Edwin Cassander Manning (Kansas State Historical Society)
Obituary
Another life member of this Society passed from among us when death touched Edwin Cassander Manning, December 11, 1915. Mr. Manning was one of our strongest members. His interest in the Society he maintained through sickness and health until the day of his death. He served as our president in 1911 and has had a long period of service on our Board of Directors.
Edwin C. Manning was born November 7, 1838, at Redford N. Y., the son of Lewis Frederick and Mary Patch Manning. His education was begun in Vermont, whither his family moved about 1842, when he was between three and four years of age. Ten years later, in the spring of 1852, there .was a great emigration to the West. This the Manning family joined, and arrived at their destination in Iowa in May or June. Here young Manning continued his education.
In 1857, when he was about nineteen years of age, he started out to make his fortune by surveying. This profession, however, he speedily abandoned to take up the printing trade, and during the rest of his life that continued to be his real vocation.
In 1858 he, with a younger brother and three other young men, started west, going out to the mining region about Denver. During the summer they prospected, but decided to return East for the winter. This design brought Manning to Marysville, Kan., where he arrived October 20, 1859. By December he was in the newspaper game in earnest, having cast in his lot with R. S. Newell and Peter S. Peters in the publication of The Democratic Platform. He acquired entire control of the paper the following April, and the next month he returned to Jackson county, Iowa, to be married to Miss Delphine Pope, their wedding taking place May 22, 1860.
On July 31 a tornado swept through Marysville, and of the printing office there remained only the old Washington hand press and the imposing stone. Having lost his business, he turned his attention to the reading of law while not otherwise employed. This he continued through the winter of 1860-'61. War came on, and' with the rumors of battle loyal Kansans were roused to fighting pitch. Manning, after arranging his affairs, sent his wife to her parents in Iowa, and, going to Fort Leavenworth, enlisted in the Second Kansas, company H. In September, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to an Indian regiment. With this regiment he served until the winter of 1863, when, his health failing, he resigned and returned to Marysville. There he purchased the Big Blue Union. In the summer of 1866 he moved to Manhattan and established the Kansas Radical. During 1868 he traveled through New Mexico, Colorado and western Kansas, having large contracts putting up hay for the government. In 1869 he took up a claim where Winfield now stands, and the next year organized and founded the town of Winfield. Prom 1875 to 1877 he published the Winfield Courier.
During these years he found opportunity to serve his state in a political capacity. He was elected senator from Marshall, Washington, Riley and Eepublic counties in November, 1864. In 1868 he was made secretary of the senate, and in 1871 he was elected a member of the house of representatives from Cowley county, and reflected in 1878. In 1880 Mr. Manning gave up his residence in Kansas and did not return until 1896, when his affairs once more drew him to Winfield, and here he continued to reside with brief intermissions until his death. Mr. Manning was three times married, first to Delphine Pope, who died February 20, 1873. To this union were born four children, two of whom survive: Martha May, born February 6, 1868, at Manhattan, who married W. I. Goodwin at Washington, D. C., in 1894; Ernest Frederick, born at Winfield, March 18, 1871, who married Annie E. Thomas at Bridgeport, Conn., January 8, 1879. On January 3, 1874, Mr. Manning married Margaret J. Foster. To them two children were born, one of whom survives, Maggie Bell, born at Winfield, February 1, 1878, and married William F. Murphy at Kansas City, Mo., April 27, 1899. Mr. Manning's third marriage occurred November 5, 1881, when he married Miss Linnie Hall, a native of Wellfleet, Mass., born May 10, 1846. She died a short time before her husband.
Edwin C. Manning was born November 7, 1838, at Redford N. Y., the son of Lewis Frederick and Mary Patch Manning. His education was begun in Vermont, whither his family moved about 1842, when he was between three and four years of age. Ten years later, in the spring of 1852, there .was a great emigration to the West. This the Manning family joined, and arrived at their destination in Iowa in May or June. Here young Manning continued his education.
In 1857, when he was about nineteen years of age, he started out to make his fortune by surveying. This profession, however, he speedily abandoned to take up the printing trade, and during the rest of his life that continued to be his real vocation.
In 1858 he, with a younger brother and three other young men, started west, going out to the mining region about Denver. During the summer they prospected, but decided to return East for the winter. This design brought Manning to Marysville, Kan., where he arrived October 20, 1859. By December he was in the newspaper game in earnest, having cast in his lot with R. S. Newell and Peter S. Peters in the publication of The Democratic Platform. He acquired entire control of the paper the following April, and the next month he returned to Jackson county, Iowa, to be married to Miss Delphine Pope, their wedding taking place May 22, 1860.
On July 31 a tornado swept through Marysville, and of the printing office there remained only the old Washington hand press and the imposing stone. Having lost his business, he turned his attention to the reading of law while not otherwise employed. This he continued through the winter of 1860-'61. War came on, and' with the rumors of battle loyal Kansans were roused to fighting pitch. Manning, after arranging his affairs, sent his wife to her parents in Iowa, and, going to Fort Leavenworth, enlisted in the Second Kansas, company H. In September, 1862, he was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to an Indian regiment. With this regiment he served until the winter of 1863, when, his health failing, he resigned and returned to Marysville. There he purchased the Big Blue Union. In the summer of 1866 he moved to Manhattan and established the Kansas Radical. During 1868 he traveled through New Mexico, Colorado and western Kansas, having large contracts putting up hay for the government. In 1869 he took up a claim where Winfield now stands, and the next year organized and founded the town of Winfield. Prom 1875 to 1877 he published the Winfield Courier.
During these years he found opportunity to serve his state in a political capacity. He was elected senator from Marshall, Washington, Riley and Eepublic counties in November, 1864. In 1868 he was made secretary of the senate, and in 1871 he was elected a member of the house of representatives from Cowley county, and reflected in 1878. In 1880 Mr. Manning gave up his residence in Kansas and did not return until 1896, when his affairs once more drew him to Winfield, and here he continued to reside with brief intermissions until his death. Mr. Manning was three times married, first to Delphine Pope, who died February 20, 1873. To this union were born four children, two of whom survive: Martha May, born February 6, 1868, at Manhattan, who married W. I. Goodwin at Washington, D. C., in 1894; Ernest Frederick, born at Winfield, March 18, 1871, who married Annie E. Thomas at Bridgeport, Conn., January 8, 1879. On January 3, 1874, Mr. Manning married Margaret J. Foster. To them two children were born, one of whom survives, Maggie Bell, born at Winfield, February 1, 1878, and married William F. Murphy at Kansas City, Mo., April 27, 1899. Mr. Manning's third marriage occurred November 5, 1881, when he married Miss Linnie Hall, a native of Wellfleet, Mass., born May 10, 1846. She died a short time before her husband.
Kansas State Historical Society, "Edwin Cassander Manning," Twentieth Biennial Report of the Kansas State Historical Society (Topeka, KS: Kansas State Historical Society, 1916), 62-63.
