Jacob Warren Manning JACOB WARREN MANNING, Reading's Veteran Nuseryman, who established the Reading Nui-series forty-seven years ago, and who is known from the Atlantic almost to the I'acific slopes. Mr. Man- ning's seventy-fifth birthday was observed Wednesday afternoon by a gathering of about fifty relatives. By a fortunate circumstance the five sons were all able to he present: Warren II. and family from Hrookline; Will and wife from West Orange, N.J.; J. Woodward and family, A. Chandler and Henj. F. Manning, of Reading. The successes and prospects of the boys nearer home are well known ; but of Will, whose field of labor is some distance away, it may be apropos to state that he is superintendent of the Essex Company Park Commission, including the city of Newark and the Oranges. The anni- versary was one of quiet enjoyment. Dill, of Melrose, catered. JACOB WARREN MANNING :k^ , ..*:''M m/s^ 4 •^m:m • t-jvr. Ltei. ^^^^^^^^^^■■Kt.*.J^ *^ S^ . "■ l^^U-- i^^^ ..r i*tt .«M*iSI^'-». Rocky Mountain B/i^e Spruce of the Boscoop Type From the Massachusetts Edition of the American Series of Popular Biographies 1901 r ^oAm..i)r«. ^^'- 4,^.^ 'ACOB WARREN MANNING, of Read- ing, one of the leading horticulturists and nurserymen in Massachusetts, and almost equally well known throughout the United States by those of his calling, was born at Bedford, N. H., February 20, 1826, a son of Solomon and Mary (Fletcher) Man- ning. He comes of old New England an- cestry, being of the eighth generation in de- scent from William Manning, born in England in 1620, who was an early settler in Cam- bridge, Mass. The line is: William,' Will- iam,^ Samuel,^ William, '» Jacob,^ Jacob,^ Solomon,' Jacob Warren.^ About the year 1638 William Manning pur- chased an estate that was subsequently inher- ited by his son, William Manning, Jr., who was a merchant, and owned a warehouse at the corner of Dunster and South Streets, Cam- bridge, to which boats came by a canal. Samuel Manning, born in Cambridge, July 21, 1644, married for his second wife May 6, 1673, Abihaile Wight, of Medfield, the daugh- ter of John and grand-daughter of Thomas Wight. (See History of Billerica.) She was born January i, 1653-4, and in 1657 was one of the forty-one proprietors of the town of Medfield in right of her deceased father. Samuel Manning purchased land in Billerica known as Thomas Hubbard's grant. He also built the old garrison-house called the Man- ning Tavern. William Manning, third, born June 27, i677> married Elizabeth French, daughter of Jacob French. He died in 1737, and his wife in 1736. Jacob Manning, son of William and Elizabeth (French) Manning, was born March 27, 1710, and died in 1762. He married Martha Beard, a daughter of Andrew Beard. Jacob Manning, second, son of Jacob and Martha, was born in Billerica, November 8, 1739, and died at Lyndeboro, N. H., November 8, 1 8 10. He married in 1763 Sarah Butter- field, of Chelmsford. Jacob Manning, third, a cabinet-maker by trade, was born December 16, 1 771. He died at Lyndeboro, N. H., in 181 1. His wife was Lucy Andrews, of Car- lisle, Mass. Solomon Manning, son of Jacob and Lucy (Andrews) Manning and father of the subject of this sketch, was born in Chelmsford, Mass., May 17, 1799. His active industrial years were spent in farming, fruit-growing, and lumbering, in which occupations he was quite extensively engaged for his day. He was prominent in the church, and served as Select- man, besides holding other town offices. His death took place November 6, 1862. His wife, Mary Fletcher, was born at Ash by, Mass., in May, 1800. She was a daughter of Abel and Polly (Woodward) Fletcher (the former a native of Westford, and the latter of Dunstable), and a descendant in the eighth generation of Robert Fletcher, of Con- cord. Her maternal grandfather was Jonathan Woodward, of Dunstable, Mass., who served in the French War (at Lake George) and also in the Revolutionary War, at the same place, and who died in December, 1841, aged one hun- dred years, six months, and thirteen days. Solomon and Mary (Fletcher) Manning were the parents of eight children, namely: Joseph, born in Tyngsboro, Mass., April 3, 1824, who died at Lake City, Minn., April 6, 1898; Jacob Warren, whose nativity has been already given; Mary, now Mrs. Hartwell Nichols, of Reading; Dudley Hall, who died August 14, 1900, at Grinnell, la. ; Solomon, born in Au- gust, 183 1, who resides on the old homestead in Bedford, N. H. ; Lucy A., who married Will- iam P. Kingman, of Reading, and died in April, 1855; Sarah, who was born in 1835, and died in 1852; and Harriet, born in De- cember, 1837, who died in 1859. The mother, Mrs. Mary Manning, died at Bedford, N. H., in 1878, at the age of seventy-eight years. Jacob Warren Manning remained on his par- ents' farm, engaged in agricultural pursuits and lumbering until reaching the age of twenty- one years, his educational opportunities being limited to a short attendance at the public schools of Bedford and one term at Frances- town Academy under the tuition of Mr. Harry Brickett, a celebrated teacher of that day, who at a later period was School Commissioner of New Hampshire. In March, 1847, at twenty- one years of age, Mr. Manning went to Chelms- ford, where he was employed by Amos Carle- ton in farm, fruit, and nursery work, remaining with him until January, 1848, his wages being fifteen dollars per month. He considers with much satisfaction the fact that during this first year he saved one hundred and fifty dollars of his wages. He then went to Reading, where he remained until the next spring, when he returned to Chelmsford and worked on the farm of Mr. Carleton for wages of sixteen dol- lars per month, being engaged in the general improvement of the land. In the following December