GoElvis.com,

For fans of Elvis Presley who crave artifacts beyond the gates of Graceland, government archives hold fascinating and curious tidbits that detail the King’s life and death.

Thousands of pages of Presley-related public records are kept securely in government, court and law enforcement vaults, though many are easily accessible in person or via the Internet.

Presley’s last will and testament, for example, is the most copied public record at Shelby County Probate Court.

And an FBI Web site, http://foia.fbi.gov/presley.htm, contains 683 Presley pages, with files that document death threats and extortion attempts against the rocker.

Biographies of the King, some of which attempt to detail as many days of Presley’s life as possible based on public and private records, apparently aren’t enough for some fans.

“Your really hard-core fans want every copy of anything related to Elvis that they can find, so they’ll look up the deeds to his house, his will,” said Shelby County archivist John Dougan.

“They’ll go that extra mile and actually get the primary sources, which is great. We’re glad to help.”

Presley’s 14-page will was filed Aug. 22, 1977, and recorded in Will Book 209, Page 266. It has long been kept in a vault by the Probate Court clerk, but copies are available at the clerk’s office, 140 Adams, Room 124, for $13. A certified copy is $28.

The will can also be accessed for free on the Web site of the Shelby County Register, http://register.shelby.tn.us.

“Just seeing how he’s set up his estate gives insight to people into his thinking about what was important to him,” said Tom Leatherwood, Shelby County Register.

Copies can also be purchased through the register’s office, 160 N. Main, Suite 519, for 25 cents a page, plus $1 extra per document for a certified copy.

In addition to the will, a search on the register’s site turns up the 1957 warranty deed for Graceland and more than 20 other Presley documents, mostly involving real estate.

The county Archives and Hall of Records building at Second and Washington downtown has microfilm copies of many of the same documents as Probate Court and the register’s office.

In addition, the archives hold a copy of the two-page Memphis and Shelby County Medical Examiner’s report on Presley’s 1977 death.

“We charge a dollar a page,” Dougan said, “but the value is really priceless.”

A short, scribbled narrative on the second page of the report explained that Presley was found by Ginger Alden on the floor of a “dressing room.”

“No indication of foul play. Had been ok in early AM . . . playing racketball (sic),” it noted.

At Probate Court, there’s a 328-page document from 1980 critical of Colonel Tom Parker’s management.

Other documents are available on the Internet, including postings by the public records sleuths at http://www.thesmokinggun.com. The site features a 1971 FBI memo recounting a private tour of FBI headquarters granted to Presley and former Shelby County sheriff and mayor Bill Morris.

The memo’s writer, M. A. Jones, wrote that “Morris observed that he has known Presley for many years, that despite his manner of dress, he is a sober, clean minded young man who is good to his family and his friends and who is very well regarded by all.”

- Michael Erskine: 529-5857