It was 1817 when the Bell witch first appeared to John Bell. Bell was near the cornfield one evening. He spotted a dog-like creature in the cornfield, and not wanting his crops crushed he brought up his gun and shot at the creature. The creature disappeared at once into thin air. That night it started: sounds of knocking and scratching at the front door as if someone or something was trying to get into their home. When someone would look outside nothing would be there.
This is how the haunting started. After the creature disappeared in the corn field, the Bell family became tormented by this strange entity for years.
The entity didn’t take long and found its way into the home. Once inside it began to harass the family and all that crossed the threshold. It most favorite person to torment was John. However, the children were also regularly attacked.
The Bell Witch’s haunting included disembodied voices, ghostly creatures, and incredible
violence. This included not only the family, but also visitors to the farm. Blankets were pulled off the beds while the children slept. There was violence toward to the family in acts of kicking and scratching, and hair pulling.
John wanted to keep the entities attacks on his family a secret. However, it became so overwhelming and he entrusted his secret in a friend, James Johnson. Johnson and his wife stayed the night at the Bell homestead, and was witness to the many strange things going on at the Bell house.
After a while, John asked the church Minister to visit his home. The Minister was going to bless the house and to perform an exorcism. The exorcism had no effect on the entity. The exorcism only infuriated the witch and she struck back with her normal use of violence.
John Bell died on December 19, 1820. Stories are told that the Bell Witch sang at his funeral. After the funeral, family and friends, stood watching his body being lowered into the ground. They were encircled with eerie winds and possible laughter of the Bell Witch.
After the funeral, the entity returned to the Bell home and affirmed that she would return in seven years. The Bell Witch kept her promise and returned in 1828. She kept the visit brief and remained at the cave for only a little while.
