Has ‘Bell Witch’ Moved to Murfreesboro?!? 
 
Murfreesboro Post
by Dan Whittle
 
 
 
Initially, the family currently living in a historic Murfreesboro home that 
reportedly has a “spirit” residing there, was reluctant to discuss the 
phenomena publicly. 
 
Finally, after encouragement from a mutual friend, the family 
consented for a reporter/photographer to come for interviews and 
investigation. 
 
Drama about this particular potential ghost sighting had been building 
since one of the most respected names in Rutherford County shared 
that he had witnessed something “very unusual” there. 
 
As I pulled my vehicle on the property, when stopping the engine, 
I verbalized a prayer. Don’t laugh, I always “pray” before entering 
dwellings and caves where ghosts are reputed to inhabit. 
 
“I have experienced this spirit,” testified former Rutherford County 
Sheriff Truman Jones. “It’s not a visual thing, it’s a smell … a very strong 
pungent smell. And it’s real.” 
 
Multiple published paranormal journals indicate that ghosts not only 
travel, they can appear in multiple locations at the same time. Upon 
further reading, you’ll understand the pertinence of this question. 
 
Finally, it was time for the host family to conduct a tour of the beautiful 
old home that was constructed around America’s Civil War period. 
 
As the investigative team moved through the first floor of the historic 
dwelling with brick walls that measure a foot in thickness, I asked 
homeowner Gordon Bell where the spirit phenomena most often takes 
 
place. 
 
“Here on the landing, at the foot of the stairs,” Bell responded. “That’s 
where the most manifestations occur. We’ve lived here 17 years now, 
and the manifestations began then.” 
 
With that information, I focused my trusty D-50 Nikon with a 55/300 
telephoto lens on the stairs, and triggered the camera with its small 
built-in flash. 
 
During my 50-year newspapering career including my current wildlife 
photography hobby, I’ve taken thousands upon thousands of pictures. 
 
At this point, nothing unusual or paranormal had manifested. We’ll deal 
with this later in this spooky forum. 
 
In addition to unusual happenings, history also resides in this home. 
 
Upon climbing the stairs, it was there Mr. Bell shared that he has a 
chest of drawers that once belonged to John Bell … but not the ghost-
haunted John Bell of Adams, Tenn. 
 
“This artifact belonged to Mr. John Bell, who ran against President 
Abraham Lincoln in 1860,” Mr. Bell reported. “He ended up marrying a 
lady who was a relative to the historic Maney family of Murfreesboro. 
 
Do spirits travel? 
 
Has spirit Kate, of Bell Witch Cave notoriety, travelled through multiple 
counties and centuries now to the south, from Robertson to Rutherford 
County to reside with this branch of the Bell family? 
 
“I think its Kate,” Truman Jones added as we arrived on second floor. 
 
“We don’t believe it to be Kate,” home owner Bell confirmed. “But we 
can’t account for the phenomena either.” 
 
 
“Most of the time, when walking up the stairs, you smell nothing,” he 
added. “But, sometimes within minutes, when walking back down the 
stairs, the odorous smell will be there … always very strong on or near 
the stairway.” 
 
 
“Have outsiders acknowledged the phenomena?” Bell was asked. 
 
 
“We were having some renovation work done a few years ago, when 
the foreman called me, saying they had possibly hit a natural gas line or 
something, because of an odor,” Bell answered. 
 
 
“I came home, and there were no gas lines to be found,” Bell described. 
“It was that strange odor that comes out from time-to-time.” 
 
 
The family reports the odor appears more frequently when they begin 
cleaning and preparing to have guests in the homes. 
 
 
“The phenomena increases in frequency when we begin changing 
things around in the house, and especially when we have guests,” Bell 
added. 
Former Sheriff Jones, who has the popular “The Truman (talk) Show” 
on WGNS Radio since his retirement from law enforcement, gave this 
account of experiencing the odor: “Jackie and I, along with friends, 
were recently invited to dinner with Sara and Gordon, and that’s when 
we experienced this very pungent and strong smell.” 
 
 
Back to the accompanying photograph shown at the top of this 
account: I was at Walgreens the next day, printing pictures when I was 
startled to see a very unusual, unexplainable form in the shot I’d taken 
 
 
at the foot of the stairs at the Bell house. 
 
My Nikon has never malfunctioned. I have one of the best lens money 
can buy. In all my years of news photography, I’ve never had this type 
of image manifest itself in any of my cameras. 
 
Most intriguing to me, is the vision of “vapor” in the left edge of the 
photograph. 
 
What are we seeing in the photograph? I have no answer, but I can 
verify the photograph has not been altered in any way. 
 
For those not familiar with Robertson County’s Bell Witch: The legend 
goes back to the early 1800s, when North Carolina farmer John Bell 
moved his family to Tennessee where he had a 320-acre farm. 
 
In 1817, some of Bell’s family began seeing unusual visions, and 
hearing knocking sounds at night on doors and outside walls of their 
residence. After a year or more, John Bell finally shared the unusual 
happenings to a neighbor, and from there word spread and eventually 
someone advised John Bell the unusual occurrences were coming from 
a deceased woman named Kate Batts. 
 
Thus, the legend of Bell Witch Kate was born. Paranormal experts have 
published reports, indicating Kate haunted John Bell’s house, with 
the intent of killing John Bell, and keeping his daughter, Betsy, from 
marrying a neighbor boy named Joshua. 
 
Kate reportedly haunted the Bell family almost daily, including episodes 
where Betsy’s hair would be painfully pulled and tugged on. John Bell 
lived until 1820, when Kate reportedly poisoned him. 
 
Word of Kate’s shenanigans began spreading throughout Tennessee, 
and crowds of people began gathering at John Bell’s farm and nearby 
cave, now known as the Bell Witch Cave. 
 
Today, a Bell Witch industry has developed that includes multiple 
movies, videos and books circulating throughout the U.S. and Europe. 
 
Has Kate, or a kindred spirit, taken up residence at this Bell family’s 
residence in Rutherford County? 
 
 
Mark Ryder
REALTOR®
615-439-8653
TN License Number: 322459
Benchmark Realty
Address
630 W. Burton St.
Murfreesboro, TN 37130
Phone Number
Office Hours
Open 7 Days A Week