Elvis and me

A young woman named NANCY J. BURDINE married ABNER HAMPTON TACKETT, both b. 1825, and they begat:

MARTHA TACKETT m. A. WHITE MANSELL, and begat:

OCTAVIA LAVENIA “LUCY” MANSELL m. ROBERT LEE “BOB” SMITH, and begat:

GLADYS LOVE SMITH m. VERNON ELVIS PRESLEY, and begat:

ELVIS ARON PRESLEY (b. January 8, 1935 d. August 16, 1977)

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NOW, start with that same young couple: NANCY J. BURDINE m. ABNER HAMPTON TACKETT and begat:

SERENA B. VALE TACKETT m. RICHARD “DICK” PENNINGTON, and begat:

SARAH ELIZABETH PENNINGTON m. ISAAC LAFAYETTE “IKE” TURNER and begat:

MARION MONROE TURNER m. KATIE BELL PIERCE and begat:

ISAAC LAFAYETTE TURNER (b. 1905) m. RUTH MARIE TIMMONS (b. 1907) in 1925 and begat:

BETTY JEAN TURNER (B. J. Trotter) (b. 1942)

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The daughter of my father's cousin, Hazel Wright Jones of Oxford, Miss., spent a quarter of a century compiling a 500-page book* tracing our family tree. I treasure my copy. One of the interesting persons she found in our family tree is Elvis Presley!

Abner Tackett and Nancy J. Burdine Tackett were my great-great-great- grandparents on my father's side and Elvis' great-great grandparents on his mother's side.

I remember my daddy’s stories about “Grandma Pennington” – Serena - moving her children by wagon after her husband was killed in the Civil War and fighting off Indians along the way.

And, I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Elvis on the car radio and exactly where I was when I heard he had died – 30 years ago today.

Thanks, Hazel, for the family tree! And, thanks, Elvis, for the thrills.

* LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CALL NUMBER: E548 .W55 1991. 11. 92-125897: Jones, Hazel W. (Hazel Wright), 1931- ) Wright-Tubbs family tree and related branches. Memphis, TN (5049 Haleville Rd., Memphis 38116): H.W. Jones, c1991, 474 p.: ill. (some col.).

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BBC’s “This Day in History, August 16, 1977, article and broadcast: LINK