‘Copperhead cuddlers?’ Snake-handling church target of odd NC police raid 76 years ago

Simone Jasper
·3 min read

A snake-handling church was the target of a bizarre police raid 76 years ago in North Carolina, historians said.

On Nov. 1, 1947, a venomous copperhead snake was seized from Zion Tabernacle Church in Durham — but that reportedly didn’t stop the congregation from using slithering animals during its services. Church members joined the Rev. Colonel Hartman Bunn in continuing “to handle snakes at ceremonies on subsequent nights, vowing to take their fight to the Supreme Court,” according to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Historic photos the department shared online during a previous anniversary of the raid show churchgoers with snakes in their hands and around their necks in the 1940s. No one was injured during two services that police observed, according to an excerpt The News & Observer reprinted in 2012.

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The night of the raid, the church was filled with dancing and singing as police came inside and used a pronged tool to put the creature in a pail, The Durham Morning Herald reported Nov. 2, 1947. After police raided the Peabody Street building, the pentacostal church was warned about a city ordinance prohibiting the handling of dangerous reptiles, historians wrote in online posts.

But eventually Bunn was arrested, and he and snake handler Benjamin Ralph Massey were convicted of defying a city ordinance in the so-called “copperhead cuddlers” case. Though the church leader pushed back on the grounds of religious freedom, the state Supreme Court upheld the original decision, the N&O reported. Both Bunn and Massey received fines.

So why might the church have used the snakes in the first place?

“Snake handling is a religious practice often found in the southern Appalachian mountains,” the Museum of Durham History wrote in a 2021 Facebook post.

But wildlife experts warn that copperheads can pose risks, including death in rare cases. The snakes are found throughout North Carolina, and their bodies are marked with “crossbands shaped like an hourglass or dumbbell,” according to the N&O and the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

“Copperheads account for probably over 90 percent of venomous snakebites in North Carolina,” the commission wrote on its website. “A bite is painful and should be treated as serious.”

As for Zion Tabernacle, the Open Durham history website reports the church occupied the Peabody Street building until the 1950s. The structure was torn down in 2008.

The Durham Police Department didn’t share additional information about the raid the week of Nov. 1, and the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources told McClatchy News it didn’t have other details to provide.

What if a snake bites you?

Venomous snakes bite more than 7,000 people each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“About 5 of those people die,” the CDC said. “The number of deaths would be much higher if people did not seek medical care.”

Rattlesnakes, copperheads, cottonmouths and coral snakes are all venomous snakes that live in the U.S.

If you see a snake, back away slowly and don’t touch it. Here’s what the CDC says you should do if a snake bites you:

  • Try to remember the color and shape of the snake. It could help with treating the bite.

  • Stay calm and still to slow down the spread of venom.

  • Seek medical care as soon as possible.

  • Apply first aid if you can’t get to the hospital quickly.

  • Wash the wound with warm, soapy water.

  • Cover the bite with a clean cloth or dressing.

  • Don’t slash the wound with a knife or try to suck out venom.

  • Don’t apply ice to the wound.

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