Elvis's great-
The Mansell's migrated from Norman France to Scotland, and then later to Ireland. In the 18th century the family came to the American Colonies. The appellation "white" in Morning Dove's name refers to her status as a friendly Indian. Early American settlers called peaceable Indians "white," while "red" was the designation for warring Indians or those who sided with the British in the Revolutionary War. It was common for male settlers in the West to marry "white" Indians as there was a scarcity of females on the American frontier.
Like many young men in the American Southwest, William Mansell fought with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars of the early nineteenth century. He fought with Old Hickory in Alabama, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and later in Florida too. Returning to Tennessee from the Indian Wars, William Mansell married Morning White Dove. Elaine Dundy says of the marriage, he (William Mansell) gained "age-
Like many other settlers, the newlyweds migrated to Alabama from Tennessee to claim lands garnered in the Indian Wars. The Mansell's settled in Marion County in northeast Alabama near the Mississippi border. The Scots-
And a very interesting group they were. The Anglican Reverend Woodmason had this to say about the Scots-
The Scots-
There were other views on the passionate lifestyle of the Scots-
Think of Elvis in these words: the will to dare and the power to execute, a disdain of control in all his movements indicating a habitual independence of thought and action. This is the Scots-
Their land was fertile and they built a substantial house near the town of Hamilton. They had three offspring, the eldest of who was John Mansell, born in 1828, and Elvis's great-
northeast Mississippi."
John Mansell squandered the legacy of the family farm. In 1880 he abdicated to Oxford, Mississippi, changing his name to Colonel Lee Mansell. His sons left Hamilton to seek their fortunes in the town of Saltillo, Mississippi, near Tupelo, the birth place of Elvis Presley. The third of John Mansell's sons, White Mansell, became the patriarch of the family with John Mansell's removal to Oxford. White Mansell was Elvis's great-
Of note is the religion, Jewish, of Martha's mother, Nancy Tackett. It was unusual to find a Jewish settler in Mississippi during this time. All accounts point to White Mansell as a hard-
However the life of a sharecropper was not unremittingly grim. They had music and dancing and the comfort of religion. Tenant farmers, sharecroppers, were often invited to the owner's house on Saturday nights for square dancing and parties. Sundays there were picnics on the ground after church. Although there was little hope of escaping poverty, it was a life of community with some gayety. Enter now Doll Mansell, Gladys Presley's mother and Elvis's grandmother, of whom Elaine Dundy had this to say. "And the gayest of all the girls at these gatherings, the acknowledged beauty, was the slim, exquisite, tubercular, porcelainfeatured, spoiled third daughter of White Mansell...Doll." She was a delicate beauty and the apple of her father's eye. She did not marry until twenty-
Bob Smith was the son of White Mansell's sister, Ann. Ann Mansell was a striking woman of dignity and stature, a commanding presence until her death at eighty-
Doll would be bedridden from tuberculosis throughout the marriage. Like his uncle and father-
Elaine Dundy: "Genetically speaking, what produced Elvis is quite a mixture. At the beginning, to French Norman blood was added Scots-
Less is known of Elvis's paternal heritage through his father, Vernon. The first Pressley in America was an Anglo-
Andrew fought in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War in the South, the Battle of Eutah Springs, South Carolina, 1781. The history of the Presleys picks up again with Dunnan Pressley, Junior, in the middle of the 19th century. Dunnan married Martha Jane Wesson at Fulton,
Mississippi, the seat of Itawamba County, in 1861. Like many others, Dunnan was probably drawn to the region by cheap land offered to veterans of the Mexican War. In those days richly timbered acreage went for twenty-
The Civil War broke out and Dunnan joined the Confederate Army-
Dunnan Presley's daughter, Rosella, internalized the abandonment and re-
Elvis's paternal line continued through Rosella's son, Jessie Dee Presley (1896-
Jessie worked hard and played hard. He was an honest man, but he enjoyed drinking whiskey and was often involved in drunken bar brawls. As a result, Jessie spent many a night sobering up in jail. He was a slim, handsome man about six feet tall with black hair. I reckon Elvis inherited his looks from Jessie. He was also a dapper dresser. Clothes were one the most important things in his life. We used to call him "the lawyer" because he dressed so smart. He loved fine clothes. His favorite suit was a tailor-
He saved up for months until he had enough money to buy it-
It was toward Vernon that much of Jessie's abandoning was directed. Vernon was scared of J.D., any transgression of his father's rules could provoke a beating. This, combined with Jessie's drunken and philandering ways, caused permanent harm to their relationship. In many respects it was as if Vernon had no father as Jessie repeated his own father abandonment on his children. This theme of father abandonment reverberates throughout Elvis's paternal lineage. It is a strong clue to the abandonment that Elvis felt, and perpetrated, in his own life.
