WALLACE
Elvis was a Presley alright. But what was known for years by the family and kept a secret for the sake of respect to all involved is the name of the true father of Jessie Dee Pressley, John Wallace.
John Wallace, great grandfather of Elvis Presley and Mackey HargettJohn Wallace was born August 1, 1853 in Itawamba County, MS, to Hugh and Lidya Gideon Wallace.

John later became a farmer who bought and sold properties, and who also was a fiddle player in Tilden and played at most of the local barn dances there. He played quite often at a resort cabin known as "Linger Longer" and would meet up there with Rosella Pressley who would spend many a night there dancing and socializing. The two became acquainted and began to meet on a regular basis.

John had been married once before and lived with his first wife in Texas where she died. John and his firstborn son, William Hugh Wallace, then moved back to MS where he met and marriet Elmira McFadden.

John Wallace died November 17, 1935.

The True Story of Rosella Elizabeth Pressley and Her Family

The story of Rosella Elizabeth Pressley was a tragic one, but a story no different than a young woman living through the reconstruction period of a war between states, a young woman whose daddy left her and her mother and sister when she was just a child. A young woman whose mama, Martha Jane Wesson Pressley, had died in childbirth in 1868 after remarrying a man named William Steele. Afterward, the girls went to live for a time with their grandmother, Millie Brown Wesson. William Steele, a Civil War veteran, had abused his step-daughters and fathered the first born of each, including Rosella's first born, Walter G. Pressley who was born December 19, 1880. Rosella's children would all retain the surname of "Presley" which was her maiden name.

This young woman grew up penniless on White Springs Road in the small farming community of Tilden, Itawamba County, Mississippi, where the men were scarce having been off to war, and the means of support were minimal at most. The Union army had stormed through Itawamba County and destroyed many of the farm buildings and homes and absconded with livestock, leaving many families destitute.

Rosella, called "Rosie" by those dear to her, together with her sister, Rosalinda, made their home in on White Springs Road. The two young women needed the means to support themselves and their firstborn, and with no family but for the neighbors who had become "family," Rosella became independent of her own means and started in to sharecropping her land. John Wallace and his wife, Elmira McFadden Wallace, lived nearby and it was not long before Wallace fell for the young, attractive woman who had developed an independent air, meanwhile, longing for the happiness and security of a solid relationship. What was difficult most was that the men who weren't lost to the war or damaged from it were all married.

A strong woman and yet a woman who was a victim of both the times and of her environment, Rosella managed to raise 10 children on her own, all of whom respected her as their mama and accepted her position though most would be embarrassed by the truth of their illigitimacy and try to cover for the situation out of respect for their beloved mother.

Rosella Pressley and John Wallace shared some trials in their lives, however, fate surely brought them together because out of their love for one another came the greatest entertainer in the world and of generations to come, Elvis Presley. Though they did not live to see him, they helped to create him. God Bless you, Rosella. God Bless you John. Thank you both for sharing your love with us all.

The Families That Play Together, Stay Together...

The Wallace/Presley connection from MS
 as told by Mackey Hargett, ggrandson of John Wallace

It was easy to see that John Wallace had developed a deep love for Rosie Pressley and cared for her enough to support both her and their children. Before he had met Rosie, however, John had given himself in marriage to Elmira McFadden on December 20th of 1880 and sired nine children with her, to wit:

1) ELNORA WALLACE b. Sept. 1, 1882 in Itawamba County, MS. She married Joe Yarber. They had a child Lillian Yarber born October 24, 1905. Lillian married Tearsie Edward Hargett born August 12, 1910 of Marion Co.., Alabama and they were the parents of Mackey Hargett born August 24, 1943 in Tupelo, MS. Elnora died on Dec. 14, 1971 in Tishimingo Co., MS and Lillian Yarber Hargett died January 23, 1989 in Tishimingo Co.

NOTE: Tearsie E. Hargett died June 18th, 1944, killed in action in France.


2.) BETTIE LOU WALLACE b. March 1885. She married Jesse Martin. She died in Red Bay, AL in 1980.

3.) ROBBIE C. WALLACE b. August, 1886 in Itawamba Co. She married George Huff. Robbie died in 1929 in White Co., AR

4.) OSSIE HOWARD WALLACE b. June 18th 1888 in Itawamba Co. He married Mary Barkley. Ossie died January, 1970.

5.) JOHN KIRBY (CURB) WALLACE b. ) Oct. 24, 1889 in Hawthorn Co., MS. He married Rosa Cox. John died 1957 in Tupelo, OK.

6.) SELMA ANN WALLACE b. November, 1891 in Itawamba Co., MS. She married Hollis Huff. Selma died in 1985 in Enciniatas, CA.

