Them That Follow

George Went Hensley (1881 - 1955) a native of rural Appalachia, was an American Pentecostal minister of the Church of God, best known for popularizing the practice of snake handling. Snake handling was an outgrowth of the Azusa Street revival. In 1910, after reading in Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents... and it shall not hurt them," former bootlegger George Went Hensley, aka "Little George," took a rattlesnake box into the pulpit. He reached in and lifted out the venomous viper, showing his faith to take God at his Word. He then challenged his congregation to do the same. News spread throughout the hills of Grasshopper Valley in southeastern Tennessee. Before long, others joined in the handling of rattlers. The practice continued for ten years until one of the faithful died of a snakebite. Hensley moved to Harlan, Kentucky.

In amputating Augie's arm, they would have severed the brachial artery and without surgical intervention, he would have died within minutes.

The brachial artery is the major blood vessel of the (upper) arm. It is the continuation of the axillary artery beyond the lower margin of teres major muscle and carries a great deal of blood.

Referenced in Front Row Flynn: THEM THAT FOLLOW: Walton Goggins, Britt Poulton, Dan Madison Savage, moderator Amy Nicholson (2019)