The Mansell's migrated from Norman France to Scotland, and then later to Ireland. In the 18th century the family came to the American Colonies. The appellation "white" in Morning Dove's name refers to her status as a friendly Indian. Early American settlers called peaceable Indians "white," while "red" was the designation for warring Indians or those who sided with the British in the Revolutionary War. It was common for male settlers in the West to marry "white" Indians as there was a scarcity of females on the American frontier.
Like many young men in the American Southwest, William Mansell fought with Andrew Jackson in the Indian Wars of the early nineteenth century. He fought with Old Hickory in Alabama, at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, and later in Florida too. Returning to Tennessee from the Indian Wars, William Mansell married Morning White Dove. Elaine Dundy says of the marriage, he (William Mansell) gained "age-
Like many other settlers, the newlyweds migrated to Alabama from Tennessee to claim lands garnered in the Indian Wars. The Mansell's settled in Marion County in northeast Alabama near the Mississippi border. The Scots-
And a very interesting group they were. The Anglican Reverend Woodmason had this to say about the Scots-
The Scots-
There were other views on the passionate lifestyle of the Scots-
Think of Elvis in these words: the will to dare and the power to execute, a disdain of control in all his movements indicating a habitual independence of thought and action. This is the Scots-
Their land was fertile and they built a substantial house near the town of Hamilton. They had three offspring, the eldest of who was John Mansell, born in 1828, and Elvis's great-
northeast Mississippi."
John Mansell squandered the legacy of the family farm. In 1880 he abdicated to Oxford, Mississippi, changing his name to Colonel Lee Mansell. His sons left Hamilton to seek their fortunes in the town of Saltillo, Mississippi, near Tupelo, the birth place of Elvis Presley. The third of John Mansell's sons, White Mansell, became the patriarch of the family with John Mansell's removal to Oxford. White Mansell was Elvis's great-
Of note is the religion, Jewish, of Martha's mother, Nancy Tackett. It was unusual to find a Jewish settler in Mississippi during this time. All accounts point to White Mansell as a hard-
However the life of a sharecropper was not unremittingly grim. They had music and dancing and the comfort of religion. Tenant farmers, sharecroppers, were often invited to the owner's house on Saturday nights for square dancing and parties. Sundays there were picnics on the ground after church. Although there was little hope of escaping poverty, it was a life of community with some gayety. Enter now Doll Mansell, Gladys Presley's mother and Elvis's grandmother, of whom Elaine Dundy had this to say. "And the gayest of all the girls at these gatherings, the acknowledged beauty, was the slim, exquisite, tubercular, porcelainfeatured, spoiled third daughter of White Mansell...Doll." She was a delicate beauty and the apple of her father's eye. She did not marry until twenty-
Bob Smith was the son of White Mansell's sister, Ann. Ann Mansell was a striking woman of dignity and stature, a commanding presence until her death at eighty-
Doll would be bedridden from tuberculosis throughout the marriage. Like his uncle and father-
Elaine Dundy: "Genetically speaking, what produced Elvis is quite a mixture. At the beginning, to French Norman blood was added Scots-
Less is known of Elvis's paternal heritage through his father, Vernon. The first Pressley in America was an Anglo-
Andrew fought in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War in the South, the Battle of Eutah Springs, South Carolina, 1781. The history of the Presleys picks up again with Dunnan Pressley, Junior, in the middle of the 19th century. Dunnan married Martha Jane Wesson at Fulton,
Mississippi, the seat of Itawamba County, in 1861. Like many others, Dunnan was probably drawn to the region by cheap land offered to veterans of the Mexican War. In those days richly timbered acreage went for twenty-
The Civil War broke out and Dunnan joined the Confederate Army-
Dunnan Presley's daughter, Rosella, internalized the abandonment and re-
Elvis's paternal line continued through Rosella's son, Jessie Dee Presley (1896-
Jessie worked hard and played hard. He was an honest man, but he enjoyed drinking whiskey and was often involved in drunken bar brawls. As a result, Jessie spent many a night sobering up in jail. He was a slim, handsome man about six feet tall with black hair. I reckon Elvis inherited his looks from Jessie. He was also a dapper dresser. Clothes were one the most important things in his life. We used to call him "the lawyer" because he dressed so smart. He loved fine clothes. His favorite suit was a tailor-
He saved up for months until he had enough money to buy it-
It was toward Vernon that much of Jessie's abandoning was directed. Vernon was scared of J.D., any transgression of his father's rules could provoke a beating. This, combined with Jessie's drunken and philandering ways, caused permanent harm to their relationship. In many respects it was as if Vernon had no father as Jessie repeated his own father abandonment on his children. This theme of father abandonment reverberates throughout Elvis's paternal lineage. It is a strong clue to the abandonment that Elvis felt, and perpetrated, in his own life.
