PRESLEY FAMILY TREE – Family Tree – Elvis Father Vernon Gladys Love Presley & Vernon Elvis Presley Biography – Elvis Presley Family Tree Vernon Elvis Presley was born on April 10, 1916 in Fulton, Mississippi. Vernon’s parents were Jessie D Mc Clowell Presley (1896-1973) Minnie Mae Hood Presley (1893-1980)
Presley Family Tree -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 WeddingHe was a cotton farmer & an occasional moonshiners. 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 How the passed on their Southern 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 thats 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 familys 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 kinsfolk 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 its the same with Gladys family, the Smiths.
The bond between mother, father and son was always strong. https://www.elvispresleynews.com/elvis-death/, 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 wed 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 hes doing. He quieted right down.
Having once accepted a belief in his fathers 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 channeled against the familys 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. Ill 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. Whats 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, “Dont 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.
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 didnt 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.