7.) JESSIE PEARL WALLACE b. April 21, 1895 in Itawamba Co., MS. She married John Graham. Jessie died November 11, 1980 in Tremont, Itawamba Co.

8.) WILLIE MAE WALLACE b. February 1898 in Itawamba Co., MS. She married Sid Smedley. Willie Mae died January 19, 1995 in Itawamba Co.

9.) ARCHIE HOMER WALLACE b. February 12, 1903 in Itawamba Co., MS. He married Alvilee Swindle. Archie died July 17, 1994 in Columbus, MS.


John and Rosella stayed together also as a couple throughout the years of 1880 to 1935 when John had passed away. He is buried in Salem Cemetery with his wife, Elmira who died in 1934.


No one will ever know or understand Rosella's reasons for staying with John Wallace other than she loved him deeply and he took care of her and their children. For many years Rosie never told her children who their natural father was, nor was it known in the town where John Wallace was a prominent member of society.





 Facinating Fact:
The children of Rosie Pressley and John Wallace were given similar names to the children of John and Elmira Wallace.




The daughters of John Wallace and Elmira. At left is Mackey Hargett's grandmother, Elnora, Bettie Lou (Lovie), Jesse, and Willie. These are the half-sisters of Jessie Dee Pressley.

(Click photo to enlarge)


Thanks to cousin Mackey Hargett, the truest factual
account of Rosella Presley's life is now in book form.

Year in the making, Mackey originally told Rosella and
John's story to Mississippi historian Julian C. Riley who
began further research into the project.

Mackey waited many years to acknowledge the truth of
this portion of the Presley family history, mainly because
he was keeping a promise to someone who's wishes meant
most to Mackey. Having fulfilled his word, Mackey now
feels that it is time for John Wallace to be presented in the
same light enjoyed by other family members. John, after all,
helped to create the legend, Elvis Presley, and is Elvis'
natural great grandfather.

To purchase and read this enjoyable journey getting to
know Rosella and John, the most long-awaited story in
Presley family genealogy, click on the following link:

Go to Amazon.com>>

 

 





The fate of Rosella Pressley was in large part owing to the circumstances surrounding her poverty-ridden, deprived childhood. Never a bad or mischeavous girl, both she and her sister were raised in Church and remained Christian until their dying days. It was during one Sunday mass when Rosella and Rosalinda's father, Dunning Pressley, up and left his family to never return to them. He had gone home to Tennessee and the family he had left behind there before the war. The War Between States had bred alot of hardship and hard feelings for folks from the South. For many years thereafter it was a lost culture, a society bent on reconstruction and readjusting. People at that time often wondered if they would ever "come back" from the tragic fate befallen them from four years of war and eight years of rebuilding from the ravages of that war.

Rosie raised her children and supported them mainly by doing odd jobs around and also for a time by sharecropping. She was a hard worker. She also received support for the children from John Wallace. Rosie would send Jessie Dee to see his father to collect the support money.

It was Jessie Dee who related that his mother was a very strict woman, so much so that he left home at the age of 16. Her children had great respect for Rose Pressley who died June 30, 1924 from cancer, a sign of the struggles and stress in the life of one young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders..



The Children of Rosella Pressley and
John Wallace

1.) The first child born to Rosella Pressley and John Wallace was JESSIE DEE McDOWELL PRESSLEY, the grandfather of Elvis Presley, b. April 9, 1896 in Itawamba Co. Jessie married Minnie Mae Hood and then Vera Leftwich. Jessie died March 19, 1973 in Louisville, KY.

2. )CALHOUN "CAL" PRESSLEY b. May 9, 1899 in Itawamba Co. He died in East Prairie, MO.

3.) MACK PRESSLEY b. Oct. 2, 1901 in Itawamba Co. and died 1917 in Tremont, MS. He is buried in Priceville Cemetery in Tupelo.

4.) ROBBIE PRESSLEY b. March 1, 1903 in Itawamba Co. She married Otis Stacey. Robbie died Sept. 9, 2001 in Tupelo.

5.) JOSEPH WARREN PRESLEY b. January 6, 1907 in Itawamba Co. He married Delma Jackson. Joe died July 16, 1979 in Red Bay, AL.







Jessie Dee Pressley, first child of Rosella Pressley and John Wallace.
Jessie is the father of Vernon Elvis Pressley/Presley and the grandfather of Elvis Presley. Jessie shown with the car bought for him by Elvis.




Cousin Mackey Hargett with Patsy and Jeddie, daughters of Joe Pressley, son of Rosella Pressley and John Wallace. Patsy and Jeddie are 1st cousins to Vernon Presley and 1st 1x removed to Elvis.

 
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