Infamous poltergeist case in Tennessee in 1818-1820. It is said to be the only haunting in which a ghost directly caused the death of a person. The haunting took place at the home of John Bell in the area of Red River (now known as Adams).
The poltergeist was called "the Bell Witch" because it was widely believed that it was a spirit or demon summoned by a witch to plague the Bell household. The spirit was said to produce a wide variety of animal noises, as well as speech. It struck several people, none more savagely than Elizabeth Bell, a daughter in the household. From the time it first began to speak, it swore that its purpose was to kill John Bell. It was said that it had the ability to tell the future, to read minds, and to travel anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye.
The Witch would often hold court somewhere in the Bell home, talking to anyone who visited, often in a civil and friendly manner, though it also loved to tell lies. Almost everyone in the surrounding community witnessed some of the invisible spook's mischief, with the most prominent witness being General Andrew Jackson, who paid a visit to the Bell home because he had heard of the famous spirit -- the Witch appeared to genuinely like Old Hickory. The Witch also delighted in making fools of various dowsers and witchfinders who visited the house to try to put down the spirit.
The Witch was sometimes helpful, predicting the weather, singing hymns, pulling a sled for some children, nursing the family matriarch through an illness, and rescuing a child from a cave-in. But when John Bell finally died, after a protracted illness partly brought on by the ghost's constant threats and accusations, a bottle of deadly nightshade was found nearby, and the Witch claimed responsibility for poisoning him.
The Witch finally disappeared for good a few months later. No one ever found out what its grudge against John Bell was...