The Leaf-Chronicle from Clarksville, Tennessee • 10

Odyssey of Covered Wagon Ends 3 oa I il 'A 1,13 I Bell Witch Legend Lives On in Folklore of Tennessee Polk Davis Jr. drew this sketch of the cwv- 3 I ered wagons making the first known trip over Winding Stair Mountain. I I and wagon to get through, so that pass between i the mountains was called the It was quite aptly named too, for the creek had washed out its hjmks right up against the road on, one side and Wolfe Mountain was right by Heidi Hein Adams, Tennessee is a quiet town. It is the kind of town that you can visit and imagine the peaceful, serene lives our ancestors lived years ago. For one family, however, life in this community was far from peaceful.

The life of this family was filled with torment. This is the story of the Bell Witch'Legend. I j- .1 In 1804 John Bell, his wife Lucy, and their children moved from North' Carolina and settled 1000 acres of farm land along the Red River. For many years life wen on as usual for the Bell family. They prospered and became well liked throughout this aneaj The first strange occurrence was in March 1817.

John Bell was walking near a cornfield vhen he saw a large black beast. It was much like a wolfhound, with blazing eyes and a spiked tail. When he raised his gun, the animal disappeared. From that day on, the Bell house was filled with knocking noises, hair pulling, face slapping, and other unexplainable events, The Bells wanted to keep this a family matter, but after many sleepless nights they sought help from their friends; The mystery of the Bell's haunting began to gain attention. People came from all over to visit the spirit.

The Bell's welcomed everyone into their home and never charged a dime for theirj hospitality. Perhaps the most famous of these visitors was General Andrew Jackson. Jackson and his party came from; Nashville prepared to have" great fun pur- against the road on the other side. "Dec. 18, Saturday.

early, bathed. ft got all ready to go on to the Grimes' home. of John and; Luce, was only twelve years old when Kate first began her visits. Kate's rela- tionship witn Betsy could be quite gentle one violent the next. When Kate first started tormenting the family, Betsy was very often a victim of her attacks.

Even when Betsy stayed with-riends Kate would follow her, slapping her face, punching her arm, and pulling off the bedcovers throughout the night. Betsy also suffered from fainting spells, Betsy became in-' volved with a young schoolmate named Joshua Gardner. During their courtship, Kate begged Betsy not tojmarry Josh. Kate did everything in her power to end the relationship. She had picked Professor Richard Powell, the former school teacher, as Betsy's husband.

After much pressure frcjm 'Kate, Joshua Gardner moved to West Tennessee. Betsy and Josh never saw each other again. Betsy later married Richard Powell, who by then had served in the State Legislature and was a well respected civic in Robertson County. Their mamage lasted until his death seventeen years later. In ,1875 Betsy bell Powell moved to Mississippi.

She died in 1890 at the age of 86 years old. Even though Kate could be quite sociable, almost pleasant at times don't forget that she i had a brutal side to her character. This side was evident in her torment of John Bell. To this day 1 the reason for her hatred of him is not known. John Bell was hardworking, honest, and a good Christian man.

He was1 the kind of man you would want as a friend. He was -also, as legend will have it, tormented death by a vengeful i witch. John Bell's illness began with a stiffening of the tongie. He said if was as if there was a stick crosswise in his mouth poking each side of his jaw. This malady caused him no pain but happened very often.

The spells gradually came worse, often lasting 10-15 hours at a time. During these spells he; was unable to eat or Continued from Page 2 were nearing Sardis) without going all the way around that mountain looming up in front of us. He was told, "No. No way except to go over the mountain, which no wagon had ever done." Dad asked "Why not?" "Because," replied the native man, "There is no road over that mountain." Dad said, "It looks like away up on the side, there is a road." The native said, "Surveyors are about finished with clearing a Right-of-way for a road, and they have surveyors stakes all across the clearing. That's what you're seeing." Dad said to Mother, "I know we can make it and it will save a lot of miles." Mother answered, "Hadrit we better stay on the road and go around? It might be better in the long run." the native you'll never get those wagons across that mountain.

