Colonel M'Manus has resided in Davenport the greater part of his life. He came west with his parents from Newark, Delaware, at an early age and the longest period he has remained away from the city of his adoption was the time he spent while fighting for the Stars and Stripes in the War of the Rebellion. He has seen the city in its growth from infancy almost, and has been prominent for many years in its development.
His father, James McManus, was a stone-cutter and later a railroad contractor in the East. He built the chief stone works of Fort Hamilton, Long Island, and on that island was married to Sarah Whittlesey on March 10, 1831. Mrs. McManus was a descendant of the founders of Mystic, Connecticut, her grandfather having been one of the original proprietors of the town. It is through this ancestry that Colonel McManus would be eligible to the Sons of the Revolution if he so desired, for his mother's ancestors were not only pioneers in Connecticut, but they were fighters in the Revolution as well, and one of them was an officer.
In 1843 James McManus went to St. Louis from Delaware, and on March 10, 1844, he brought his family to Davenport and settled himself here by engaging in farming, purchasing land adjoining the City of Davenport on the west.
Parker Whittlesey McManus was born in Newark, Delaware, June 21, 1842. His education was obtained, first in private schools in Davenport, then in the Iowa College, at that time located in Davenport, of which his father was a founder and one of the first trustees, and later at Amherst College, Massachusetts. He was a member of the class of '63 at Amherst, but left his studies in '61 to enlist in Company B, Twenty-seventh Massachusetts Infantry.
An honor of no little consequence was bestowed upon him when he was chosen first lieutenant in this company. He was then only nineteen years of age. At the battle of Roanoke Island he was in command of the company. He was captured on May 16, 1864, at the battle of Fort Darling. He had then risen to the rank of adjutant. Immediately after his capture he was sent to Libby Prison, but was removed from one prison to another until on November 29 he escaped from Columbia, South Carolina, traveling two hundred miles in seventeen days, in com pany with several comrades, in the effort, which finally proved successful, to reach the Union gunboat “Nipsic" at Winyaw bay. The “Nipsic” was reached December 16. On June 4, 1864, during the time of his imprisonment, he was commissioned captain. He was mustered out in February, 1865, having served five months longer than the term of his enlistment and having participated in fifteen battles.
He then went to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and took a course in the Iron City Business College, remaining until September of 1865, when he returned to Davenport on account of sickness, and worked on his father's farm for two years. In 1867 he joined his uncle, William McManus, then a contractor on the Union Pacific Railroad, and was a wood inspector and contractor for two years. In 1869 he returned to his father's farm and has resided there ever since.
Colonel McManus has spent thirteen years in the service of the Iowa National Guards and has been, successively, first lieutenant, captain, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the Second Regiment. The latter rank he held for eight years and then gave up the position because of a pressure of business. He is also a member of the Illinois Commandery of the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Colonel McManus was a member of the Nineteenth General Assembly; was elected County treasurer in 1887 for a two years' term, sweeping out a Democratic majority of thirty-three hundred and obtaining a majority for himself of six hundred and twenty-nine. In 1888 he was a candidate for Congress against Judge Hayes and a majority of about eight thousand, and while he failed of election he reduced his opponent's majority about three thousand. He was secretary ofthe Mount Joy Fair Association for eight years and has been secretary of the Davenport Fair and Exposition Association for two years; he is president of the Merchants' and Mechanics' Building and Loan Association, secretary of the Register Life and Annuity Company, a member of the school board and has held many minor offices. This record speaks for itself of the prominence and popularity of Colonel McManus. He is to-day in the prime of vigorous manhood, with a lively interest in all public affairs.
On March 9, 1876, Colonel McManus married Miss Flora N. Meek, who is a native of Missouri, having been born in Lexington. Colonel and Mrs. McManus have four children. They are: James M., P. W., Jr., William G. and Florence E.
BIOGRAPHIES