Sedgwick County KSGenWeb

Portrait And Biographical Album of Sedgwick County, Kan.

Chapman Brothers 1888

Pages 986 - 987 

JAMES MANAMEE. Among the pioneers of Eagle Township who have so largely contributed to the development of the resources of that portion of Sedgwick County, there is no more prominent figure than the gentleman of whom this memoir is written. He came to this State in the spring of 1870 from Pennsylvania and took up 160 acres of land on section 32 under the homestead act, on which he is at present making his home. He has been giving his attention all that time to the cultivation and improvement of this fine property, and to the breeding and rearing of fine graded stock. He has on hand from thirty to fifty head of these valuable animals, principally of the Short-horn variety, nearly all the time, and his labors, agriculturally, are generally directed toward the raising of corn for the purpose of feeding them. When he came here the country was a vast waste, covered with weeds and sunflowers higher than his head, and the soil was bound fast by a tough and wiry sod. By diligence and industry he has reclaimed the land to the uses of civilization, erected a beautiful and commodious residence and substantial barns, and otherwise improved the property until today it is one of the best in the township.

            Mr. Manamee is a native of Philadelphia, Pa., born May 1, 1846, and is the son of William and Caroline (Brawley) Manamee. His parents were natives of Ireland, and were married in the Emerald Isle, and emigrated to the United States about 1840. They settled in the City of Brotherly Love, where the father died when the subject of this sketch was in early childhood. The mother is still living at the advanced age of sixty-five years, with her daughter Mattie, in Philadelphia, and, notwithstanding her time of life, is hearty and active, and punctual in her attendance on the services of the Catholic Church and in her religious duties. They were the parents of six children, two boys and four girls--Marie, Katy, Mattie, Charles, Jennie and James.

            The subject of this narration commenced the labors of this life at a very early age, his orphan condition necessitating his earning a living in childhood. At the age of eight years he commenced working on a farm, located about fourteen miles from his native city, and while there attended the district school when he could find the time. By this means he acquired a large amount of information, to which he has added by considerable reading in his later years. He remained upon the farm until the breaking out of the Rebellion, but in October, 1861, enlisted in Company K, 97th Pennsylvania Infantry. The company to which he was attached was under command of Capt. Wayne for about one year, and then under Capt. Black for about the same length of time, when the latter was succeeded by Capt. Underwood, who remained until the close of the war. With the gallant regiment of which he was a member, and than which no braver ever carried the State flag of the old Keystone State through the perils of many a stricken field, our subject saw considerable active duty. He was present during the battles and skirmishes of the Bermuda Hundred expedition, at the siege of Port Wagner, on Morris Island, in South Carolina, and at the reduction and capture of Fts. Sumter and Moultrie by the guns of the batteries erected by Gen. Gilmore, on the swampy islands off Charleston Bay, and in the battles of Cold Harbor and Petersburg, Va. In many other skirmishes and engagements he was actively employed, and in the assault upon the lines, shortly after the explosion at what is known as the Crater, at Petersburg, our subject was shot in the arm and was sent to the hospital at Central Park, N. Y., where the wounded limb was amputated. It was about two months before the stump healed up, and for six months following he remained at the hospital, until June, 1865, when he received an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Philadelphia.

            After living in the latter place about one year, Mr. Manamee removed to Dayton, Ohio, but a year later removed to Augusta, Me. From the latter place he removed to Kansas, and located in Sedgwick County, as above mentioned. He was married, Dec. 27, 1882, to Miss Bell Bunton, a native of Kentucky, and daughter of Joel and Elizabeth (Wheat) Bunton. Her father was engaged in farming in the Blue Grass State, but came to Sedgwick County in the fall of 1870, and located in Greeley Township, but died in the following summer. Her mother remained but about a year after her husband's death, and then returned to Kentucky, where she is living with a daughter. Mr. Manamee is a Republican in politics, and has filled various offices in the township. He was the Constable of Union Township for two terms, and in 1886 was elected Justice of the Peace in and for Eagle Township, and still holds that position.

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