Vernon Presley (1916–1979) was the father of Elvis Presley, the legendary American singer, musician, and actor often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll.” Vernon was born in Fulton, Mississippi, and worked in various jobs, including as a truck driver and a farmer, to support his family.
Gladys Love Smith Presley (1912–1958) was the mother of Elvis Presley, the famous American singer and actor. She was born in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Gladys married Vernon Presley in 1933, and the couple had a son named Elvis Aaron Presley on January 8, 1935.
Vernon Presley and Gladys Love Smith were married on June 17, 1933. The couple’s wedding took place in Pontotoc County, Mississippi. Vernon, whose full name was Vernon Elvis Presley, was born on April 10, 1916, and Gladys, whose full name was Gladys Love Smith, was born on April 25, 1912.
Their marriage marked the beginning of a lifelong partnership that included the birth of their son, Elvis Presley, on January 8, 1935. Despite facing financial challenges and moving around due to Vernon’s various jobs, the couple remained devoted to each other and to their son. Gladys, in particular, had a strong influence on Elvis’s life and encouraged his musical interests.
JUNE 17, 1933 – 17 year-old Vernon Presley married Gladys Love Smith, four years his elder. Elvis Presley’s parents actually eloped in the County of Pontotoc, Mississippi where Vernon was not known, both lying about their ages. Vernon gave his age as 22, and Gladys as 19. Like his relatives before him, Vernon worked at any odd job that came along. For a while, he and Vester, his older brother, farmed together, raising cotton, com, soybeans and a few hogs. Later, he took a job with the WPA, a federal government make – work program during the Depression. Next, he drove a delivery truck for McCarty’s, a Tupelo wholesale grocer, delivering grocery items to stores throughout northeast Mississippi. These, then, were the Presley genes, passed along from generation to generation, some of which undoubtedly were inherited by the infant born in that two-room house in the hills of East Tupelo. Gladys sister Clettes married Vester, Veron’s older brother. Thus, two brothers married two sisters. Few know it, but in the beginning, their roles were reversed. Vester started out dating Gladys. Vernon, eighteen months younger, originally dated Clettes. Recalls Vester, “I dated Gladys a few times and Vernon dated Clettes. Gladys didn’t like my attitude much. As I have always told you, I was too wild, in those days. So, Gladys quit seeing me and we quit seeing the Smith girls for awhile. Then, Vernon started dating Gladys and soon there was only one object of his affection – Gladys.”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. Sometime 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 his 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.About the end of June 1934, Gladys knew she was pregnant. Sometime 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. January 8, 1935, not long before dawn, Gladys delivered a son early that morning, a stillborn identical twin named Jesse Garon. Vernon claimed to walk outside for a moment only to notice their house surrounded by an eerie, unearthly blue glow just as Elvis Aaron Presley was born. After the birth, Gladys was close to death and both her and Elvis were taken to Tupelo Hospital. After Gladys and Elvis returned home, it was noticed by family members and friends that she was overprotective of her new born son. Paranoid that something bad would happen to him. Gladys’ mother “Doll” Smith died in 1935 and was buried next to her husband Bob Smith, both in unmarked graves. So like Elvis, Gladys lost her mother at a young age. Gladys was 23, Elvis 22. Elvis’ family life was turbulent during his early years, largely due to the poverty and financial circumstances of his parents, Vernon and Gladys, however, Elvis grew up within a close-knit, working class family, consisting of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who all live near one another in Tupelo. There was little money, but Vernon and Gladys did their best to provide for their son, who was the center of their lives.
