Elvis The King

Elvis Presley was born on January 8, 1935, in Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Love Presley (born Smith) in the two-room house his father, Vernon Elvis Presley, built for the birth. Jesse Garon Presley, her identical twin brother, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. Presley became close to both his parents and formed a particularly close bond with his mother. The family attended an Assembly of God church, where he found his initial musical inspiration. On his mother’s side of the family, Presley’s ancestry was Scottish and Irish, with some French Normans. Gladys and the rest of the family apparently believed that her great-great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was Cherokee; Elaine Dundy’s biography supports this idea, but at least one genealogical researcher has challenged it for several reasons. Vernon’s ancestors were of German or Scottish descent. Gladys was considered by relatives and friends to be the dominant member of the little family. Vernon moved from job to job with little ambition. The family often depended on help from neighbours and government food aid. In 1938, they lost their home after Vernon was convicted of altering a cheque issued by his landlord and employer at one point. He was imprisoned for eight months, while Gladys and Elvis moved in with relatives.