Gladys Love Smith

1915 - 1958  (43 years)    Has 11 ancestors and 7 descendants in this family tree.

• Name	Gladys Love Smith
  Birth	1915	Lee County, Mississippi, USA
  Gender	Female
  Death	14 Aug 1958	Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, USA
  Siblings	5 Siblings
  + 1. Gladys Love Smith,   b. 1915, Lee County, Mississippi, USA d. 14 Aug 1958, Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, USA  (Age 43 years) ▻ Vernon Elvis Presley,  m. 1933   2. Tracy Smith   d. Yes, date unknown   3. Travis Smith   d. Yes, date unknown   4. Johnny Smith   d. Yes, date unknown + 5. Lavelle Smith   d. Yes, date unknown ▻   6. Cletis Smith   d. Yes, date unknown ▻ Vester Presley
  Person ID	I188180	Geneagraphie
  Last Modified	5 Feb 2001

  
  

  Father	Robert Smith   d. 1931, Spring Hill, Benton County, Mississippi, USA
  Mother	Octavia Mansell,   b. 1876   d. 1935, Spring Hill, Benton County, Mississippi, USA (Age 59 years)
  Family ID	F76361	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Vernon Elvis Presley,   b. 1916   d. 1979 (Age 63 years)
  Marriage	1933
  Divorce	1977
  Children	+ 1. Elvis Aron Presley,   b. 8 Jan 1935, Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi, USA d. 1977, Memphis, Shelby Co., Tennessee, USA (Age 41 years)   2. Jesse Garon Presley,   b. 8 Jan 1935, Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi, USA d. 8 Jan 1935, Tupelo, Lee County, Mississippi, USA (Age 0 years)
  Family ID	F76360	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	4 Feb 2001

  
  

• Photos

  Photos (Log in)

  
  

