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

John Maney was born in Tennessee in approximately 1826.[i] It is uncertain where in Tennessee John Maney was born and whether or not he was separated from his parents via the slave trade. It is also uncertain to know exactly which Maney plantation on which John was enslaved. David D. Maney enslaved individuals the same age as John and his wife and children, so it is possible that John was enslaved on David Maney’s plantation.[ii] Lewis Maney also enslaved individuals who were approximately the same age as John and his family in 1860, so it is also possible that John worked at the Maney’s plantation (current day Oaklands Mansion) for Lewis Maney.[iii] As a middle-aged man on the Maney plantation, John likely worked as a farm laborer.

Following the Civil War, John Maney moved to a home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee with Matilda Maney and four children – Mary, Ferdy, Lucy, and Cherry Maney.[iv] John and Matilda Maney likely married prior to emancipation; however, there are no documents that indicate the two legally married after the Civil War. John worked as a farm laborer in Murfreesboro, though it is unknown where he was employed.[v] John Maney died sometime between 1870 and 1880 but left no death records to indicate how he died.[vi]

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References

[i] United States Census, ”Maney, John,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed November 7, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275524_00055?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1719&_phstart=successSource&pId=7435373.

[ii] United States Census, “Many, D.D.,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed November 7, 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.

[iii] United States Census, “Manney, L.M.,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed November 9, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7668/images/tnm653_1285-0120?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=394ad12e8a2edd8f49f8e0147ce5aea3&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1776&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&_ga=2.149282613.267679452.1604965211-1700215809.1599080803&pId=92225235.

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

[v] United States Census, “Maney, John,” 1870 United States Census.

[vi] United States Census, “Maney, Matilda,” 1880 United States Census, 1880, accessed November 7, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/6742/images/4244656-00431?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1733&_phstart=successSource&pId=10989480.