There are still great boulders of rocks in that Right-of-Way clearing." But Dad said, "I think it will save us a day's drive up that mountain we went. We hadn't gone very until we had to stop and Dad and the boys remo, 1 1 rush that had been left on. the Right-of-way. Ve were literally bouncing from one rock to'another, so Mother asked Dad to let us walk because it was all we could do to keep from 'ing thrown from side to side in the wagon. So we got out and walked over that mountain.

Marion Leonard was too small to walk much, so Mother would carry him until she'd give out, then I'd carry him until I'd give out then he'd walk a short bit with us leading him. After which we'd 'repeat the same procedure. When the wagons reached rocks too big to be pulled over, or brush or logs -were in the road, and there was no way where the team and wagon could be driven around, them. Dad and the boys would stop and remove the obstacle and we'd move on again. The wagons were heavily loaded, so both the horses and Mother and we children were really quite glad when we'd have to stop.

We got to rest; but we didn't realize how hard Dad and the boys were 'V Finally, we reached the top. What a reward-, ing view of primitive scenery we had! We could see for miles, and miles, and miles in all directions-no houses, just nothing but beautiful forests. Such great big, tall pines and other timber! The swishing of the pine needles seemed to be whispering the secrets of ages past about that lovely land. We had lunch, congratulated ourselves that we'd done something the natives thought impossible," and began our trek down that Winding Stair (we later learned that was its name). About 3:00 p.m., we were at the bottom and on our way into Talihani.

After we had settled and learned routes, roads, and directions, we found out that we had gone away out of our way and lost time before we came to that mountain. suing the spirit. As their wagon approached the Bell farm, the wheels stopped. After a careful examination of the vehicle, nothing was found Lwrong with axle or the wheels. Still, the wagon -Back in Tennessee, when Mother and Dad were growing up, Mother had Fannie Black and Dad had known Jeff Grimes.

When they were all grown, Fannie married Jeff and they left Tennessee and came to Oklahoma, and over the years the two families had kept in touch. So we were all excited about seeing old Tennessee friends and ending our traveling and getting settled back to living normal lives. When we drove up in front of the Grimes' home (one of their local friend? had overheard Dad inquiring about how to get to the Grimes' home the evening before in Sardis, and on his way home had stopped by Mr. and Mrs. Grimes' home and told them what he had heard and so they knew we were there at last.

Mother and Dad, somewhere along! the way, had written them that we'd headed for Oklahoma and would be seeing them (hopefully before winter.) There stood the whole family and all the hound dogs out front. Mr. Grimes loved hound dogs as well as our Dad loved his horses. My! What a reunion of friends! Both families introduced their children! and "ooed and ahed" about the other's children, and asked one another a "jillion" questions about each others families. Finally, Mrs.

Grimes said, "Oh, I was so excited, I forgot to ask you to come in. Let us go inside and have dinner." (noon-day meal to them and us in those days) The Grimes wanted us to spend the night with them, but our parents thanked them and declined. They told them ihat we were used to camping so we'd set up our tent and camping as suddenly as it moving and General would not move. Then stopped, the wagon was Jackson was on his way to an evening of witch hunting. speak.

In time the spells became more frequent and intense I equipment and camp 1 until we could find property -to buy and live on. Mr. Grimes immediately said that he had heard that a Mr. Beets who owned 80 acres of land just through the Narrows and about one and a half miles north wanted to sell and that there Was a "three room! house, with a bit; hall "Dec; 16, Thursday: We passed through AJzJndjxirch on it and a good well of water on it. bion, and Kiamichi and camped close to the Dad said, t'Let's go look at it After a period of time, the spirit began communicating with the visitors.

When asked who it was, it stated that it was the spirit of Kate Batts who had come to torment John Bell to death. Kate Batts was a neighbor of the Bell family. She was an eccentric, forceful woman who ran the family farm for her invalid husband. Many years before, she and Johi Bell made a business transaction that did not work to her advantage. 'She vowed revenge on John Bell.

The Bell's forgot the threat and were always friendly to the old woman. After the" winch's statement, however, people remembered that incident and believed Kate Batts was a witch. From that time on, the witch has been called i- Kate was quite a character and spoke openly with the people that came to visit her. She was very well versed in the scriptures and quoted the Sunday church services word for word. She sang hymns with what many described as a beautiful voice.

