Manship Family Papers (Z/1129)

Dates: 1847-1978
Box 8 is restricted; permission of manuscript curators is required for access.

Biography:

Charles Henry Manship, Sr.

Charles Henry Manship, the eldest son of Noah and Rebeccah Sangston Millington Manship, was born in Talbot County, Maryland, on July 31, 1812. Following the death of Noah Manship, the family moved to Baltimore where Charles Henry Manship was apprenticed to Edward Needles to learn the trade of ornamental chair painting. After completing his apprenticeship, Manship operated his own shop in Baltimore until 1835, when he left for New Orleans. Following brief stays in New Orleans, Natchez, and Vicksburg, Manship arrived in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1836. Manship came at a time when other craftsmen and artisans were being drawn to Jackson, a relatively new town with many public construction projects underway.

Manship had gone into business with James Waugh by March 1836, advertising as a house and sign painter and specializing in decorative painting. Manship also began working on the state capitol, supervised by David Daley, a New England craftsman. He married Daleys daughter, Adeline, on December 12, 1838, and over the next twenty-six years, the couple had fifteen children, five of whom died in infancy. Please see chart below for childrens names, birth and death dates, and names of spouses.

For his family, Manship built a Gothic Revival home inspired by figure 128, "Cottage-Villa in the Rural Gothic Style," from Andrew Jackson Downings The Architecture of Country Houses (1857), at 412 East Fortification Street, a location which, at that time, was on the very outskirts of Jackson. Other notable Manship projects included the Jackson City Theatre (1839) and the window reglazing and painting of the Mississippi Governors Mansion (1856-1858).

Throughout his life, Charles Manship held many positions of importance in the city of Jackson. He was elected as an alderman in 1838, and he served several terms in that post. Manship served on the board of trustees for both the Blind Institute and the Insane Asylum. Appointed by Confederate president Jefferson Davis, he served as postmaster of Jackson for two years. Manship also served as mayor of Jackson for two terms (1862-1863) during the Civil War, and as mayor, he surrendered the city to General William T. Sherman in July of 1863.

Charles Manship died on June 21, 1895. Manships wife survived until 1903. The Manship family home was purchased by the state of Mississippi in 1975 from Ruby Traylor (Mrs. Dudley) Phelps, Sr., granddaughter-in-law of Charles Manship, Sr.

Children of Charles Henry and Adeline Daley Manship

Luther Manship, Sr.

Luther Manship was the ninth of fifteen children of Charles Henry and Adeline Daley Manship. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 13, 1853. Manship married Belmont Phelps in 1881, and the couple had six children, including Judge Luther Manship, Jr., and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, publisher Charles Phelps Manship. Luther Manship wrote poetry and songs and entertained as a lecturer on the Southern lyceum circuit. He served as lieutenant governor of Mississippi from 1908 to 1912. Luther Manship died in 1915.

Luther Manship, Jr.

Luther Manship, Jr., was born on October 29, 1884, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was the first of six children of Luther and Belmont Phelps Manship. Manship attended Millsaps College and Vanderbilt University, and in 1908, he graduated from the University of Mississippi with bachelor of laws degree. Following graduation, Manship established his legal practice in Jackson and was elected police judge in 1910, a position he held for three terms.

Manship served as an artillery officer in World War I and held the rank of first lieutenant upon his discharge in April of 1919. When Manship returned from France, he resumed his legal practice. He married Louise Clarke of New York in 1929. The couple had no children. Manship was elected Hinds County Court judge in 1941, a position he held until his death in 1956.

Organizations of which Manship was a member included the American Legion, Hinds County Bar Association, Kappa Alpha Order, Lions Club, Masonic Order, Sons of Confederate Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign Wars. Manship was a charter member and president of the Pioneer Club of Jackson. He was also a member of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Jackson.

In recognition of Manships role as the citys first youth court judge under the new Youth Court Act, the Jackson City Council voted unanimously on January 15, 1969, to name the new youth court and detention center after him.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection contains correspondence; diaries; manuscripts; speeches; photographs; land records; estate records; business records; school papers; club records; certificates and awards; genealogical records; cards, invitations, and funeral notices; programs; Confederate monument material; broadsides, newsclippings, and scrapbooks; books and pamphlets; sheet music; and miscellany.

The correspondence concerns several generations of Manships. The bulk of the correspondence was generated by Luther and Belmont Phelps Manship during their courtship and the early years of their marriage. The collection also contains diaries kept by Charles Henry Manship, Sr., and the World War I diary of Luther Manship, Jr., as well as manuscripts and speeches of Charles Henry Manship, Sr., Luther Manship, Sr., and Luther Manship, Jr.

The photographs in the collection document the activities of many members of the nuclear and extended family, including photographs of publisher Charles Phelps Manship, son of Luther Manship, Sr., and sculptor Paul Manship, son of Charles Henry Manship, Jr. The collection also contains land and business records, newsclippings, scrapbooks, programs, school records, and nineteenth-century sheet music.

Series Identification:

Series 1: Diaries. 1864; 1874; 1891; 1918-1919. 4 folders.

Series 2: Manuscripts. 1851; 1892; 1894; 1896; 1899; 1901-1902; 1915; 1934; n.d. 7 folders.

Series 3: Speeches. 1892; 1908; 1930; n.d. 3 folders.

Series 4: Photographs. 1861; 1867-1872; 1875; 1877-1878; 1880-1882; 1885-1888; 1890-1891; 1899-1900; 1902-1923; 1927; 1937-1938; 1940; 1942; 1944-1945; 1947; 1952; 1969; 1971; n.d. 8 boxes.

Series 5: Land Records. 1876; 1892; 1906; 1909-1916; 1969; 1978. 5 folders.

Series 6: Estate Records. 1909; 1933-1937; 1939-1944; 1948. 3 folders.

Series 7: Business Records. 1904-1908. 2 volumes.

Series 8: School Material. 1876-1877; 1893; 1916-1917. 3 folders; 4 volumes.

Series 9: Club Records. 1874-1875; 1935-1977. 4 folders.

Series 10: Certificates and Awards. 1862-1865; 1877-1878; 1880; 1890; 1892; 1898; 1905; 1910; 1928-1929; 1935; 1937; 1941-1943; 1948; 1951; 1957; n.d. 9 folders.

Series 11: Genealogical Records. 1883; 1978; n.d. 3 boxes.

Series 12: Cards, Invitations, and Funeral Notices. 1874-1875; 1877-1879; 1881; 1883; 1888; 1903; 1941; n.d. 7 folders.

Series 13: Programs. 1867-1913 (scattered); n.d. 2 folders.

Series 14: Commemorative Materials. 1887; 1891-1976 (scattered). 3 folders.

Series 15: Broadsides, Newsclippings, and Scrapbooks. 1861; 1866-1960 (scattered); n.d. 15 folders; 1 volume.

Series 16: Books and Pamphlets. 1909; 1913-1914; ca. 1919; ca. 1944; 1956. 1 folder; 5 volumes.

Series 17: Sheet Music. 1847-1905 (scattered); n.d. 10 folders, 4 volumes.

Series 18: Miscellany. 1861; 1870; 1874-1875; 1886-1887; ca. 1901; 1939-1943; n.d. 8 folders.