Oaklands began in the late eighteen teens when Dr. James Maney and his wife Sallie Murfree Maney moved to Murfreesboro. In 1813, Sallie inherited 274 acres of land north of the town named for her father, Colonel Hardy Murfree. The Maney family then migrated from Maney’s Neck, NC, to Middle Tennessee in the mid Eighteen-teens, forcibly moving eighteen enslaved individuals with them as well. About three generations of enslaved families would eventually live, work, and die at Oaklands. A document from the Williamson County Probate notes that the Maney’s brought the following enslaved individuals with them from North Carolina:
October 1814, Williamson County Probate
Lot #5
Total Value of lot #5, $3714.37
To learn more about individuals likely enslaved by the Maney Family, visit: The Untold Stories Project Page.
Evergreen Cemetery
From 1814 until 1872, this land was part of an extensive holding of the Maney family. In May of 1872, for the sum of $5,000. Dr. James Maney sold 20 acres to the City of Murfreesboro “for a cemetery” to be known as Oaklands Cemetery. The property included the Maney Family Plantation’s enslaved burial ground, “fronts to the west on Johnson Street, to the south by Murfreesboro & Liberty Pike, and wraps around the Henry brickyard and home at the intersection of the Street and Pike.” In April of 1873, “City ordinance recognizes new name determined by cemetery commissioners, Evergreen Cemetery“.
In Section M, are the unmarked remains of Enslaved Individuals who lived and labored at Oaklands. Oaklands Mansion’s Evergreen Cemetery: Section “M” page.
WGNS Radio Interview – Nick Cohn talks with Exec. Director of Oaklands Mansion, James Manning, Historian, Audrey Creel, and President of the African American Heritage Society of Rutherford County, Mary Watkins about preserving the history of those who came before us. Listen to the WGNS Radio Interview.
For more information, please contact us at info@oaklandsmansion.org.