C5

From what evidence we have, we can basically deduce this: The entire Bell Witch incident turned out to be a ruse between a small newspaper writer who collaborated with tourist attraction developers across the world to promote a winning marketing product.

In the 1890s, it was not uncommon for others to use people’s curiosity towards supernatural events and inability to obtain evidence from sources to create a “ghost story” that will stir the public's attention. Sometimes they used local celebrities like in this case President Andrew Jackson to verify the story.

So, in other words, the narrative of this story was not much different coming from the “personal supernatural event” our neighbor’s classmate’s colleague would tell us. But included in the details of this story were some interesting nuances of the era.

For example, in some later sources, some early American culture scholars believed that the ‘whispering’ that appeared in the Bell family’s ear might be from a ventriloquial language. The person who used this ventriloquial tongue was most likely the Bell family’s youngest daughter: Betsey.

At the time, she was very concerned that her parents would not allow her to get married. During that period, it was not out of the question for some young girls to use ventriloquial language to scare their families into agreeing to their terms. This could explain why in the Bell Witch incident, Betsey had always been targeted by “Kate.” At the same time, she was the only witness to have experienced many ‘strange things.’

For example, there were some people who have investigated the background of “Kate” the Wraith. And what they found sheds more light on these dire happenings. This “Kate” was theorized to be the wife of a farmer who once had a land dispute with John. Her full name was “Kate Baez.” It was said that she was a mental patient. She was diagnosed with severe manic-depression, which made her behave unusually. In the 19th century, when mental health treatment was rather underdeveloped, especially in the religious south of the United States, such people were often seen as “witches.”

Also, the tale even went out of its way to mention Andrew Jackson who became president. In the early years of the US, a man like Jackson would become an omnipotent hero in the hearts of the people, therefore, it would not be strange for him to appear in a supernatural folklore.

From this, it can be believed that the story of Witch Bell… was most likely a hodgepodge of all kinds of fear, confusion, mixed in with the hope of the people of the United States.