The Bell Witch of Adams: The Story and What Is True

Home › Tennessee Legends › The Bell Witch of Adams

The Bell Witch of Adams is a story told about Adams, Robertson County. Vote believe it or no way, then see what 2 named sources say is documented.

LegendKind of story
2Named sources
Nashville AreaRegion
Oct 30Checked, 2026

The Story
Its Home
Looked For
FAQ

Collected 0 of 12Next legend

Local legend. Not confirmed. Just for fun.

No. 1 of 12

The Bell Witch of Adams

People say a spirit began to torment the John Bell family on their farm near Adams in the 1810s. The family heard knocking, scratching and voices, and the spirit was said to harass John Bell and his daughter Betsy. People say it claimed to have poisoned Bell, who died in December 1820, and that Andrew Jackson came to see for himself. It is often called Tennessee's most famous ghost tale.

What The Sources Document

The Tennessee Encyclopedia entry "Bell Witch" by William T. Turner (published October 8, 2017, updated March 1, 2018) says the John and Lucy Bell family moved from North Carolina to Middle Tennessee in 1804 and farmed on the Red River, and that John Bell died on December 20, 1820. It places the start of the disturbances around 1816 and gives the spirit's actions (shaking the house, voices, the poisoning claim) with words such as "reportedly" and "according to the spirit." It says a Tennessee Historical Commission marker on U.S. Highway 41 in Adams marks the site, and that the family cemeteries, an old well and part of a lane remain. It also says Andrew Jackson visited, but cites no contemporary record, so we treat that as part of the story, not a documented visit. The North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources post "Bewitched in Tennessee" (December 20, 2016) says John Bell, a native of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, died at his Robertson County home on December 20, 1820, and calls the haunting an allegation. It says the earliest known mention was in an 1886 history of Tennessee and the first full telling was Martin Van Buren Ingram's 1894 book, supposedly based on a diary that has never been found, and that later accounts derive from Ingram. The sources disagree on dates: the Tennessee Encyclopedia puts the start around 1816, the North Carolina post says 1817 to 1821. So what is documented is the Bell family, their move and John Bell's death. The spirit, the poisoning and the Jackson visit rest on later accounts and are folklore.

Sources: Bell Witch, by William T. Turner (Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Society); Bewitched in Tennessee (North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources blog, December 20, 2016).

A Note

This page tells a folk story about a family. The Bell family and John Bell's death are documented; the haunting is not. We do not point to private property.

Its home: Adams, Robertson County (the cave and farm are private, so we link the Tennessee Encyclopedia entry, which names the state marker). Tennessee Encyclopedia entry.

On this site: Tennessee History Timeline, Nashville Events.

Looked for and Not Found

The full text of the Tennessee Historical Commission marker in Adams: a transcription only appeared on hmdb.org, which is not an allowed source, so we did not use it.
Any contemporary record (1810s-1820s) of the haunting or of Andrew Jackson visiting: none found in the pages we read.
A Tennessee State Library and Archives page on the Bell Witch: not found.
The Tennessee Encyclopedia entry does not say who wrote the earliest accounts; that detail comes from the North Carolina DNCR post.

More Legends

Plan The Trip

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my vote count anywhere?

Votes and your collected set stay in your own browser. We do not store or share them.

Where do these facts come from?

From the named sources listed on this page: Bell Witch, by William T. Turner (Tennessee Encyclopedia, Tennessee Historical Society); Bewitched in Tennessee (North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources blog, December 20, 2016).

Sources

Read on October 30, 2026. Stories are for fun; the facts come from these sources. How we check: editorial standards; spot a mistake? tell us.

Cite this page: It's Tennessee, “The Bell Witch of Adams”, itstennessee.com/legends/bell-witch-adams-robertson-county/ (updated 2026-11-01). By the It's Tennessee editorial team. Free to quote with attribution and a link to this page; data and tables are licensed CC BY 4.0.

Print / Save As PDF