he bought a lot of standing wood in Groton, and prepared it for market. On March 15, 1849, he became superintendent of the Winnesemitt Nursery at Chelsea, the pro- prietor of which was S. W. Cole, well known as the editor of the Boston Cultivator and author of "The American Fruit Book," a standard authority on fruit culture and one of the most valuable works of its kind ever pub- lished. This Mr. Cole was also famous for producing new varieties of fruits and fruit seedlings of all kinds for budding purposes, for sale as well as for his own use; and he was the man who introduced the cultivation of blackberries for domestic use, one of his products being the Dorchester blackberry. He was the disseminator of a large number of very choice varieties of fruits, both small and large, among them the first valuable American gooseberry, the Houghton, originated by Dr. Houghton, of Lynn. In the fall of 1847 he obtained a few cuttings of grapes of Mrs. Diana Crehore, of Milton, Mass. The fruit raised from them had been previously exhibited and pronounced to be the best native grape as yet produced, and, at the suggestion of the Horticultural Society, named the Diana. Mr. Cole was solicited, in the spring of 1849, to exchange a vine of his Diana for the new and promising seedling which Mr. William Bull, of Concord, had produced from the Concord meadows. The vine was planted in the nursery by Mr. Manning, and, after being handled and developed for five years, was put on the market in 1854 by Mr. Bull, and named the Concord grape. Mr. Manning remained with Mr. Cole till the middle of December, 1849. He then be- came gardener for John J. May, of Dorchester, with whom he remained during the years 1850 and 185 1. He then accepted a similar situa- tion with Dr. Nathaniel Frothingham, of Bur- lington, Mass., and continued in the doctor's employ till April, 1854. From that time until June of the same year he was gardener for Levi A. Dowley, of Brattleboro, Vt. In the month last named Mr. Manning came to Read- ing, and established his present flourishing business. He has from time to time purchased more land, until he has now several tracts, all in the highest state of cultivation. He has achieved a wide reputation as importer, raiser, and introducer of large and small fruits and ornamental shrubs and trees, including evergreen trees in variety, prominent among them being the Rocky Mountain blue spruce {Picea pungens), as early as 1872, his Rocky Mountain evergreens numbering ten different varieties. The Cutter seedling strawberry was named and introduced by Mr. Manning in the spring of 1859, and caused an increased activ- ity among gardeners in the production and im- provement of that fruit, as well as an increase in the demand for it. This variety was named after Mr. B. F. Cutter, of Pelham, N.H., who gave the stock to Mr. Manning. In 1862 Mr. Manning named and introduced the Dracut amber grape (a seedling grown by Asa Clement, of Dracut), which became a very popular variety, especially in the South- ern States; also the John Sweet apple, which was originally from the farm of John Perham, of Lyndeboro, N. H., and likewise the Granite Beauty apple. In the shrub line he introduced the Clethra alnifolia (pepper-bush), now a well- known variety; also the Celtis occidentalis (nettle-tree), one of the finest shade varieties of hardy trees; also the Yucca Jilamentosa (Adam's needle). Mr. Manning has a large patronage, and ships his products to all parts of the country. He has a wide acquaintance among those of his own calling, and is univer- sally esteemed among them as a man who has done much to advance the art of fruit and tree culture and help to create a popular demand for the products of the garden and nursery. He began to attend the meetings of the Horti- cultural Society of Massachusetts as early as ' 1849, and has been an active member for the past forty-five years. He was on the Fruit Committee of the society for many years. He has also been a member of the old Middlesex Agricultural Society for many years, and ser\^ed on the Fruit Committee and was one of the Trustees for many years. This society was the oldest of its kind in the State, having been founded in 1793. It dissolved about ten years ago. One of its early members was Colonel Loammi Baldwin, the civil engineer who built 8 the Middlesex Canal in 1793, the first canal built in America. It was he who introduced the well-known Baldwin apple. Mr. Manning is a member of the North Middlesex Society, established in i860, and, besides serving on the Committee on Fruit, has been its chairman much of the time since its organization. He is a member of the American Nurserymen's Association, joining in 1878, and has never missed a meeting, a record unequalled by any other member. For forty years he has been a member of the American Pomological So- ciety, and has the unique record of never having missed a meeting. He served on the committees of that society with Charles Down- ing, author of "Fruits of America," also with Mr. Bathem, of Ohio. Mr. Manning has both attended and made exhibits in Florida, Virginia, Illinois, and at the Centennial at Philadelphia in 1876. A number of times he has been the recipient of the Wilder medals, instituted by the late Marshall P. Wilder as prizes for superior exhibits in horticulture, Mr. Wilder having been president of the American Pomological Society for forty years and its chief organizer. Mr. Manning is also a member of the Massachusetts Fruit Growers' Association and of the Massachusetts Agricult- ural Society, which he joined thirty-five years ago. He has served on the Fruit Committee of the society. He was also one of the earliest members of the American Forest Association, having been connected with it since 