The Bell Witch: The Full Account Read Online Free PDF

The fields and sparse forests
    lining the river made excellent planting areas and
    gathering places for families to picnic and play.
    A number of other families lived in the community;
    including, James Johnston and his brother, William;
    the Forts, Frederick and Kate Batts, Jeremiah Batts,
    Benjamin Batts, the Gardners, the Porters, James
    Byrns, and Frank Miles. Bordering the Bell farm on
    the east side was the Johnston family farm,
    consisting of James Johnston and his two sons,
    John and Calvin.
    The Johnstons were the Bells’ closest neighbors.
    James Johnston was an old and devout Christian
    and the founder of Johnston's Campground, located
    at the confluence of Johnston Spring and Sturgeon
    Creek. Families came to the campground from all
    over the countryside, staying for weeks at a time to
    sing hymns and praise the Almighty.
    The Gunns and the Forts, two prominent families
    of religious leaders in the community, frequently held
    revivals and other worship services at the
    campground. John and Calvin Johnston continued
    to maintain Johnston’s Campground up until the
    mid 1850’s.
    Doctors were scarce, with most being located at
    major trading centers. The community doctor was
    Dr. George Hopson of Port Royal. b While quite a
    distance from most other settlements, Hopson was
    said to have always been where he was needed in the
    blink of an eye.
    There was one school in the area, located on
    James Johnston’s farm near the Bell property line.

    30 P A T
    F I T Z H U G H
    Johnston had donated this particular tract of land to
    be used as a school. The first class was held in 1812
    and was taught by Reverend James Gunn, who had
    recently moved to the area. Among his pupils were
    Jeremiah Batts, Jr., Thomas and William Martin,
    James Christy, and James, Joseph, William and
    Edward Gunn. The tuition paid was 50 cents per
    month. 10
    Several of the Bell children were later educated at
    this school under the tutelage of Professor Richard
    Powell, a bright, young mathematician who came to
    the area about 1815 from Halifax County, North
    Carolina. Powell was known to be very strict on his
    students, often detaining them after school and on
    into the evening until they had fully understood and
    completed the day’s lesson. He was also one of the
    very few teachers in Tennessee at the time that was
    educated beyond the basic level of schooling.
    Tennessee Historian Albert Virgil Goodpasture
    describes what schools were like in the early days of
    Robertson County, Tennessee:
    “In the early days of the county there were no
    schools which afforded more than an elementary
    education. They were usually taught in rude log
    houses built in some old field, and were
    supported by subscription, or the tuition of
    pupils.
    The curriculum embraced reading, writing,
    arithmetic, grammar, and geography, with the
    first three receiving the greater part of the
    attention. The teachers were frequently of very
    limited education, and one who could take a

    10 Albert Virgil Goodpasture, Goodspeed History of Tennessee – Robertson County , 1886, p. 861.

    THE BELL WITCH: THE FULL ACCOUNT
    31
    class through the ordinary arithmetic was
    considered an excellent scholar.” 11
    There were several towns in the general vicinity of
    the Bell farm, including Port Royal, Springfield,
    Clarksville, and Nashville, all in Tennessee. Just
    over the Kentucky state line and only a few miles
    away were Keysburg and Adairville, Kentucky.
    Port Royal, situated on the Red River about seven
    miles upstream from the Bell farm, was the principal
    trading center of Robertson County at the time.
    More navigable in those days, the Red River was an
    important steamboat route to New Orleans and other
    ports by way of the Cumberland, Ohio, and
    Mississippi rivers. In addition to being a stop along a
    key stage route, Port Royal was also the point of
    convergence for several roads major roads connecting
    Adairville, Clarksville, and Springfield.
    The significance of Port