1. You can look at History of Tennessee on Google Books. It wasn't published until 1903.

2. The earliest written account of the Bell Witch was in 1887 in Godspeed History Of Tennessee

ALL of the Bell Witch writings were based on the Diary of Richard William Bell's Diary, no copies of which are still in existence today. The books with accounts of the Bell Witch are:

An Authenticated History of the Bell Witch of Tennessee, 1894 by Martin Van Buren Ingram. This was reproduced again in 1960. Black Book, 1934 by Dr. Charles Bailey Bell, great-grandson of John Bell. Thirteen Tennessee Ghosts and Jeffrey, 1976 by Kathryn Tucker Windham. Guidebook for Tennesse, 1939 by the Works Project Administration.

The Bell Witch: The Full Account by Pat Fitzhugh says in the first pages that is is a work of fiction, as well as fact.

3. There are claims in ALL the legends that General Andrew Jackson went to the Bell home to witness the witch, and try to help. There are no records in his letters, papers or journals of this ever happening.

4. There are no contemporary accounts of the Bell Witch, aside from the single journal which no longer exists.