By Martha Woodward
On Wednesday, July 9, at noon, the East Tennessee History Center invited the public to bring a brown bag lunch and listen to a lecture by reporter/writer, Mark Brown. Brown and his wife spent 16 years researching and reporting on the serpent handlers who lived in North Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Missouri, and other states in the southeastern portion of America.
In the New Testament, Mark 16:17-18, Jesus says, “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”
Approximately 50 people attended, while Brown presented a lively presentation of his research. He used several examples from the book he published along with wife Jeanne McDonald.
The Serpent Handlers is a true account of the lives of three major families who were leaders in the serpent handlers' religion.
A man named George Hensley is credited with being the person who founded the religious sect in 1908. As the story goes, Hensley was out in the woods praying and thinking when suddenly a rattlesnake crawled up beside him. As Hensley saw the snake, he read Mark 16:17 and became convinced that God was speaking to him. "God said it, I believe it," declared Hensley and he began the practice of taking up serpents while singing, dancing, and speaking in tongues.
Brown explained how one family headed by Punkin Brown (no relation to the author) suffered the loss of his wife, and the mother of their 5 children. As the father was left alone with 5 children to raise, he was reported by neighbors for taking the children to church services where snakes were handled. This eventually became a famous court case in which Punkin was ordered to stop taking the children around the snakes. Punkin obeyed the judge for a while, but soon returned the children to the snake handling church. The judge sent out an order to take the 5 children away from their father, which was a difficult punishment for Punkin. Punkin later died from a snake bite.
Reporter Brown also told the story of a situation in which a man was holding church services, which included handling snakes, in his own backyard. A sheriff and several deputies were sent to the home to tell the man to stop. The preacher suddenly threw the snakes in his yard, which caused the deputies to fire their guns, but no snakes were harmed. The sheriff was bitten and dropped to the ground. The sheriff did not die, but he came close, and resigned from his job.
Brown used the following phrases which he noted were original to the serpent handlers: "going to the box" - meaning the preacher or members of the church could go to the box and take out a snake. "death in the box" - a warning the preacher often gives to the church members, "biting at the wind" - the term used to describe how a snake reacts when it comes out of the box, "the anointing" - how the members get a message in their heads telling them it is safe to take up the serpents, and "whirling" - the kind of dance the members perform during the services.
Snake handling during church is against the law in the state of Tennessee.
Brown and McDonald's book is available from www.amazon.com <http://www.amazon.com> and at the Gift Shop at the East Tennessee History Center on Gay Street.
