Tennessee

Tennessee (ⁱ/tɛnᵻˈsiː/) (Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ, Tanasi) is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 17th most populous of the 50 United States. Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north, North Carolina to the east, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to the south, and Arkansas and Missouri to the west. The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state, and the Mississippi River forms the state's western border. Tennessee's capital and second largest city is Nashville, which has a population of 601,222. Memphis is the state's largest city, with a population of 653,450.

The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians. What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861. Occupied by Union forces from 1862, it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.

Adams, Tennessee

Adams is a city in Robertson County, Tennessee. The population was 633 at the 2010 census.

History

Originally incorporated as Red River in 1869, the town was renamed Adams in 1898 in honor of James Reuben Adams, who first owned much of the land on which the town was built. The town's charter was repealed in 1899. Adams was reincorporated in 1908 and incorporated as a city in 1963.

Adams is the site of an infamous haunting, the Bell Witch. The first manifestations of the Bell Witch haunting supposedly occurred in 1817 through 1820 on a farm owned by John Bell. A memorial to the Bell family can be found at Bellwood Cemetery.

Geography

Adams is located at 36°34′54″N 87°3′54″W / 36.58167°N 87.06500°W / 36.58167; -87.06500 (36.581689, -87.065116).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 566 people, 203 households, and 158 families residing in the city. The population density was 231.2 people per square mile (89.2/km²). There were 230 housing units at an average density of 94.0 per square mile (36.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.11% White, 8.48% African American, 0.18% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 0.88% from other races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.94% of the population.

Bell Witch

The Bell Witch or Bell Witch Haunting is a poltergeist legend from Southern folklore, centered on the 19th-century Bell family of Adams, Tennessee.

John Bell Sr., who made his living as a farmer, resided with his family in Adams, Tennessee in the early 1800s. In 1817, his family came under attack by a witch, who was believed to be a lady called Kate Batts. Various accounts written afterward, tell stories similar to other poltergeist legends. It began with noises in the walls and grew to include unusual sounds, people being slapped and pinched, objects being thrown, and animals being spooked without visible cause.

In the 1894 book An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch, author Martin Van Buren Ingram claims that the poltergeist's name was Kate, and that she frequently cursed the Bell family out loud. The activity centered on the Bells' youngest daughter, Betsy, and worsened after she became engaged to one Joshua Gardner.

Several accounts report that during his military career, Andrew Jackson was intrigued with the story and was frightened away after traveling to investigate. Other stories relate that the family was haunted by scratching noises outside their door after Bell found a half-dog, half-rabbit creature. Some stories end up with Bell being poisoned by the witch. Accounts vary about the witch being someone who had been cheated by Bell or a male slave whom Bell had killed.

Adams

Adams may refer to:

Places

Transportation

Bell Witch Cave

The Bell Witch Cave is a karst cave located in Adams, Tennessee near where the Bell Farm once stood. The cave is approximately 490 feet (150 m) long. The cave is privately owned, and tours are given during the summer months and in October.

This cave has been associated with the Bell Witch, a period during which the Bell Family was allegedly haunted by the Bell Witch. The cave is located on property once owned by the Bell family. Many believe that when the witch departed, she fled to the sanctuary of this cave.

In the particular legend in which the cave is featured, young Betsy Bell and some of her friends had gone to explore the cave. While they were there, one of the boys crawled into a hole and became stuck. A voice cried out, "I'll get him out!". The boy felt hands grasping his feet, and he was pulled out of the hole. The Bell Witch (still invisible), then gave the young explorers a lecture on reckless cave exploring.

References