Gladys Love (Smith) Presley (1912 - 1958)

Born 25 Apr 1912 in Potontoc, Mississippi, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Vernon Elvis Presley — married 17 Jun 1933 in Pontotoc, Co, Mississippi

Descendants

Died 14 Aug 1958 at age 46 in Memphis, Shelby, Tennessee, United States

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Biography

Gladys (Smith) Presley was born in Appalachia, in Mississippi.

On June 17, 1933, Gladys Smith and Vernon Presley eloped and were married in the County of Pontotoc, where Vernon was not known, both lying about their ages. Vernon gave his age as 22, Gladys 19. While Gladys was of legal age Vernon was not at age 17. Gladys would hide her real age for much of her life. In her book, Elvis and Gladys, Elaine Dundy says 'Impetuosity and impulsiveness played a large part in Gladys make up. She knew nothing of half measures, nor was there anything half-heated or self-protective about her'. Elvis would inherit from Gladys his unpredictable impulses.

About the end of June 1934, Gladys knew she was pregnant. Some time around her fifth month she was sure she was having twins - she was unusually large, could feel two babies kicking and had a family history of twins on both sides of the family. Gladys was earning $2 a day at the Tupelo Garment Company, while Vernon worked at various odd jobs, including one on the dairy farm of Orville S. Bean. With $180 that he borrowed from Bean after Gladys became pregnant in the spring of 1934, Vernon set about constructing a family home, and he and Gladys moved in that December.

Elvis' birthplace was built by his father, Vernon, with help from Vernon's brother Vester and father, Jessie, whose relatively 'spacious' four-room house sat next door. Located above a highway that transported locals between Tupelo and Birmingham, Alabama, and nestled among a group of small, rough-hewn homes along Old Saltillo Road. The house had no electricity (It was connected but it was not used due to the cost) or indoor plumbing, and was similar to housing constructed for mill villages around that time.^[1]

• ‘’’1920’’’ United States Census^[2]

• ‘’’1930’’’ United States Census^[3]

• ’’’1940’’’ United States Census^[4]

• ‘’’1914-1955’’’ Tennessee Death Records^[5]

• ’’Find A Grave Index’’’^[6]

Sources

1. ↑ Vernon and Gladys Presley: Elvis Presley's Mother and Father
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/M43X-LPM : accessed 20 December 2017), Gladis Smith in household of Robert L Smith, Beat 3, Lee, Mississippi, United States; citing ED 26, sheet 3B, line 70, family 55, NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1992), roll 884; FHL microfilm 1,820,884.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XM1J-4RK : accessed 20 December 2017), Gladys Smith in household of Bether Loyd, Beat 3, Lee, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 17, sheet 1A, line 21, family 8, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1154; FHL microfilm 2,340,889.
4. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VBS4-F45 : accessed 22 November 2016), Gladys Pressley in household of Vernon Pressley, Beat 3, Lee, Mississippi, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 41-20, sheet 21B, line 70, family 384, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 2042.
5. ↑ "Tennessee Death Records, 1914-1955", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QKM9-B7NP : 3 April 2015), Gladys Presley, 1958.
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/2846/gladys-love-presley : accessed 07 January 2022), memorial page for Gladys Love Smith Presley (25 Apr 1912–14 Aug 1958), Find A Grave: Memorial #2846, citing Graceland Mansion Estates, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, USA ; Maintained by Find a Grave .

See Also:

• Elvis Presley Family History