 Hensley was part of a large family that had moved between Tennessee and Virginia , before settling in Tennessee shortly after his birth . Following his conversion , he traveled through the Southeastern United States , teaching a form of Pentecostalism that emphasized strict personal holiness and frequent contact with venomous snakes . Although illiterate , he became a licensed minister of the Church of God ( Cleveland , Tennessee ) in 1915 . After traveling through Tennessee for several years conducting Church of God @-@ sanctioned services , he resigned from the denomination in 1922 . Hensley was married four times and fathered thirteen children . He had many conflicts with his family members because of his drunkenness , frequent travels , and inability to earn steady income , factors cited by his first three wives as reasons for their divorces . 
