by AUDREY CREEL / December 23, 2020
©Audrey Creel, 2020 (All rights reserved.)

Polly Maney was born in approximately 1810 in North Carolina.[i] It is unknown where Polly was enslaved prior to emancipation. It is possible that Polly was taken from North Carolina with Dr. James Maney when the Maney family first moved to Tennessee. The only member of the Maney family to enslave a woman Polly’s age is Lewis Maney.[ii] Therefore, it is probable that Polly was enslaved on the Maney plantation (present day Oaklands Mansion) before the Civil War. As an older woman enslaved on the plantation, it is unknown what Polly’s duties were on the plantation. Polly was approximately fifty-five years old at the end of the Civil War. Following emancipation, Polly lived in Rutherford County, Tennessee.[iii] Polly lived in the same household with Rosa Savage.[iv] It is unknown how Polly and Rosa knew each other or if they were related. Polly worked “keeping house.”[v] It is likely that Polly died shortly after 1870. There are no further known records for Polly Maney.

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References

[i] United States Census, “Maney, Polly,” 1870 United States Census, 1870, accessed December 23, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/7163/images/4275524_00055?treeid=&personid=&hintid=&queryId=8ee202abd4ac54cf290fa9b8017aced4&usePUB=true&_phsrc=Kxs322&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&pId=4859002.

[ii] United States Census, “L.M. Maney,” 1860 United States Census – Slave Schedule, 1860, accessed December 23, 2020 from ancestry.com database, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7668.

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

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