by AUDREY CREEL / December 28, 2020
©Audrey Creel, 2020 (All rights reserved.)

Peggy Maney was born in approximately 1805 in North Carolina.[i] It is unknown when Peggy arrived in Tennessee or where she was enslaved upon arriving in Murfreesboro. It is possible that Peggy was taken from North Carolina when Dr. James Maney first moved to Murfreesboro. The only member of the Maney family to enslave an older woman approximately Peggy’s age in 1870 was Lewis Maney.[ii] Therefore, it is most likely that Peggy was enslaved on the Maney plantation (present day Oaklands Mansion) prior to the Civil War. Peggy’s age, as reported in 1870, differs slightly from the 1860 records, so it also is possible that Peggy had been sold by the Maneys and did not live on the Maney plantation in 1860.

Following the Civil War, Peggy moved into a home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.[iii] Peggy lived in a household with Martha and Levina Maney.[iv] It is unknown how Peggy knew Martha and Levina or if these women were family members. Peggy worked by keeping house.[v] There are no further known records of Peggy’s life. It is unknown what happened to Peggy after 1870.

Return to The Untold Stories Project Page

---

References

[i] United States Census, “Maney, Peggy,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed December 28, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275523_00426?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs385&_phstart=successSource&pId=4846696.

[ii] United States Census, “L.M. Manny,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed December 26, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7668/images/tnm653_1285-0120?treeid=&personid=&rc=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=iaY1010&_phstart=successSource&pId=92225235.

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

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