Ghosts in Murfreesboro

The large antebellum homes falling into decay, the bloody battlefields and the mysterious region itself with sinkholes and caves, make Murfreesboro, my hometown, a perfect setting for ghosts and haunting.

4,000 acres that make up much of Murfreesboro was the scene of the second bloodiest battle in the Civil War. 26,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died here. The battle area is referred to as the Slaughter Pen and hundreds of soldiers reportedly haunt this place. Orbs and streaks of light were sighted in my day.

On South Church Street at least one house was haunted (according to us children)– the empty Parrish home. Standing three stories tall with floor to ceiling windows and a stained glass window on the second floor landing, it was boarded up and forbidden for us to enter. But sometimes the children on South Church would gather and propping each other up, would stealthily approach the house. At the very top of the house a window looked down on all the surrounding area. Inevitably someone would point and shout, “Look!” and there, in the high window, a face would appear. We would all scream and run away as fast as we could.

The first job I ever had was writing about our most famous Middle Tennessee ghost—the Bell Witch. The summer after I graduated from High School I was a reporter for the Daily News Journal. The newspaper was putting out a special edition that summer and my assignment was to write an article about the Bell Witch. Part myth—part authenticated fact—I researched as much as I could in those days before Google.

In short this is the story: In 1817 the family of a local farmer named John Bell was plagued by a mysterious and violent spirit for nearly four years. Beginning as strange knocking and scratching sounds around the house, it accelerated to family members being kicked, their hair pulled and covers snatched from their beds. Young daughter Elizabeth Bell suffered the most, being slapped, pinched, bruised and stuck with pins. This eerie presence soon found a voice and identified itself as the ghost of Kate Batts, a former neighbor. Neighbors and friends verified these happenings and even General Andrew Jackson experienced the antics of the witch while visiting the Bell Family. He is reported to have said, “I’d rather fight the entire British Army than face the Bell Witch again.”

John Bell died. He was found senseless in his bed one morning and a strange bottle was found nearby. A drop from the bottle was given to a cat and the animal dropped dead. Kate, the Bell Witch, screamed in triumph. Soon after the death Kate left the family promising to return in 7 years. She did return as promised and again plagued the family for two weeks. This time promising to return in 107 years.

Who was (or is) the Bell Witch? Was she really a ghost who claimed to be connected to a living person? Or, did the resentment and hatred of a real Kate Batts create an entity of its own? Could the haunting have been poltergeist activity linked to Betsy Bell? How would you account for it?