JOHN McMANNIS, one of the most prominent native-born agriculturists of Washington county, is a son of William McMannis, who in very early days had settled in what is now Canton township, this county, having come, when a young man, from eastern Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1787. William McMannis was married to Elizabeth, daughter if Patrick Burns, a native of Ireland, and the children born to this union were John, William, James, Ann, Elizabeth and Hannah. The father of this family died in 1849, the mother in 1873. Mr. McMannis removed from Canton township many years ago, and took up his residence in Strabane township until 1830, in which year he came to Buffalo township and settled on a farm in Rural valley. In his political preferences he was an Old-line Whig.
John McMannis, the eldest son of this honored pioneer, was born February 1, 1817, in Canton township, where his boyhood and youth were spent alternately in working on the farm and in attending the subscription schools of the locality. On February 26, 1840, he was united in marriage with Mary, daughter of John Irwin, a farmer of Buffalo township, where he was reared, and where he was married to Elizabeth Anderson, who bore him the following named children: Thomas S., Leviah (wife of John McKee), Mary (wife of John McMannis), Matthew A., Sarah (wife of John P. Gamble), Elizabeth M., (wife of John Williamson) and John. Mr. Irwin was a member of the Seceder Church, and in politics an uncompromising Whig. After marriage Mr. and Mrs. McMannis resided three years on the farm with his father. He then located on a rented farm in Buffalo township, situated about one and one-half miles from Taylorstown. This place he afterward purchased, and it was on this farm that the firs oil well in the township was sunk. The names of the children born to them are Elizabeth (wife of J. R. Littell), Anna, Catherine (Mrs. William H. Torrence), Myra, and Tilla (wife of W. S. Richey). The mother of this family departed this life December 21, 1871, in her fifty-sixth year, a devout member of the U. P. Church. Mr. McMannis was originally a Democrat, but since 1856 he has been a Republican; for twenty-four years he was a school director, and from 1865 he served as a justice of the peace for ten years, or, in fact, till he declined to serve longer, even when re-elected.
In the summer of 1889 Mr. McMannis retired from active business live, and having sold the farm to the Washington Oil Company, he moved into the village of Taylorstown, where he now resides enjoying in the sunset of his live the fruits of his earlier labors. He is well known among the old residents of Buffalo township, and has always been identified with its advancement. His is a representative self-made man, one who from small beginnings has by industry, economy and sound judgement accumulated an ample competence. He has never used tobacco or liquor in any form, and is hale and hearty, universally respected and esteemed.
Text taken from page 1246 of:
Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893).Transcribed February 1997 by Sharon McConnell of Fontana, CA as part of the Beers Project.
Published February 1997 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.[ [Back to Beers Table of Contents] [Back to Beers Project Page]