From President James K. Polk (left) to Senator Jesse Helms and president Jimmy Carter. From Chief Nicholas Casiah to every provable family member, the Helms/ Presley family connection is one of the strongest connected lines linking to the Presley clan. Many of the Helms family of NC are descendants of Thomas Presley of North Carolina. Two descending families of the original NC clan were known to have headed South.

Jonathan Helms and William Helmes (often variant spellings as is Preslar/Presley) were living amid the Presleys in Pontotonoc and Itawamba Counties in Mississippi, as was Allen Helms and his wife, Maude King, who were close friends with Gladys and Vernon. Allen was a g-grandson of Joel Helms though his father, Julius Hamby Helms, thus far, has not be configured properly into the Helms line. He is belived to descend from William Levi Madison Helms, a son of Joel, whose descendants have stated to Richard Helms, ggrandson of Hamby Helms, and nephew of Allen Helms, that one or two of Levi's sons disappeared from the family fold and hadn't been heard from since. Allen's wife, Maude King Helms, is related through the King and Mansell family lines.

NOTE: Allen Helms was married to Maude King, daughter of Ida Mansell and John D. King. Helms, Mansell, King, and Hargett connect NC down to MS. Allen and Maude are buried in St. Andrews Chapel Cemetery along with Gladys family and Presley family members.

At Milam Jr. High School, Tupelo, Ms 1947-1948, Elvis' classmate in Mrs. Camp's class was Evelyn Carter Helms, a cousin, is mid row 2nd from left, beside her sister. Evelyn's grandpa was Josiah Matthew Helms. Evelyn married "Tommy" and in 1969 they moved to Memphis. Her daughter is UTC Professor Marilyn Helms. Elvis' mom and Evelyn's mom worked together at Reed's Manufacturing,a Tupelo shirt factory. The two classmates, and others, walked to the factory everyday after school.

In a remembrance to her daughter, Evelyn stated: "He sang all the blessed time and drove us all crazy. We'd say, 'Oh, no, Elvis is gonna sing again. If we'd only known." Ten years later, Elvis Presley reserved the choice section at the foot of the Mississippi-Alabama Fairgrounds stage for his Milam classmates.

During Christmas break after the 7th grade, Elvis and family moved away and the rest is history.

Miss Camp's 6th Grade Class
at Milam Elementary School
Elvis is on the top row at right.