by AUDREY CREEL / November 14, 2020
©Audrey Creel, 2020 (All rights reserved.)
When emancipation did come, Wesley was able to live under the same roof with both his father and mother, Andrew and Henrietta Maney.[iv] By 1880, Wesley moved away from his parents’ home and lived on his own in Murfreesboro.[v] Wesley married Nannie Armistead on March 29, 1881.[vi] Wesley and Nannie lived in Murfreesboro throughout their lives and established their family just miles away from the plantations where his family had formerly been enslaved. By 1900, Wesley and Nannie had four children – Susie, John W., Elizabeth, and Willie I. Maney – and had purchased a home on Evergreen Street, about a mile away from present day Oaklands Mansion.[vii]
Throughout his life, Wesley took several jobs throughout Murfreesboro to sustain him and his family. Immediately following the Civil War, Wesley and the rest of his family took positions as farm laborers in Murfreesboro.[viii] Wesley remained employed as a farm laborer until early 1900.[ix] In the early 1900s, Wesley returned to the home where his father had been enslaved. The Darrow family, who purchased the Maneys’ home after the war, employed Wesley as a servant and butler.[x] Later, after the Darrows sold the property, Wesley found another servant position as a janitor for a private home.[xi] It is probable that Wesley continued working for the Darrow family at their new home in Murfreesboro. By 1930, Wesley had retired and moved to Nashville to live with his son, John Wesley Maney Jr.[xii] John Wesley Maney Sr. died in Nashville on December 8, 1933 of pneumonia.[xiii] Wesley was buried at Benevolent Cemetery in Murfreesboro.[xiv]
Children of John Wesley Maney Sr. and Nannie Maney
John Wesley Maney Jr.
John Wesley Maney Jr. was Wesley’s only son. Wesley Jr. married Lora Ediste Fields on June 10, 1913.[xv] Wesley Jr. and Lora lived in Nashville where Wesley found was employed as a printer for a publishing house.[xvi] By 1926, Wesley Jr. secured a position as a teller at Citizens Savings Bank and Trust.[xvii] It is unknown what happened to Lora Maney after 1920. Wesley Jr. remarried to Bernice Olive Ellis on October 11, 1929.[xviii] Wesley Maney Sr. moved in with Wesley Jr. and Bernice by 1930.[xix] It is unknown what Wesley Jr. did after his father died. Wesley Jr. died on January 27, 1958 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[xx] It appears that Wesley Jr. remarried once more and had a son, John W. Maney.[xxi]
Susie Maney Minter
There is little information about Susie Maney before 1900. In 1900, Susie Maney Minter was widowed and living with her father and two children: Willie and Nannie Minter.[xxii] It is uncertain when Susie married or to whom she was married. By 1920, Susie lived alone in Murfreesboro.[xxiii] Susie worked as a teacher and principle at Little Hope School in Smyrna, Tennessee.[xxiv] Susie Minter lived in Murfreesboro throughout her life. However, in 1941, for unknown reasons Susie was deemed “incompetent” and placed under the guardianship of her brother.[xxv] Susie lived in Nashville’s Central State Hospital for three months before dying of bronchopneumonia.[xxvi] Susie was buried at Evergreen Graveyard in Murfreesboro.[xxvii]
Elizabeth Maney
Elizabeth was the daughter of John Wesley and Nannie Maney. She was born in Tennessee around 1887.[xxviii] There are no known records for Elizabeth Maney.
Willie Izalia Maney
Willie I. Maney was the daughter of John Wesley and Nannie Maney. She was born in Tennessee in approximately 1896.[xxix] In her delayed birth certificate, Izalia signed as “Izalia Maney Harper” and lived in Indianapolis, Indiana.[xxx] Izalia Harper died on February 11, 1989.[xxxi] There are no further records for Izalia Maney Harper.
Return to The Untold Stories Project Page
Wesley Maney’s Fisk University Interview “I Was A Boy Slave”
References
[i] Interview, Wesley Maney, October 15, 1932, Fisk University Archives, accessed October 17, 2020 from https://conservehistory.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/i-was-a-boy-slave.pdf, Nashville, TN, 6.
[ii] Interview, Wesley Maney, 6.
[iii] Interview, Wesley Maney, 6.
[iv] United States Census, “Maney, John,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed October 19, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275524_00264?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=1aa91174d4f2671c42eee3ae0eecfa39&usePUB=true&_phsrc=hKK364&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.209464914.1307544560.1599706641-1251799660.1599066608&pId=14338651.
[v] United States Census, “Manna, Wesley,” 1880 United States Census, accessed October 19, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6742/4244656-00596?pid=41827583&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D6742%26h%3D41827583%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DrOE261%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=rOE261&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true.
[vi] Marriage Record, J.W. Maney to Nannie Armistead, Tennessee State Record, Rutherford County Archives, in folder “Maney, Wesley Sr. (1856-1935) + Nannie Armstead (1863-1910),” Murfreesboro, TN.
[vii] United States Census, “Maney, Wesley,” 1900 United States Census, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7602/4118727_00915?pid=61078197&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3D1900usfedcen%26h%3D61078197&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.105624707.1693620775.1566823994-1883762117.1566309872.
[viii] United States Census, “Maney, John.”
[ix] United States Census, “Maney, Wesley,” 1900 United States Census, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7602/4118727_00915?pid=61078202&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3D1900usfedcen%26h%3D61078202&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.243310342.2099567594.1566999984-1883762117.1566309872.
