Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 07.djvu/262

 MANNING

MANNING

and endowing a college or university within the province of Rhode Island was held at Newport in September, 1764, and at the second meeting in September, 1765, Mr. Manning was chosen pres- ident and professor of languages. He matricu- lated his first college student, William Rogers (q.v.), a lad of fourteen, from Newport, Sept. 3, i76o. In 1767 he organized the Warren associa- tion, the first Baptist association established in New England. The first commencement of the college was held in the meeting-house, Sept. 7, 1769, and the discussion of American Indei)end- ence constituted the principal feature of the exercises. The college was removed to Provi- dence, R.I., in May, 1770, and Manning gave up his church in Warren, and at the solicitation of the trustees of the college he removed to Provi- dence and continued his duties as president. The first commencement in Providence was held in the meeting-house of the society on Sept. 8, 1770. Manning was pastor of the first Baptist church in Providence, founded by Roger Williams, and regarded as the oldest Baptist church in Amer- ica, 1771-91. A new meeting-house was erected in 1775. During the Revolutionary war the col- lege doors were closed, the students prosecuting their studies at home, and university hall was used by the American and French troops as a barracks and hospital. The college exercises were resumed, May 27, 1788. President Manning was a delegate to the Continental congress, 1785-86, and it was largely through his endeavors that Rhode Isla*nd adopted the constitution. The University of Pennsylvania conferred on him the honorary degree of D.D. in 1785. He was a firm upholder of public education and was the author of: A Report in Favor of the Establishment of Free Public Schools in the Town of Providence, See " Life, Times and Correspondence of James Man- ning and the Early History of Brown Univer- sity," by R. A. Guild (1864), and "History of Brown University. 1856-1895," ibid. (1895). While at family prayers he died of apoplexy in Provi- dence, R.I., July 29, 1791.

MANNING, James Hilton, publisher, was born in Albany, N.Y., Sept. 22, 1854; son of Daniel and Mary (Little) Manning. He graduated from the Albany high school in 1873 ; was employed by the Argus company as subscription clerk, 1873-74, and reporter, 1874-85 ; in 1885 became managing editor, and succeeded his father as president of the corporation in 1888. He was married, Oct. 22, 1879. to Emma J., daughter of Dr. John C. Austin in Albany. He left the cor- poration in 1893 and organized the Weed-Par- sons Printing company of which he was made president. He was elected mayor of Albany, 1890 and 1892, and was state civil service commiasioner by appointment of Governor Hill, 1887-89. He

was elected president of the Hudson River Tele- phone company and an officer of the United Traction company.

MANNING, John, educator, was born in Eden- ton, N.C., July 30, 1830 ; son of Capt. John (U.S.N.) and Tamar (Leary) Manning ; and grandson of Capt. Joseph and Sarah Long (Heug- ten) Manning. He attended the Edenton acad- emy, the Norfolk Military academy and was grad- uated at the University of North Carolina, A.B., 1850, A.M., 1853. He cruised in the U.S. brig Bainbridge, Capt. John Manning, off the coast of South America, but disliked the sea and was sent by his father back to Norfolk in the U.S. sloop St. Louis. He studied law in Pittsboro, N.C., and was admitted to practise in 1853. He was married, June 5, 1856, to Louise J., daughter of Dr. Isaac Hall and granddaughter of Judge John Hall, of Pittsboro. In 1861 he enlisted in the Chatham Rifles, was made 1st lieutenant, and he also served as a delegate to the secession conven- tion, where he opposed secession. He became ad- jutant of his regiment, the 15th N.C. volunteers. He was detached from the army by President Davis to act as receiver under the sequestration acts and held the position until the close of the war. He was a representative from the fourth North Carolina district in the 41st congress. 1869- 71 ; a member of the constitutional convention of 1875 ; a trustee of the University of North Carolina, 1875-99 ; a representative in the North Carolina legislature, 1880, and chairman of the judiciary committee. He secured an annuity of $5,000 for the University of North Carolina and he was one of the three commissioners to revise the statute laws of the state, resulting in the Code of North Carolina (1883). He refused appoint- ment to the superior bench and also to the office of secretary of state offered by Governor Jarvis. In 1881 he accepted the professorship of law in the University of North Carolina made vacant by the death of William H. Battle in 1879 and increased his class from 7 in 1879 to 87 ii\ 1898. He received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the University of North Carolina in 1883. He died at Chapel Hill, N.C, Feb. 12, 1899.

MANNING, John Lawrence, governor of South Carolina, was born at " Hickory Hill," Clarendon district, S.C, Jan. 29, 1816 ; son of Governor Richard Irvine Manning (q.v.). He matriculated at the College of New Jersey with the class of 1837, but left in 1836 on the death of his father, and was graduated at South Carolina college in 1838. He married Susan Francis, daughter of Col. Wade Hampton, and sister of Gen. Wade Hampton. For several years he con- ducted a sugar plantation in Louisiana but sub- sequently returned to South Carolina and resided at Sumter. He represented his district in either