Cherokee County AlArchives News.....BELL TREE SMITH     ‘King of Moonshiners’  August 14, 1975
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W. Stephens wend901@charter.net May 13, 2005, 4:48 pm

Rome News Tribune In Rome, Georgia August 14, 1975
The following article appeared in the Rome News Tribune in Rome, Georgia, 
Thursday, August 14, 1975.  By John Ronner, Staff Writer.
BELL TREE SMITH     ‘King of Moonshiners’ ruled Polk domain at turn of Century
HOLSOMBACK HOLLOW—Like a feudal lord, Bell Tree Smith the King of Moonshiners, 
ruled a 10 square mile area in Polk County at the turn of the century, where no 
man dared tread without permission.
He kept two or three women in his house as virtual concubines, whipping them 
occasionally.
Before 1908, when he died violently, Smith was said to have killed up to a 
dozen men, but the number was probably not more than a half dozen.  
He lived in the Indian Mountains near the state line made his money sheltering 
outlaws for a price, conducting gambling games, selling moonshine and providing 
Charcoal for area blast Furnaces. 
Smith was a heavy-built, very handsome, black-haired man with a pleasing 
personality but terrible temper.  He could laugh as he shot a man down.
“He was a legend in his own time,” said Polk County history buff Ralph Jordan, 
who writes weekly historical columns for the Cedartown Standard and has done 
special research on Smith.  Here is Jordan’s account of Bell Tree’s life, never 
before published:
William A. Smith, known as “Bell Tree” or “Whiskey Bill,” was born July 16, 
1869.
Folks buying whiskey from Smith would lay down their empty jugs and their money 
at the foot of a great oak.  A large bell and rope dangled from one of the 
oak’s heavy limbs, and the oak became known as the Bell Tree.  Smith was named 
after his tree.
The customer would pull the rope, ringing the bell, then retire from the area 
until the customer could no longer see who brought the whisky.
If the customer dallied, a warning shot would be fired.  If the customer still 
dallied, the customer would be shot.
Bell Tree or one of his underlings or women would fill the jug, then ring the 
bell again for the customer to return - but not before the whisky - ringer had 
faded back into the wilderness.  Bell Tree even gave correct change.
Bell Tree operated profitable gambling games in a Bluffton hotel and at the 
foot of his namesake, the Bell Tree.  Slick gamblers who were foolish enough to 
win Bell Tree’s money were shot down before they could leave the oak tree area, 
and the money was taken back.
Once, an outsider staying with Bell Tree and his underlings near the oak tree 
did something that “crossed” Bell Tree, and the moonshine king shot the 
outsider down.  Smith told one of his underlings he could have the victim’s 
personal effects if he would bury him. 
It was said the underling got only 50 cents, and overcoat and a pair of shoes 
that didn’t fit.
One day, Smith was charged with murder.  He was at home on bail just before he 
was to appear in court when he had special instructions for his wife.
She was to alter his pants to allow him to secretly strap a pistol to the 
inside of his thigh and wear it into the courtroom at Heflin, AL
“I’ll shoot my way out if I have to, “he told her.
He didn’t have to.  As in other attempts to bring Smith to trail - no witnesses 
appeared to testify against him, and the charges were dropped.
One of Bell Tree’s main stills was located just below a waterfall over 
the “Rock House” cliff, a rock outcropping on the shoulder of Flagpole Mountain 
where Smith’s underlings and protected outlaws kept a lookout for any lawmen.
The Rock House was apparently once used by Indians, and an Indian trail runs 
near it, probably leading to ancient Indian ceremonials grounds at the top of 
Flagpole Mountain, which overlooks Holsomback Hollow.
Things eventually began going badly for Smith.
Large steel plants in the cities began taking away business from the small 
blast furnaces in the Polk County area, and the furnaces shut down one by one, 
cutting out Bell Tree’s charcoal business. 
Area citizens, led by a Methodist minister, came to Smith’s home as a 
delegation around 1900 and recounted to Smith all the offenses he had committed 
in his life.
Instead of being angered Smith, surprisingly received the delegation cordially 
and promised to lead a better life from then on.  And he indeed made an attempt 
at it.
Smith gave up all his women but one, and settled down to raise his family, but 
he didn’t give up moonshining, which remained his main income.
On a beautiful August Sunday in 1908, Bell Tree, always sociable, decided to 
ride his buggy to Borden Springs, Al., just across the state line, to attend an 
all - day church singing.
His pregnant wife begged Smith to stay out of trouble and Smith promised her he 
would never get in trouble again - that he would even leave his gun at home to 
prove the point.
After the churchgoers ate lunch on the ground, the men separated from the 
womenfolk and congregated in a pasture near the church.
Bell Tree met two brothers who owed him money for two yearling bulls they had 
bought from Smith on credit.  Smith suggested they pay him.  The brothers said 
they had no money, and an argument began among the three.
Smith, in a rage, borrowed a gun from a friend and trained it on the brothers.
“Now, you’re going to do like those bull yearlings do.  You’re going to get 
down on your hands and knees and eat grass,” Smith told the brothers at gun 
point.
Knowing Smith would kill them if they didn’t, the brothers knelt down and began 
going through the motions of grazing.
But Smith made a fatal mistake.  He didn’t watch the brothers closely enough 
and allowed them to move apart from one another.  When Smith turned his head, 
one of the brothers picked up a large rock, threw it, and the rock struck Smith 
in the head, stunning him, but Smith didn’t fall or drop the gun.
Almost at the same time, the rock - throwing brother jumped up and grabbed 
Smith, scuffling with him.  Smith, still dazed, didn’t have a chance.
The brother took Smith’s gun and fatally shot Smith point - blank in the temple.
The two brothers were tried in court and convicted of the killing, but instead 
of sentencing them, the judge pulled from his desk drawer a pardon signed by 
the Governor of Alabama, who was grateful that Smith, a thorn in the side of 
the law, was gone. 
Smith was buried in Salem Cemetery at Bluffton and his tombstone is the second 
largest there.
The large oak Bell Tree has now rotted away without a trace.  Honeysuckle, 
ferns and fungi have overgrown the tree area, where Smith and his men shot 
slick gamblers.  
And a buzzard now nests below the nearby “Rock House” cliff, whose waterfall 
supplied one of Bell Tree’s stills.



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