by AUDREY CREEL / November 14, 2020
©Audrey Creel, 2020 (All rights reserved.)

Eli Maney was born in Tennessee in approximately 1850.[i] Both David D. Maney and James Maney enslaved boys who were approximately ten-years old; it is possible that Eli was one of these boys, but this cannot be verified with absolute certainty.[ii] Given Eli’s last name, it is highly probable that Eli was, in fact, owned by the Maney family.

Eli Maney was likely the son of Dempsey and Betsy Maney. He was about fifteen-years-old at the end of the Civil War.[iii] It appears that by 1870, Eli was not married. He found work as a farm laborer and lived in Rutherford County.[iv] It is unknown what happened to Eli after 1870.

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References

[i] United States Census, “Maney, Eli,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed October 23, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275524_00217?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1910&_phstart=successSource&pId=4853330.

[ii] United States Census, “Maney, D.D.,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed October 23, 2020 from familysearch.org database, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9BSD-FR2?cc=3161105&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AWKT5-VW6Z. See also: United States Census, “Maney, James,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed October 23, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7668/images/tnm653_1285-0152?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=7451e2d008dd41abb5775d354c5bf5e8&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1456&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=92227684.    

[iii] United States Census, “Maney, Eli,” 1870 United States Census.  

[iv] United States Census, “Maney, Eli,” 1870 United States Census.