George Went Hensley

George Went Hensley (c. 1880 – July 25, 1955) was an American Pentecostal minister best known for popularizing the practice of snake handling. A native of rural Appalachia, Hensley experienced a religious conversion around 1910; on the basis of a literal interpreation of scripture, he came to believe that the New Testament commanded all Christians to handle poisonous snakes. Hensley was reared in a large family that often moved throughout Tennessee and Virginia, and settled in Tennessee. After his conversion, he traveled through the Southeastern United States teaching a form of Pentecostalism that emphasized strict personal holiness and frequent contact with poisonous snakes. Although illiterate, he became a licensed minister of the...