Evy, I definitely think this is an Eastern Phoebe. They are about 4 1/2", have thin beaks, long tails and a delicate appearance.
What you said about your husband squirting the black snake with a garden hose freaked me out! He must be a brave man. When I was a child, in the summer we used to go to Fort Mill, SC and help my grandmother harvest and shell beans from her garden. One morning we got there before she woke up, but just in time to watch a humungous black snake slither through the living room screen window. She lived in the country and had no phone. We got her out of the house and went for help. When they found the snake, he was coiled up in the box screen of her bed (one of the antique kind that had no fabric covering it). I shudder to think what would have happened if we had not been there to see the snake go in her window. After that, a snake bell was installed on her property (similar to a fire bell from days gone by). Of course, you might wonder why she didn't just have a phone installed. I've often wondered that too.