1880. Mr. Manning's nursery is not excelled by any in the United States in the variety of its plants, shrubs, and trees. He makes a spe- cialty of evergreens, of which he has had as many as one hundred varieties; and these have added greatly to his fame as a horticulturist. He has established a department of hardy herba- ceous plants, and now has the largest assortment of that kind in the United States. Few men in the country, if any, can better claim the title of veteran horticulturist ; for he has now been in the nursery business for fifty-four years, forty-seven of which have been spent in Reading. The peculiar attraction of his call- ing and the magnitude of his business interests have engrossed Mr. Manning's entire attention during the long period of his activity, and have caused him to hold aloof from political, church, and secret society affiliations, he having pre- ferred to direct all his energies to the increase and perfection of his business. His singleness of aim and purpose has met with due reward. Mr. Manning was married December 25, 1858, to Lydia Brooks Chandler, daughter of Abiel and Mary E. (Felt) Chandler. She was born September 19, 1839, ^^ Concord, N. H., and is connected by ties of blood with the family to which Senator Chandler, of that State, belongs. Mr. and Mrs. Manning have five children, all sons; namely, Warren Henry, William Solomon, Jacob Woodward, Abiel Chandler, and Benjamin Fletcher. Warren Henry Manning, born November 6, i860, was educated in the public schools of Reading and at General Russell's Military School at New Haven, where he spent one year. After leaving school he was associated until he was twenty-six years old with his father, and gained an extended reputation as a landscape artist and botanist. Then for ten years subsequently he was with Frederick Law Olmsted, of Brookline, Mass., who laid out Central Park, New York. He is now well known as a consulting landscape architect, hav- ing an office in Tremont Building, Boston. His residence is in Brookline. He took an active part in laying out the Columbian Exhi- bition grounds at Chicago, giving orders for many thousands of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants used in decorating the grounds. He was selected judge of the tree plantings made by nurserymen and florists on the island and about the State buildings, awarding prizes for meritorious results. He has remained in charge of Jackson Park since the fair closed, carrying on extensive landscape work that is not yet completed. The report of the Metro- politan Park Commission of 1895 contains his statement to Mr. Olmsted in regard to the trees, shrubs, and plants of the Boston Park System, giving a full and complete description of all the property now occupied by the Metro- politan Commission. He married Henrietta Hamlin Pratt, of Reading, daughter of Daniel Pratt, and has one son, Warren Harold, born August 8, 1895. William Solomon Manning, born December 15, 1862, was educated in the public schools of Reading, and attended for one winter the drawing department of the Massachusetts Insti- tute of Technology. He remained at home until he was twenty years of age, and obtained a good knowledge of the nursery business. Subsequently he entered the employ of the Boston & Maine Railroad, first in the pay de- partment and later in the detective department. He was then sent by his brother Warren Henry, under direction of Mr. Olmsted, to Madison, N.J., to take charge of a gang of three hundred men engaged in landscape gar- dening for Hamilton McKay Twombly, and re- mained there for five years, during which time he had the direction of large expenditures, the total expenditures for improvement of the grounds (including buildings) being about three million dollars. Subsequently he opened an office as landscape artist at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Twentieth Street, New York, where he remained three years. He has been extensively engaged in the shipment of rhododendrons from wild lands in Pennsyl- vania, shipping at one time nearly three hun- dred carloads. This work was first suggested and inaugurated by his father in 1863, and has proved a very successful enterprise. In Au- gust, 1899, he became superintendent of the Essex County Park System in New Jersey, in- cluding twenty-six hundred acres of land. This position he still holds, having over one thousand men under his charge. He married Miss Jessie Stockwell, of Reading. Jacob Woodward Manning, born June i, 1866, was educated in the schools of Reading, at General Russell's Military School, and at the Institute of Technology, Boston. He was associated with his father for some twelve years, and is now engaged in surveying, land- scape gardening, and nursery work. He has also been extensively engaged in the shipment of rhododendrons from Pennsylvania, a recent shipment of his amounting to seventy carloads. He married Florence Nason, of Reading, and resides in that town near his father. Abiel Chandler Manning, born December i6, 1874, was educated in the public schools of Reading, at Mitchell's School in Billerica, and at the Chauncy Hall School, Boston. He is now engaged in the nursery business with his father as foreman in the Reading nursery. Benjamin Fletcher Manning, born January 6, 1877, received his education in the public schools of Reading, at the Massachusetts In- stitute of Technology (in mechanical depart- ment). He was associated with his brother, Warren H., for one year in landscape work, and is now assisting in the Reading nursery, and residing at home with his parents. He is efficient in landscape plantings, and has suc- cessfully moved large trees in various parts of the country. 13 LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 002 760 947 8