It's important to sometimes pull together the fragments of our lives... so
that we know. And not so that we alone know--but that our children
know and that they might be able to tell their children. It's important
that we collect the pieces of our patchwork quilts that are our lives and
knit them together.
It provides a covering, warm and comforting; and as we knit the pieces
together our quilt becomes stronger. It becomes a shield, protecting us
for when the cold winds blow and threaten to rip us apart.
Rev. C. Max Manning, D.D.
"His mother. Millie E. Johnson, was a native of
Edenton and was of Burmese and African
extraction. She was a slave, but her freedom was
purchased by her husband, together with that of
their oldest son. While Dr. Manning was still- an
infant the family moved to Philadelphia and later
to New York. He was educated, therefore, in the
Institute for Colored Youths in Philadelphia and
completed his literary course at Lincoln
University, in 1872"
The following is an excerpt from:
History of the American Negro and His Institutions edited by
Arthur Bunyan Caldwell, originally published 1917
History of the American Negro and His Institutions edited by
Arthur Bunyan Caldwell, originally published 1917
CORNELIUS
M. MANNING
AMONG the older leaders of
the race in the South in both political and religious circles, few have been
more active or done more efficient work than Rev. Cornelius Maxwell Manning, of
Atlanta.
He
is a native of North Carolina, having been born in the historic old town of
Edenton, December 8. 1845. His father was Moses W. Manning, a tailor by trade
and a minister by profession, who had been born in Canada. His mother. Millie
E. Johnson, was a native of Edenton and was of Burmese and African extraction.
She was a slave, but her freedom was purchased by her husband, together with
that of their oldest son. While Dr. Manning was still- an infant the family
moved to Philadelphia and later to New York. He was educated, therefore, in the
Institute for Colored Youths in Philadelphia and completed his literary course
at Lincoln University, in 1872. He
made his financial way
through school by working as cook at Northern Summer resorts. Years later,
1900, Morris Brown College conferred upon him the degree of D. D.
In
1867, which was the year of his conversion, Dr. Manning began teaching at
Hertford, N. C., and in 1868 was elected delegate from Perquimans county to the
new State Constitutional and nominating conventions. The same year he returned
to the old home, Edenton, and founded there French Academy, an institution
which is still running as Edenton Normal and Industrial Institute.
Having felt called to the
ministry, he began his work as a preacher of the A. M. E. Z. church at Big
Wesley chapel in Philadelphia in 1874, was ordained a deacon in 1878, an elder
in 1879 and elected delegate to the General Conferences in 1880, 1892, 1896 and
1900. Meantime, in 1881, he had joined the A. M. E. church under Bishop
Dickerson at Augusta, Ga., and was assigned to Savannah for two years, Newnan
one year, Cartersville one year, Acworth two years, Lexington three years,
Palmetto two years, Madison one year and Washington one year. This latter
service brings his career up to 1896, in which year under appointment of
President Cleveland, he went to Liberia as Secretary to the U. S. Legation at
that point. He utilized this opportunity to do all the good possible, working
as a missionary of the A. M. E. church. He pastored a church up St. Paul's
River one year, and the second year of his stay pastored at Monrovia and
assisted the church in building a house of worship there. After his return he
served as Professor of Homiletics and Sacred History at Turner Theological
Seminary eight years.
In
1914 Dr. Manning was appointed to the Athens station which is regarded as
having one of the most cultured congregations in the connection. In 1915 he was
elected to the General Conference.
Dr. Manning's activities,
however, have not been confined solely to the work of the church, but he has
taken an active part in the movements which had to do with the progress and
development of his race. Admirably fitted by training and experience as a
leader, he has been recognized by both races and frequently placed in positions
of honor and trust. In 1884 he was appointed Commissioner to the New Orleans
Exposition, and his appointment to Liberia has been briefly described.
He
saw military service during the war as a member of Company K, Thirty-Fifth U.
S. Infantry, from '63 to '66. With his command he took part in the bombardment
and final capture of Fort Wagner, was in the engagements of Olustee, Honey Hill
(or Pocotalligo) and was not mustered out of the service until nearly a year
after the close of the war.
In
1868 he was married to Miss Elizabeth A. Hathaway of Edenton, N. C. She bore
him two children, Chas. C., deceased, and Anna (i. (now Mrs-. Todd). Subsequent
to his first wife's death, he again married, in 1884, Mrs. Mary A. (Wesley)
Thomas, a daughter of David and Elizabeth Wesley, of Augusta. Of the four
children born of this union two survive—Lorenzo D. C. and Robert W. Manning.
Dr.
Manning is a Thirty-Third Degree Mason, and is also prominently identified with
the Odd Fellows. His intellectual calibre may be inferred from the lines of
reading he has found most helpful. They are: History, sacred and profane;
philosophy and poetry, especially the English classics, such as Shakespeare,
Milton and Tennyson. While he has not himself been a prolific writer, he has
occasionally contributed to church papers, and some years ago prepared a
booklet entitled "Is God Knowable?" He also wrote a hymn.
"Creative Week," which has found a permanent place in the hymnal of
his denomination.
Out of a long experience, he
would advise young men not to divide their energies in this day of specialties
by trying to master too many things, but to seek to be proficient in some
chosen line of work or profession. He considers the questions of immigration
and temperance among the most important with which we have to deal as a nation.
He has given careful thought to our social and economic conditions, and
believes that the best interests of Georgia may be served, not by a policy of
repression, but by a policy which would give larger opportunities, which would
inspire hope. With this in view, he would like to see better wages, bettor
school facilities, better quarters in the country, and a penal system which would
undertake to reform. rather than punish the criminal. To this end, he advocates
the abolition of stockade sentences, shackles and stripes, as well as corporal
punishment."
