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John Bell died in December of 1821, and according to Witch legends, a small vial containing an unidentified liquid was found that Bell had taken some of the previous evening (The Bell, 2005). John Bell, Jr. gave some of the liquid to the cat, and it died almost instantly. The Witch spoke up then and said it had given John Bell a large dose from the vial the previous evening, and that it had fixed him. The Witch laughed at the funeral, and sang songs. The Witch told Lucy Bell it would return in seven years, which it did, and held long conversations with John Bell Jr., then promised to return in 17 years. Several months after John BellĘs death, Betsy Bell broke off her engagement to marry her childhood sweetheart, Joshua Gardner, because the Witch strongly opposed the relationship (Norfleet, 2005). Encounters with the Bell Witch decreased after Betsy broke off her engage ent to Gardner(The Bell, 2005). In 1824, Betsy married her former tutor, Richard Powell, apparently without any opposition from the Witch. Richard Powell supposedly was a frequent visitor to the Bell house during the Witch visitations, and some believe he kept a journal containing information about this strange phenomenon. A book was published in 1997 by Brent Monahan about the Witch, based largely on PowellĘs journal, but Monahan says his wor |
