Rosella
Elizebeth
"Rosie"
Presley
Born in Fulton, Itawamba, Mississippi, United States
Ancestors 
Daughter of Dunning John Presley Jr
and Martha Jane (Wesson) Presley
Sister of
Joshua W. Presley [half], Nancy Jane Presley [half], William Dunnin Presley [half], Rosalinda Presley and Andrew Jackson Presley [half]
Wife of
John Henry Wallace
— married
[date unknown] [location unknown]
Descendants 
Mother of
Walter G Presley, Minnie Eudocia (Presley) Steele, Noah Edward Purcell Presley, Jessie D McDowell Presley, Calhoun H Presley, Mack Presley, Robbie E (Presley) Stacy and Joseph Warren Presley
Died
at age 63
in Pineville, Smith, Mississippi, United States
Profile last modified
| Created 2 Feb 2012
This page has been accessed 17,758 times.
Biography
Rosella was born in 1862. She is the daughter of Dunnan Presley and Martha Wesson.
Rosella Elizabeth Presley b. Feb. 1862, Fulton County, Miss. d. July 30, 1924, Pineville, Itawamba County, Mississippi. Rosella Elizabeth Presley never married, according to records, and some family members speculate for different reasons. However, Rosella lived alone and was a sharecropper in Mississippi, raising her children, most of whom could not read or write. The 1900 US Federal Census for Itawamba, Mississippi states that Rosella's middle Initial was M. She is listed with several of her children. However other sources list it as Elizabeth.[1]
Research Notes
The father (s?) of Rosella's children are not known. It is notable that the father of Jesse D. McDowell Presley (1896-1973) would be the carrier of Elvis Presley's Y-chromosome haplotype. Valentine Bresseler (1669-1742)--the immigrant ancestor of Elvis, who carried the Presley family name to America--would have a different Y-haplotype.
Was she born in 1861 or 1862?
Sources
- "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M4G6-83T : accessed 26 April 2016), Rosella Pressly in household of Millie Wessen, Fulton, Itawamba, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district ED 73, sheet 501C, NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 0650; FHL microfilm 1,254,650.
- "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M961-Q6S : accessed 26 April 2016), Rosie Presley, Beat 1, Itawamba, Mississippi, United States; citing sheet 1A, family 2, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.); FHL microfilm 1,240,811.
Memories: 2
Enter a personal reminiscence or story.
Merriam Langdon
Good thing...Elvis Wallace wouldn't have sounded right...it just wouldn't. Let this be a Lesson for Women when Naming their Children. The Father's last name Isn't always the Right one to give.
posted 8 Oct 2019 by Merriam Langdon
[thank Merriam]
Rosella is Elvis Presley's great grandmother. His great grandfather John Wallace and Rosella were never married and her children were given her last name.
posted 14 Dec 2014 by Linda Franklin
[thank Linda]
Is Rosella your ancestor? Please don't go away!
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DNA Connections
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Rosella by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Rosella:
It may be possible to confirm family relationships with Rosella by comparing test results with other carriers of her mitochondrial DNA. However, there are no known mtDNA test-takers in her direct maternal line. It is likely that these autosomal DNA test-takers will share some percentage of DNA with Rosella:
-
~6.25%
Benjamin Sanders
:
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, FTDNA kit #B218376
-
~3.12%
Rocky Sanders :
AncestryDNA, Ancestry member hornedshaman
-
~0.78%
Mike Taylor :
23andMe
+
Family Tree DNA Family Finder, FTDNA kit #299377
-
~0.78%
~1.56%
Benjamin (Richard) Murdaugh :
AncestryDNA
-
~0.39%
Sheila (Turner) Moore :
AncestryDNA, GEDmatch A073233 [compare], Ancestry member SheilaMoore64
-
~0.39%
Eric Kilgore :
AncestryDNA
-
~0.39%
Rebecca Pearson :
AncestryDNA
Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.
Comments: 4
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In 1970 a local reporter interviewed Minnie Eudocia "Docia" Presley Steele, one of Rosella's daughters. "Mrs. Doshia Steele said this of her plight 'I can't remember anyone ever talking about who our father was . . . it was a big mystery when we were children. My mother just didn't talk about it.'
Rosella never married and any attempt to attribute a biological father/s of her children is foolish.
Hi Kris, I was wondering why Doshia Presley Steele is not entered on her Rosella’s profile?
Good point Cliff - go ahead and attach her but correct the spelling of her name please.
Presley-169 and Presley-1344 appear to represent the same person because: Same name except for spelling, same birth and death dates and places. Same parents
posted
on Presley-1344 (merged)
by Cordell Bowers
Featured National Park champion connections: Rosella is 15 degrees from Theodore Roosevelt, 19 degrees from Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, 17 degrees from George Catlin, 15 degrees from Marjory Douglas, 20 degrees from Sueko Embrey, 17 degrees from George Grinnell, 27 degrees from Anton Kröller, 18 degrees from Stephen Mather, 24 degrees from Kara McKean, 14 degrees from John Muir, 19 degrees from Victoria Hanover and 23 degrees from Charles Young on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.