Elvis' mother Gladys Love Smith was born on April 25, 1912
Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Gladys' parents were Robert Lee
Smith & Octavia Luvenia "Doll" Mansell. Octavia got her
nickname "Doll" because she was a very beautiful & fragile
woman. She gave birth to nine children. Was bedridden most of her
life, dying at 59 from tuberculosis. Gladys' father Robert was a
handsome man with black hair. Vernon
and Gladys Wedding
He
was a cotton farmer & an occasional moonshiner. He would pick up odd
jobs to support his large family.
In his fifties, he died suddenly
of pneumonia, leaving Gladys then 19 to work in Tupelo as a seamstress
to help support the family. Gladys had black hair and dark eyes. As a youth she liked to play
basketball. She played the position of forward and was very good at it.
She also loved music and dancing. Vernon was tall and fair haired. He,
too, liked music and had a good singing voice. He also enjoyed working
on cars. In Tupelo,
Mississippi they met and fell in love. They eloped on June 17, 1933
and were married in Ponotoc County. Their son Elvis, destined for fame,
and his stillborn twin Jessie were born January 8, 1935 in their small
home in Tupelo.
Various authors have researched Elvis' genealogy to varying degrees of
accuracy. Although an official genealogy has not yet been completed by
Graceland Archives, there is evidence that Elvis' heritage includes
Welsh, English, Scottish,
Irish, Dutch, Cherokee & Jewish
ancestry.
Gladys
& Vernon talk
on how the passed on their Southern style values to their son
Like all proud
parents they love to talk about their son who was born a twin January 8,
1935. “We had twins,” Gladys whispers. “and we matched their
names. Jesse Garon and Elvis Aron. Jesse died when he was born. Maybe
that’s why Elvis has always been so dear to us.’ Elvis, they go on
to explain, was a family name, handed down from one generation to the
next, its origins lost in time.
When told
that both the Elvis and the Presley family’s genealogy remain
important in England today they remarked they didn’t know that there
was a connection. “I never heard tell of any of my kinfolk coming over
from anywhere,” said Vernon. “I guess it must have been a long way
back. We just seem always to have been here. And it’s the same with
Gladys’ family, the Smiths.” Elvis
Family Photos
The bond
between mother, father and son was always strong. Vernon
recalls, “When
we went swimming, Elvis would have fits if he saw me dive. He was as
afraid something would happen to me.” The crisis of being separated
from his father was noted when Elvis was about five years old. “Round
where we lived in East Tupelo seems there was a fire almost every night
and we’d all go running to see what we could do to help the people,”
Vernon tells.
Although
flames were visible and crackling Vernon was still dashing in and out
the house carrying furniture. Gladys
takes up the story. “Elvis was sure his daddy was going to get hurt
that he screamed and cried. I had to hold him to keep him from running
in after Vernon. So I said,
right sharp, ‘Elvis, you just stop that. He ‘s all right. Your daddy
knows what he’s doing.’ He quieted right down.”
Having once
accepted a belief in his father’s judgment Elvis has held to it. There
is no indication that he went through ever the usual normal period of
adolescent rebellion against parental authority. For what
may have been substituted as rebellion was channelled against the family’s
economic situation which often made Elvis’ life difficult in
teenage-hood. However the
love of his parents was not used as an excuse to keep small Elvis from
learning right from wrong. “I’ve spanked him many a time. A child
doesn’t mind it when his mother corrects him. But his daddy never
whipped him, ” her voice trailed off and in an instant she correct
herself. “I’ll
take that back. “There was a time Elvis stole the Coke bottle. That
was one time Elvis caught it.” He hadn’t yet started school she
explains and their Tupelo neighbors the Harrises adored the blond-headed
tyke. “I saw him start back from their house carrying a handful of
cookies,” his mother explains, “and then he picked up this empty
Coke bottle from their porch.”
In her
opinion a Coke bottle meant cash and candy to Elvis for he had seen
other children collect them and take them to the store for refund. It
was time to teach a lesson “I asked him if Mrs. Harris had given him
that bottle.” When he admitted she had not his mother issued orders.
“You take it right back to her and tell her you stole it.” Dejected
he trudged off. A moment
later the neighbor called across lots to say Elvis had done no wrong.
What’s more, she had several more he might have. The usually
gentle Gladys remained adamant. “He has to learn,” she said. “Send
him home.” At home
Vernon waited with a switch. “His daddy didn’t hit him but two three
licks,” says Gladys, “But none of us ever forgot it.”. Every
teenager boy dreams of doing something terrific! Making that sudden and
smashing success which will assure his place in the adult world. If he
is so rash as to voice that dream he swiftly hears the adult counsel,
"Don’t kid yourself." Yet, there
was an 18-year-old lad, who lived in poverty, who dared to dream his
dream and then one day in the summer of 1953 his dream came true. At 21 Elvis
Aron Presley has become a national legend. Parents gossip about him.
Critics argue about him. Rock n roll fans love him. His name showed four
hit records simultaneously, all in first place on Top, Tunes and
Talent. His
is the fastest selling album RCA-Victor has ever issued. Sales of his
"Heartbreak Hotel" are nearing the 2 million-dollar mark and
his Hollywood screen test promises he will further enhance his fame when
he becomes a motion picture star.
Most
Broadway promoters agree, "This guy tops Sinatra! When bobbysoxers
swooned in Times Square, everyone knows that response was hyped for
Sinatra had one of the best press agent in the business, Presley hasn’t
even got a press agent. He’s set the first all by himself. The guy’s
a natural!" He also is
a good son, a good neighbours, and a good citizen of Memphis, his
beloved hometown. Tupelo, Mississippi where Elvis Presley was born is a
small city in the heart of the cotton country a Deep South down. It is
difficult for a Northerner to understand the depth of the people’s
troubles after the Civil War. A few of the favored and fashionable
surmounted their difficulties and flourished. However
others lived in genteel poverty and for most Southern folk all the signs
of good living were lost. By the time the Depression of the 30’s
dumped an extra load on their backs many had found that their only
defence was a fierce independence and strong family ties would allow
them their only resource and joy.
It was in
that setting that Vernon Elvis Presley and Gladys Love Smith fell in
love. "We should have been in school but we eloped," Gladys
recalls. "We didn’t elope very far. We just
went down the road five miles to Vernon and got married," Vernon
concludes. They reiterated they history jointly with terse statements,
which complimented each other. But while
their words were plain and stripped of romantic overtones the look which
they exchanged was eloquent evidence that the bond between is just as
strong as it was when they were runaway school kids. They make an
attractive couple: Vernon is a handsome, wide-shouldered athletic
six-footer of 40 whose sandy hair (now turned grey) curls much in the
same manner of his famous son.
However, it
is obvious that Elvis has inherited his mother’s coloring. Her once
blonde hair (now dyed black for effect) and her velvety blue eyes can
both snap and smoulder. Both
parents have an unpretentious deep natural dignity. They speak frankly
about their lack of formal education but their lively native
intelligence makes them intriguing conversationalists.
