REV. JACOB MANNING.
A STRANGER, looking upon the face of this man would trust himself or his treasure to him. The character shines in the features. The soul has set a true index on the forehead. The veneer of the social diplomat may imitate. but cannot equal the genuine frankness and worth of the best type of Christian gentleman.
Mr. Manning has been employed in all the departments of the active ministry through a series
of years. His aptness in rightly dividing the word, his fidelity as a pastor, discretion as a counsellor and success in winning souls, have given him a sterling value in the Conference and in the cabinet of the Bishops. He is the beloved disciple.
Jacob Manning was born near the city of Baltimore,
Maryland, on the 14th day of January, 1816. The religious instructions, godly example, and earnest prayers of his Christian mother, (his father died when he was an infant,) together with the salutary influence exerted upon his mind and heart by one of the most ably conducted Sunday-schools in the city of Baltimore, were instrumental in his conversion at the age of fifteen, when he became a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
For several years before he had reached the age of manhood, his thoughts were directed to the Christian ministry as the work to which his life should be devoted, but lack of opportunity for literary culture was the occasion of many doubts and much hesitancy. One of his earliest efforts at speaking publicly to his fellow men in regard to their salvation. made to the convicts at the Maryland penitentiary, resulted in the conversion of one of the inmates. This incident tended largely to confirm him in the persuasion that it was his duty to preach, and was the occasion of his giving to the question a close and prayerful examination, resulting in a clear conviction. which has never been obscured by the shadow of a doubt.
Having been informed that in the Virginia Conference there was an urgent call for young men
for the ministry, he determined to offer himself for that work. And at the Conference for 1839, held in the town of Edenton, North Carolina, he was admitted on trial as a travelling preacher. During the preceding year the had been employed on the Louisa Circuit, as the colleague of William H. Starr, the memory of whose fatherly care and valuable instructions has been always cherished with the deepest affection.
He served in the following appointments : 1839. Culpeper and Rappahannock circuit:, 1840-'41
Williamsburg and Hampton circuit; 1842, Farmville six months; Charlottesville six months; 1843, Farmville; 1844. Randolph Macon College; 1845, Randolph Macon circuit; 1846, Albemarle circuit; 1847, Richmond, Trinity; 1848, Richmond, Centenary; 1849, Richmond, Trinity ; 1850,
Louisa circuit; 1851, Portsmouth, Dinwiddie circuit; 1852-'3. Richmond district; 1854-'7, Charlottesville district; 1858, Alexandria station; 1859-'60, Lynchburg, Court street; 1861-'2, Amherst circuit; 1863, Cumberland circuit; 1864-'5, Prince Edward circuit; 1866, Richmond—agent for the Sunday school society; 1867, Richmond, Sidney and Oregon ; 1868, South Bedford; 1869, Rappahannock district; 1870-'3, Charlottesville district; 1874, Amherst circuit; 1875-'6, Farmville station; 1877-'8, Eastern Shore district; 1879, Smithfield and Benn's; on districts 13 years; on stations 12 years; on circuits 15 years, making in all 40 years.
In reverting to the influences by which his character as a minister was formed. and his life was directed, he mentions, in a note to the editor, with much affection his connection by marriage with a lady, Miss Spooner, of Charlottesville. Va., whose rare endowments, intellectual, moral and spiritual, rendered her not only a charming companion, but a most efficient helper in his great work.
He adds that, deeply lamenting his ministrations have not been productive of a larger amount
of good to the souls of his fellow-men, he rejoices in the assurance that they have not been without encouraging manifestations of the divine blessing.
In reviewing the forty years spent in this work, the only feeling of regret or sorrow he now
realizes results from the consciousness of his unfaithfulness in the work, and not from the consecration of his life to it—a, consecration which he would gladly make if he were now required to choose for another term of the same duration, which should be the work of his life.
Source:
Sketches of the Virginia Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church,
South. by Rev. John J. Lafferty Richmond, Va., Christian Advocate
Office 1880.
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