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

Mary Maney was born in Tennessee in approximately 1851.[i] It is uncertain where Mary was enslaved prior to the end of the Civil War or if she was born on a Maney plantation. David D. Maney had several enslaved individuals who were the same age as Mary, her parents, and her siblings, so it is possible that Mary was enslaved with her family on David Maney’s plantation.[ii] There also were enslaved individuals living on Lewis Maney’s plantation who were the same age as Mary and her family, so it is feasible that Mary was enslaved at the Maney plantation (present day Oaklands Mansion) prior to the Civil War.[iii] As Mary would have been a child at the start of the Civil War, it is uncertain what her role would have been on a plantation. However, Mary later found employment as a domestic servant, so it is possible that she had some experience performing domestic tasks and worked in the Maney’s home prior to emancipation.[iv]          

Following the Civil War, Mary lived with her parents, John and Matilda Maney, and siblings in Rutherford County, Tennessee.[v] Mary found employment as a domestic servant, though it is unknown for whom she worked.[vi] There are no further records of Mary’s life. It is uncertain if Mary ever married and moved away from Murfreesboro or if she died prior to 1880.

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References

[i] United States Census, “Maney, Mary,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed November 9, 2020 from ancestry.com database https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275524_00055?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs1767&_phstart=successSource&pId=7435375.

[ii] United States Census, “Many, D.D.” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed November 9, 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, Mary,” 1870 United States Census.

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

[vi] United States Census, “Maney, Mary,” 1870 United States Census.