19 Facts About Vivian Cash

Vivian Cash is notable as the first wife of singer Johnny Cash and mother of their four daughters.

Vivian Cash inspired his first hit single "I Walk the Line".

Vivian Cash married Cash in San Antonio, but they separated after several years.

Vivian Cash stood by him during this time, and photographs of her were widely publicized.

Vivian Cash drew from the many letters they exchanged for three years before their marriage, when he was stationed in Europe.

On July 18,1951,17-year-old Vivian met Johnny Cash, an Air Force recruit in basic training, at a roller skating rink in San Antonio, Texas.

The wedding Mass was offered by Vivian Cash's uncle who was a Catholic priest, Fr Vincent Liberto.

In 1961, Johnny Vivian Cash moved the family to a hilltop home overlooking Casitas Springs, California.

Vivian Cash had previously brought his parents to the area to run a small trailer park called the Johnny Cash Trailer Park.

Vivian Cash often had to dispatch rattlesnakes and other vermin around the property.

Vivian and Johnny Cash were each harassed by hate mail and death threats.

Saul Holiff, Johnny Vivian Cash's manager, met with Robert Shelton, Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, and threatened a $200,000 lawsuit for harassment.

Vivian Cash arranged to have Vivian Cash's background researched and documented.

The next generation entered show business: Vivian Cash's oldest grandson, Thomas Gabriel, is a singer-songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 2002, Vivian was approached by freelance writer and producer Ann Sharpsteen about appearing in a retrospective program about Johnny Cash for VH1.

Vivian Cash decided to publish her memoirs, hiring Sharpsteen as an editor and biographer.

Vivian Cash's researchers had studied both sides of her parents' families through documents and DNA analysis.

Vivian Cash used his wealth and political influence to gain an act of the legislature in 1848 to free all nine of his children.

Vivian Cash was still enslaved, so the marriage was ostensibly illegal as slaves were not allowed to marry, but her husband posted a $200 bond to gain registration of the marriage by the county clerk, to make it legal.