My Genealogy Hound

HON. FRED E. MANNING, attorney-at-law at Waterloo, is the name of a man who has won more than a local reputation in the last half-century. He has been a capable lawyer, was a brave and faithful soldier, and has long been in the public eye. He was born in the town of Owego, Tioga County, November 24, 1837, the son of Chester and Jerusha (Bartlett) Manning. His father was a native of Connecticut, and his mother of Massachusetts, and in his veins is flowing some of the best blood of the old Colonial aristocracy. The grandfather, Lewis Manning, was a son of Joshua Manning, and the latter was a son of Frederick Manning, who came from England to settle in Connecticut in 1600. The grandfather of our subject served in the War of 1812, and his father was a stout and sturdy soldier of the Revolution. What more natural then, when the Civil War of 1861 broke out, that the loyal blood of the Mannings should drive the young man Fred to take up arms for the preservation of that Republic that his great-grandfathers had fought to establish and defend?

The father of our subject was a farmer by occupation, and died in 1864, while his soldier boy was still at the front. His wife is still living, in her seventy-ninth year, and is in the full possession of all her faculties. She became the mother of four children, three boys and one girl. Her mother was in maidenhood a Miss Stevens, though little is known of her ancestry.

Col. Fred Manning, for such is the title by which he is best known, is one of the notable men of Waterloo, and is a conspicuous illustration of the possibilities of American democracy. He was educated in the public school of the town of Owego and the Ithaca Academy, studied law under the instruction of Addison T. Knox, of Waterloo, and was admitted to the Bar of the state in 1861. Borne along by the strong tide of patriotic devotion that overswept the whole land in that memorable year, he put aside his professional ambition and enlisted in the United States service, entering as First Lieutenant of Company H, One Hundred and Forty-eighth New York Volunteers. On the battlefield he was cool, quick and courageous; and, being well educated and ready for anything, he was rapidly pushed forward in official position. Nor did those who knew him best marvel at his promotion. February 1, 1863, he was appointed Adjutant of the regiment. The next year, in rapid succession, he was made Captain, Major and Lieutenant- Colonel, and received a commission as Brevet-Colonel for conspicuous gallantry in the service. He was detailed by special order No. 162 as a member of General Hooker’s staff; by special order No. 257 was assigned to the staff of General Butler; by special order No. 171 was made Provost- Marshal of the Army of the James; and when the Union armies entered Richmond he was appointed Provost-Marshal of the late capital of the confederacy.

Among the fierce and memorable engagements in which our subject participated may be mentioned Chancellorsville, Mine Run, Gettysburg, Proctor’s Creek, and many of the sanguinary struggles around Petersburg. His administrative ability was fully tested in the government of the turbulent rebel city of Richmond, which he quickly brought to a sound, peaceable basis. At the close of this memorable struggle he retired from the service, and returned to Waterloo, where his admiring fellow-townsmen, to express their deep admiration of his honorable career, nominated and triumphantly elected him as District Attorney in 1865. In 1872 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for this district, which position he held for two years. Then a change of system combined his district with other territory, so that he was thrown out of office. Further than this, Colonel Manning has resisted temptation to become a candidate for high office, though once or twice he has taken a seat in the House of Representatives at the command of his party.

In professional life the Colonel has achieved marked success. As an advocate he is brilliant and effective. He has a rare gift of language, his diction is graceful, and his perfect self-poise on the platform gives him great power over his audience. A keen sense of justice and rigid integrity have made his natural gifts of thought and speech effective agencies for the upbuilding of right in the community. A consistent and loyal Republican, he has refused to consent to fraudulent dealing anywhere in the party, and has always been found on the side of honesty and political cleanness. His gallant and unswerving opposition to fraud and corruption, not only upon the political hustings, but also in the halls of justice, has placed new laurels upon his brow.

In November, 1874, at Albany, Colonel Manning was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Van Benthuysen, a member of a family distinguished in the annals of New York. With rare social characteristics, their home soon became a social center, and in it were cemented many of those warm friendships that have been so marked a feature in the career of this honored and notable man and citizen of Seneca County.