[x] United States Census, “Maney, Wessley,” 1910 United States Census, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7884/4449874_00866?pid=27433717&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3D1910USCenIndex%26h%3D27433717&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.113417476.2099567594.1566999984-1883762117.1566309872.
[xi] United States Census, “Maney, Wesley,” 1920 United States Census, from familysearch.com database, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRXJ-78?i=6&cc=1488411.
[xii] United States Census, “Maney, John W. Sr.,” 1930 United States Census, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6224/4548154_00279?pid=68121482&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi- bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D6224%26h%3D68121482%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DrOE324%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=rOE324&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.77232150.2099567594.1566999984-1883762117.1566309872.
[xiii] Obituary, “Maney, John Wesley, Sr.,” The Tennessean, 4, December 10, 1933, accessed October 19, 2020 from https://www.newspapers.com/image/173342442/?article=fcc66bf1-f5d7-4223-8f57-37890b405e97&focus=0.6115359,0.88758975,0.7318471,0.97849506&xid=3355.
[xiv] Death Certificate, “John Wesley Maney Sr.,” December 8, 1933, State of Tennessee Record, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2376/33113_257980-00217?pid=77942&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3DTNDeathRecords%26h%3D77942&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.243439750.2099567594.1566999984-1883762117.1566309872.
[xv] Marriage Notice, “Maney-Fields,” The Nashville Globe, Nashville, TN, June 20, 1913, accessed October 19, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.newspapers.com/image/174033891/?article=7b439488-fb46-4a1a-a27d-98db8d163947&focus=0.17981628,0.37709704,0.3325815,0.62132233&xid=3398.
[xvi] United States Census, “Maney, Wesley,” 1920 United States Census, accessed August 26, 2019, from familysearch.com database, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RNZ-LSY?i=23&cc=1488411&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AMNGX-F59.
[xvii] City Directory, “Maney, John W.,” Nashville, Tennessee, City Directory, 1926, 1926, accessed October 19, 2020 from https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/13172311?pId=1115646875.
[xviii] Marriage Record, John Wesley Maney Jr. to Bernice Olive Ellis, October 11, 1929, Tennessee State Records, accessed August 2, 2019, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/1169/VRMUSATN1780_077350-02324?pid=2985168&treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=rOE274&_phstart=successSource, recorded in Marriage Record Book 12, page 107.
[xix] United States Census, “Maney, John W. Sr.”
[xx] Obituary, “John Wesley Maney,” Star Tribune, January 27, 1958, Minneapolis, Minnesota, accessed October 19, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.newspapers.com/image/202806856/?article=820f89b2-527f-4407-b608-8bef76c70b3c&focus=0.3827686,0.952105,0.4979576,0.9678413&xid=3355&_ga=2.245172037.1980151893.1603124097-1700215809.1599080803.
[xxi] Obituary, “John Wesley Maney.”
[xxii] United States Census, “Minter, Susie,” 1900 United States Census, accessed October 19, 2020, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/7602/4118727_00915?pid=61078197&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3D1900usfedcen%26h%3D61078197&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.105624707.1693620775.1566823994-1883762117.1566309872.
[xxiii] United States Census, “Minter, Susie,” 1920 United States Census, accessed August 28, 2019, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/6061/4392010_00260?pid=36074228&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3D1%26dbid%3D6061%26h%3D36074228%26tid%3D%26pid%3D%26usePUB%3Dtrue%26_phsrc%3DrOE301%26_phstart%3DsuccessSource&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=rOE301&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true.
[xxiv] Reverend Melvin E. Hughes, “A History of Rutherford County’s African-American Community,” Rutherford County Archives, in folder “Maney, Wesley Sr. (1856-1935) + Nannie Armstead (1863-1910),” Murfreesboro, TN, Allen Chapel A.M.E. Church, 1996.
[xxv] Death Certificate, “Certificate of Death: Susie Virginia Minter,” Tennessee State Records, accessed August 28, 2019, from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2376/33113_258078-01662?pid=1170958&backurl=https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv%3Dtry%26db%3DTNDeathRecords%26h%3D1170958&treeid=&personid=&hintid=&usePUB=true&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.117014405.2099567594.1566999984-1883762117.1566309872.
[xxvi] Death Certificate, “Certificate of Death: Susie Virginia Minter.”
[xxvii] Death Certificate, “Certificate of Death: Susie Virginia Minter.”
[xxviii] United States Census, “Maney, Elizabeth,” 1900 United States Census, 1900, accessed November 14, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4118727_00915?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1917&_phstart=successSource&pId=61078197.
[xxix] United States Census, “Maney, Willie I.,” 1900 United States Census, 1900, accessed November 14, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7602/images/4118727_00915?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1917&_phstart=successSource&pId=61078197.
[xxx] Delayed Birth Certificate, “Delayed Certificate of Birth: Izalia Maney,” Tennessee: August 27, 1960, accessed November 14, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2282/images/33117_267004-01207?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1933&_phstart=successSource&pId=227004.
[xxxi] Social Security Index, “Izalia M. Harper,” February 11, 1989, accessed November 14, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/800493530:60901?indiv=1&tid=&pid=&queryId=5eb3edf5c3285c952c16f1677ca40607&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1935&_phstart=successSource.
Conserve History 