Biography of Jasper C. Manee

Jasper C. Manee, born January 16, 1821, in Staten Island, NY, was a dedicated farmer who excelled in fruit-growing in Sumner County, Kansas. He settled there in 1872 after initially homesteading in Jefferson County, where he became a respected community leader and served as a County Commissioner. He married Eliza J. Denton in 1846, with whom he had six children. Manee actively participated in the Civil War and maintained strong Republican beliefs. He passed away leaving a legacy of hard work and community service.

JASPER C. MANEE. There are few farms in Sumner County upon which the proprietors have labored to better advantage than that which is owned and occupied by the subject of this sketch. His well-tilled fields produce in abundance the rich crops of the Sunflower State, but Mr. Manee has made a specialty of fruit-growing, in which industry he excels. Upon coming to this county, in 1872, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 7, Falls Township, and subsequently pre-empted one hundred and ten acres on section 6. In 1877 he removed to his present quarters, where he has a neat and substantial residence, good outbuildings, an abundance of fruit and shade trees and all the other appliances of modern farm life.

Mr. Manee was born on Staten Island, N. Y., January 16, 1821, and is the son of Isaac and Maria (Cropsey) Manee, who were natives respectively of Staten Island and Long Island. The father was a ship carpenter by trade and during his early manhood served as a soldier in the War of 1812, afterward receiving a pension. He spent his entire life on his native island. The paternal grandfather, Abraham Manee, was also born on Staten Island. His ancestors were of old Huguenot stock and were prominent people in their day among the early Colonists. Grandfather Cropsey was likewise a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Mrs. Maria (Cropsey) Manee was the daughter of Harmonis Cropsey, whose ancestors came from Holland. Of her union with Isaac Manee there were born ten children, viz.: Harmon, Anna E., Abraham, Jasper C., Isaac, Harmon, 2d; Susan, Nicholas, Ellen J., and one who died unnamed in infancy. Jasper C., of this sketch, was the fourth child and was reared on his native island, attending school until a lad of fourteen years. He was unusually bright and ambitious and at an early age became anxious to start out in the world for himself. When leaving school he repaired to New York City and commenced serving an apprenticeship to the silversmith’s trade with which he occupied himself until 1849. At that time the California gold excitement was attracting many young men to the Pacific Slope and Mr. Manee joined the caravan journeying thither, entering the mines, and engaged in searching for the yellow ore with fair success until 1855.

Six years of life in the extreme wild West sufficed to satisfy Mr. Manee and he gladly returned to his native place, but only to sojourn one year or less. He now found he could no longer content himself in the place of his birth or anywhere else in the East, and in 1856 he again set his face toward the Mississippi, which he crossed a second time, coming then to Jefferson County, this State, and taking up a homestead claim in Jefferson Township. About this time the border troubles commenced and Mr. Manee was one of the very few men who had the courage to maintain their position among the Indians and highway assassins who infested the country. In addition to the danger of an encounter with these, there were also many hardships to endure in endeavoring to develop a homestead and make a living.

Mr. Manee, however, stood his ground, remaining a resident of Jefferson County until 1872 and becoming a prominent man in his community. He served as a County Commissioner several years and held the minor offices. Such was his course as a citizen, that he enjoyed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him and no man was more warmly interested in the welfare and advancement of his adopted county. However, in 1872, desiring a change of location and believing he could better himself in Sumner County, he removed hither.

During the progress of the Civil War Mr. Manee joined the Jefferson County militia and assisted in driving the rebel General Price from Independence. He is a Republican, politically, and during the times which tried men’s souls he steadfastly maintained his loyalty to the Union. While a resident of New York City, Mr. Manee, on the 2d of August, 1846, was united in the bonds of wedlock with Miss Eliza J. Denton. Mrs. Manee was born in Connecticut in 1831, and when about eighteen years old removed with her parents to West Milton, N. J. Her union with our subject resulted in the birth of six children, and the mother died at the homestead in Jefferson County, Kan., in 1861. With the exception of an infant who died unnamed, the children were christened respectively: Harmon, Jasperena, Jessie, Avery, and Lucy. Three of these are living and making their homes in Caldwell.

Mr. Manee has a pleasant and commodious residence, which is represented by the fine view of his farm.