John P. McManus Bollinger Co
Mo Biography
- John P. McManus, a progressive young
farmer of Lorance Township,
Bollinger County, Mo., was born in Liverpool, England, in 1852,
and is a
son of Patrick and Ann (Riley) McManus. The family immigrated to
American in 1854 and located in Philadelphia, where they resided
several
years. Patrick McManus was a sailor, and made two trips back to
the old
country after locating in Philadelphia. The Riley family, to
whom he
was related, started west to find them a home, and, being wagon
makers
by trade, would stop at different towns on the route and work at
their
trade, thus paying their traveling expenses. They stopped at
Keokuk,
Iowa, where Patrick McManus engaged on a steamer plying between
that
port and St. Louis. While making one of these trips he was
drowned.
His family remained in Philadelphia two years after his death,
when in
the summer of 1859, they came to Missouri. There were four
children,
three of whom, Charles (who married Alice McGee), Margaret
(deceased
wife of William Nelson, also deceased) and John P., were born in
Liverpool. Mary A., the youngest child, now the wife of Willard
Caveness, was born in Philadelphia in 1856. She now resides in
Hopkins
County, Ky., and her mother makes her home with her. John P.
grew to
manhood in Cairo, Ill., where for several years he attended
school. His
brother and the Rileys also made that city their home during the
war.
In 1867 John P. came back to Bollinger County and farmed a few
years on
land entered by his mother. His marriage with Miss Mattie Liley
was
celebrated in 1871. The latter is a daughter of Maston Liley,
an old
resident of Bollinger County. Soon after his marriage Mr.
McManus
purchased a tract of woodland, upon which he erected a nice
little house
and build commodious out-buildings. He has made it a model
farm, one of
the prettiest in his vicinity. Everything about it betokens
thrift,
enterprise and pride. Mr. McManus has a good practical
education, and
has done a great deal of surveying in his county. For the past
eleven
years he has served as clerk of Lorance Township. He and his
wife have
three bright children, Harry, Maggie and Mollie. Mr. McManus has
studied medicine for over five years, and has one of the finest
libraries in the county. [p. 839]
Goodspeed's History of
Southeast Missouri, [p. 839]
Contributed by
Joe Crim
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