 Hensley told his children he was from West Virginia and that his family 's roots were in Pennsylvania . In reality , his family lived in Hawkins County , East Tennessee , in 1880 , the year historian David Kimbrough argues Hensley was born . One of 13 children , Hensley lived in Tennessee in Hawkins County and Loudon County in the 1880s . His family lived in Big Stone Gap , Virginia , in the 1890s , and there he witnessed an elderly woman handle a snake during a revival service at a coal mining camp . His mother and sisters were very religious , and he was reared a Baptist . 