She also enjoyed hovering over the neighborhood prayer groups led by John BeJI'sgood friend, James Johnson. Kate was also quite a matchmaker. One day, John Bell, Jr. was planning a trip to North Carolina. Kate told him not to go.

She said that a very elegant young lady from Virginia was coming to visit friends in the area. He could win her over if he stayed. John laughed and went on his trip. He returned home six months later, too late to meet the young lady from Virginia. Kate had a genuine affection for John Bell's wife, Lucyj When Luce (ap she was called) was sick with pleurisy, Kate was very upset over the illness.

She sang to Luce and was very attentive to her needs. When the (disease grew worse, Kate brought hazelnuts to! Luce, even cracking them open when Luce was too frail to do it herself. Luce always thanked Kate for her kindnesses. After several; weeks Luce recovered. Elizabeth (Betsy) Bell, the youngest daughter On the morning of December 19, 1820 John, Bell was unable to get up from his bed.

John Jr. went to the upboard to get his father's bottle of medicine. Instead, he found a smoky looking vial half full of a dark! liquid. No one1 in the family had ever seen the bottle before. Dr.

George Hopson of Port Royal was called in to attend to Joihn. Kate was delirious with joy. She proudly said that she had given John the liquid. His death was near, she; exclaimed, because it was poison in the bottle. John Bell lingered throughout he night.

He died the next morning, December 2b, 1820. John Bell's funeral was conducted by his good friends, the Reverend Sugg Fort and the Reverends James and Thomas Gunn. At the grave site, after all of the eulogies were given, Kate sang out iri celebration 'Row me up1 some brandy, O.MKate had succeeded in tormenting John Bell to jhis death, After Johp Bell died, Kate's rampages became less frequent. She stayed with the Bell's "for the nextjyear. She then said goodbye to the family, vowing to return-in seven years time.

In February ofl 1828 Kate did indeed return to the Bell homestead. She hovered for two weeks, scratching on the walls night but never making any verjwl contact with the familyj After that brief visiit she disappeared. The Legend of the Bell Witch lives oh as a fascinating tale of Tennessee folklore. If you are interested in reading more about the story, there are to books which I found extremely "helpful in researching this story. They are, Authenticated History of the Bell Witch, and Other Stories of tpe World's Greatest Unexplained Phenomenon, by M.V.

Ingram, copyright 1961 by Rare Boik Reprints, and The Bell Witch of Middle Tennessee, written by Harriet Parks Miller and published by Leaf Chronicle Publishing Clarksville, Tenni i Bright and early the next morning. Dad and Mr. Grimes saddled their horses and went to see that farm; while Mother and I busied ourselves setting everything in the tent (the men and boys had set up the tent on a hill the previous afternoon) in order, and doing a washing that filled Mrs. Grimes' long clothes' lines. This washing was done on a rubboard-no washing Dad bought Mr.

Beets' farm; but had to' agree to let the Beets' family occupy it until home of a Negro whose wife was an Indian." Again, we saw an Indian in a civilized, domesticated situation, so pur fear of Indians was gradually beginning to vanish. "Dec'. 17, Friday. We went through Tuska-homa and Sardis (called "Bunch Town" by ail local people) and camped. We inquired about a Mr.

Jeff Grimes and how we could reach his home from Sardis. We were told that his farm was four miles away at the foot pf Middle Mountain where Middle Mountain and Wolfe Mountain met to form the Narrows; but that we would not have to go through the Narrows. Of course, we wanted to know just what the Narrows were. We were told that the east end of Middle Mountain ended where Jack Fork Creek flowed around it and that the foot of Wolfe Mountain came down so close to Jack Fork Creek on the other side that there was only enough room between the foot of Wolfe Mountain and the bank of Jack Fork Creek for a team they could find property to move into. The re-! suit of that agreement was that we lived in our tent and slept in our wagons for a whole month the Beets' family moved.

Would you believe? We never had a cold that winter until we moved into our house, then we all had colds. i Well, that ends our travelings in covered wagons; but that was only the beginning of living for four years in a very mountainous, primitive environment:.