• Notes

  Gladys Presley was a riddle: beset by fears, she possessed an indomitable spirit; down to earth and simple, her aspirations were boundless. With hope and optimism she inspired young Elvis, yet she collapsed when he succeeded. Gladys Presley's guiding star was the love of her twin boys, one alive and one dead. Born into poverty, Gladys Presley's life was always hard. Her earnest father, Bob Smith, tried as best he could to provide for eight children and an invalid wife on a sharecropper's subsistence in the small town of Saltillo, Mississippi. Like most sharecroppers, the Smiths were nomadic moving from place to place, from crises to crises, with the regularity of the seasons. Everyone slept on the floor of whatever dilapidated shack they found themselves in, on the same crabgrass mattress. Good years they had enough to eat and the clothes on their backs, bad years they put snuff in their mouths to drown out the pangs of hunger. The family barely survived on the goodwill and help of neighbors. Gladys' mother, Doll, suffered tuberculosis and was bedridden. The family moved often with Doll borne on a trailer like a porcelain queen. Gladys' younger brother, Tracy, was deaf and disabled. If Gladys wasn't helping with her mother and brother, she was working in the cotton fields dragging a tow sack twi her size. There was little time for Gladys' schooling or education. The needs of the family appropriated her childhood. All this took its toll. Gladys was often scared, of trees, the wind, the dark, whatever came to represent the nameless dread of her life. All was not sorrow however, Gladys had an outgoing and sunny personality; she easily made friends. Frightened to be alone, Gladys' outgoing demeanor insured companionship. As a young woman, Gladys loved to sing and dance. Everybody agreed she had talent. To everyone's surprise she learned to buck dance, a sensual solo dance usually done by a man to attract a woman, often after a couple strong shots of white lightning. Gladys loved to abandon herself to music and movement. She had a strong sense of rhythm and became a great buck dancer, soaking in the applause and smiles of her admirers. Her father put strict limits on dating, and at first Gladys was scared of boys, but as an older teen her spontaneity and humor led to many dates. Gladys was impulsive; at seventeen she eloped with a married man. The "marriage" only lasted two days and was a disgrace. Bob Smith, Gladys' father, died unexpectedly of pneumonia in 1931. Gladys was nineteen. The stability of the family vanished. Bereft, Gladys suffered a brief hysterical paralysis. She could not walk. Soon she rallied, however, and became the family's breadwinner as the oldest daughter still living at home. Gladys found a job in nearby Tupelo as a seamstress at the Tupelo Garment Center. She moved the family to East Tupelo. Gladys was passionately religious throughout her life; God and an afterlife offered a vision of hope and healing beyond her hardships. She became a devout member of the Pentecostal Assembly of God Church in East Tupelo that emphasized the direct revelation of God through prophecies, speaking in tongues, and slain-in-the-spirit experiences. Gladys was an ardent attendee of the many camp meetings and revivals that passed through the Tupelo area. She loved the music and outpouring of emotion the revivals encouraged. During her pregnancy with Elvis and Jesse, Gladys spent long hours in charismatic ecstasy bathing the twins in utero in sacred music. Alongside Gladys' religious inclination was a fascination with movie stars and stardom. She was enamored of Clara Bow, the smoldering star of the silent screen, and Jimmie Rodgers, the first megastar of country music. Both of them rose from obscurity to the heights of success. Gladys hoped a similar fate. She read movie magazines and listened to Jimmie Rodgers records dreaming of what might be. Gladys met Vernon Presley in East Tupelo. He was very handsome and affable but lacked direction and purpose. Vernon was seventeen, three years her junior. Gladys hoped her love would inspire Vernon to work and family commitment. She was the leader of the relationship; Vernon might protest her dominance, but he did little to seize the initiative. They married in 1933 and built a house next door to Vernon's father, J.D. Presley, in East Tupelo. Gladys became pregnant with Elvis and Jesse in 1934. She felt a premonition, or prophecy, that twins were coming. She shared her intuition with family and friends. Gladys was weak from hemorrhaging during delivery. She and Elvis were taken to Tupelo Hospital. The new parents were overjoyed with the birth of their son and plunged into grief over the death of his brother. Vernon and Gladys had many difficulties but they never considered Elvis anything but a blessing. At the same time they were grief stricken over the death of Jesse Garon. Until her death Gladys carried the wound of Jesse's passing as would Elvis. Elvis was told early of his dead twin and spoke openly of him. Throughout his life Elvis thought of Jesse as a living presence. As an adult he tried in vain to find Jesse's unmarked grave at Priceville Cemetery. The Presleys struggled to eke out an existence in Tupelo. Jobs were scarce and paid little. Financial difficulties took a toll on Gladys and Vernon's relationship. Gladys cleaved to young Elvis and him to her. Finally she had someone who needed her completely and would never leave. Their bond precluded Vernon, although there is little evidence that he held this against Elvis. On the contrary, both of them doted over their son and considered him the hope of the family. The Presleys moved to Memphis in the fall of 1948. Like many in the rural South they migrated to the city for better employment. They found jobs and got decent housing at the Lauderdale Courts, a federally financed housing project in downtown Memphis. They were still poor and living on the edge, but Memphis offered the promise of a better future. In the summer of 1954, Elvis recorded That's Alright Mama and Blue Moon of Kentucky for Sun Records. This was the beginning of Elvis's rapid rise to superstardom. Gladys' unlived dream of fame and fortune was being realized by Elvis. Gladys was torn by Elvis's success. She wished him the best, but success meant his removal from her daily life. Elvis called his mother daily from the road, and she kept a scrapbook of his achievements. She wished Elvis satisfied with lesser success, even encouraging him to come home and take up a local business like a furniture store. Elvis's fate was otherwise; he consoled his mother and continued his phenomenal ascent. Elvis took care of his parents and freely shared all his financial wealth with them. Prosperity brought problems for Gladys and Vernon. Their lifestyle changed rapidly. Wealth allowed them more distance from each other. Vernon had other relationships; Gladys' consumption of alcohol increased. She suffered depression and longed for a return to a simpler life.