Remember the claim?
The answer seems to be “technically yes”:
“Turns out, Elvis’ maternal great-great grandmother, Nancy Burdine, was believed to be Jewish. Her daughter gave birth to Doll Mansell, who gave birth to Elvis’ mother, Gladys Smith. That, according to a Jewish law, which confers Jewish lineage by way of the mother, makes Elvis technically a Jew.”
Source:
Yep that’s how it works. Interesting huh.
But they obviously converted along the way like my Stepfathers family.
In my sister’s case my stepfathers mother’s family were conversos. So he was Jewish. But since my mom was not, my sister isn’t. Weird. We celebrated some Jewish traditions but secretly. How that’s possible is beyond me. And we only ate Kosher meat. Nothing in our town was Kosher, nor was there a Synegogue,o Rabi. And I had no clue what my mom was doing. We lived in a country that was filled to the brim with Catholics and very unfriendly to Jews under the surface.
I would love to know more about Elvis’s background. I was a young girl when he was a his hiatus in the 1950’s.
Interesting that the science of Mitochondrial DNA (MtDNA) can now shed more light on this question. MtDNA is matrilineal (mother to daughter). A biological son inherits his mother’s DNA but does not pass it on to his sons or daughters. This makes it possible to establish a trail of strictly genetic evidence…above and beyond subjective and cultural identification. It is a powerful and valuable tool.
I grew up knowing that I was related to Elvis Presley. I also have done dna testing over the years with numerous sites and have found that I am double related to Elvis both on his dad and his mom side of the family. My grandfather knew Vernon too. My dad and his brother looked a lot like Elvis. Elvis visited with my dad’s younger brother and they had some fun time memories in the past. Elvis is on my Ancestry family tree and it shows basically the same information as on Wikipedia. Nancy Burdine is NOT on my ancestry tree at all, only Celia Ann (Butler) Tackett.
Martha Sue Mansell formerly Tackett aka Manscill Mancell
Born 17 Mar 1851 in Mississippi, United States of America
ANCESTORS
Daughter of Abner Hampton Tackett and Celia Ann (Butler) Tackett
Sister of Elizabeth J. (Tackett) Whitlock, Eleanor Caroline (Tackett) Whitlock, Sarah M. Tackett, John Lancaster Tackett, Angeline Tackett, William Tackett, Abner Wilse Tackett, James Porter Tackett, Samuel Elbert Tackett Sr., Rufus Tackett, Sydney S. Tackett, Celia Ann (Tackett) Pennington and Jerome Land Tackett
Wife of A White Mansell — married 22 Jan 1870 in Lee County, Mississippi
DESCENDANTS
Mother of Octavia Luvenia (Mansell) Smith
Died 27 Apr 1896 at age 45 [location unknown]
Research Notes
There is much debate between Celia Ann Buttler or Nancy Burdine being her mother. I went with close family members information and “The roots of Elvis Presley by Julian C Riley [1]
““The unproven union between Abner H. Tackitt, 1803-1889, and a Nancy J. Burdine (no dates), has been spread “across Internet Family Trees” as fact. However, NO EVIDENCE has ever been given, with any of these “Family Trees,” to prove the Tackitt connection by any verifiable sources. The origin of this apparent “myth”…… “[2]
If as is claimed more than once, by more than a few, the Shroud was Christ’s, and the blood stains, His, as l believe they are, then, Rhesus D Negative Group AB found on it, means all of us in here claiming R Neg blood, are all not just related, we’re related to Him too. And this makes us Jews way, way, way back in time. My mum was AB and my dad O, my kid brother B… All Negatives. And 15% D Negs worldwide started the worldwide count, and remains the same ever since. And as the Basques remain 85%, Rhesus Negs, l’d say it’s a safe bet they are the 12th lost tribe of Israel. And this is where we first knew each other, and why we’re drawn together now. I do have other reasons to believe this too, related to my Mediumistic side. So sisters, brothers, l suggest we keep our profiles low, that’s my gut instinct.