Lucy and their children from North Carolina to Robertson County, Tennessee, purchasing 320 acres of farmland along the Red River. The family lived peacefully for thirteen years. Then, in the summer of 1817, everything changed.

Strange animals began appearing on the farm -- creatures that defied explanation. Soon after, the family heard knocking on the walls of their cabin, scratching sounds beneath the floors, and the metallic scraping of chains being dragged through the house. The disturbances escalated rapidly. An invisible force pulled blankets from beds, whispered threats in the darkness, and grew increasingly violent. The entity focused its cruelty on John Bell's youngest daughter Betsy, subjecting her to vicious physical beatings that left her bruised and unconscious.

The entity eventually developed the ability to speak, carrying on coherent conversations, reciting Bible verses from memory, mimicking the voices of people it had heard, and even claiming prophetic abilities. When asked to identify itself, the spirit said it was the ghost of Kate Batts, a neighbor who believed she had been cheated by John Bell in a land purchase and swore to torment him. The spirit became known as the Bell Witch, though Kate Batts actually outlived John Bell by many years, complicating the entity's own claimed origin.

The notoriety of the haunting spread throughout the countryside, drawing hundreds of people who camped out on the Bell farm hoping to witness the phenomenon. According to legend, even Andrew Jackson visited the farm with a group of men, planning to confront the witch. Jackson's wagon reportedly became stuck on a flat, clear road as if held by an invisible force, and the witch's voice declared she would see them that evening. Jackson's group allegedly fled by the next morning, with Jackson reportedly saying, 'I would rather fight the entire British Army than to deal with the Bell Witch.'

The witch vowed to kill John Bell, and on December 20, 1820, she made good on her threat. Bell was found near death after months of physical torment. A mysterious vial containing a strange black liquid was discovered next to his deathbed. When a drop of the liquid was given to the family cat, the animal died instantly. The witch bragged, 'I gave Old Jack a big dose of that last night!' John Bell's death marked Tennessee as the only state to have officially recognized a person's death as being caused by the supernatural.

In 1894, newspaper editor Martin V. Ingram published his Authenticated History of the Bell Witch, widely regarded as the first full-length record of the legend and the primary source for subsequent accounts. Before departing, the witch promised to return in seven years, and reportedly did, visiting John Bell Jr. in 1828 with predictions about the Civil War and other future events. She then promised to return in 107 years -- in 1935 -- though accounts of that return vary.

The Bell Farm Historic Site preserves the location where these events occurred, including a reproduction of the family's cabin on the original property. The farm and the nearby Bell Witch Cave remain among Tennessee's most visited paranormal destinations.