John Manley ~1837-1922

Born: ~1837 County Mayo, Ireland
Married: Mary Coleman 15 Aug 1859 Scranton, Pennsylvania
Died: 10 Apr 1922 Scranton, Pennsylvania

Parents:
Anthony Monnelly
Mary

Siblings:
James Manley

Children:
Sarah 1860
Anthony 1863
John 1865 (My Great Grandfather)
Mary 1869
Peter 1871
Francis 1873
Catherine 1875
Thomas 1879
Michael 1882
Thomas 1884

John Manley was born around 1837 in County Mayo, Ireland. He would have been about 10 years old during the famine that struck Ireland in the later half of the 1840s. The famine was particularly severe in Mayo. Deaths and emigration amounted to a 29 percent decline in the population of the county between the years 1841 and 1851.

Manley is an anglicized version of the Monnelly/Munnelly surname in Mayo. The original Irish form of that surname was Ó Maonghaile. DNA evidence indicates that the Ó Monnellys of County Mayo have a common ancestor who lived between 1300 and 1500 A.D. It is possible the name originated within the Ó Dochartaigh (Doherty) Clan, of County Donegal. According to John O' Donovan in the Ordinance Survey Letters (1839) "Ballymonelly was colonized by a tribe of the Dohertys who came hither as tradition says, under the conduct of Manaoile O’ Doherty, from whom they have been named O’ Moneelys." Apparently, Monaoile Ó Dochartaigh's male descendants began using the name Ó Maonghaile (O meaning "from").

The place in County Mayo where Manaoile Ó Dochartaigh resettled became known as "Baile Monaoile" or Ballymonnelly, a townland that, as can be seen in the map on the left, still exists in Kiltane Parish.

After the fifteenth century, legislation under English rule forced the Irish to anglicize their Irish names. The Ó Maonghaile surname became O' Monnelly or O' Munnelly and the O was eventually dropped. Throughout the 19th century, the name had several variant spellings in Mayo that were likely the result of however the parish priest decided to spell what he was hearing. That was also the case when these individuals arrived in America and the name was anglicized even further to Manley or Munley.

No birth records have been located for John Manley or his brother James, but many of his friends and family can be traced to the Moygownagh Roman Catholic parish.

Irish Counties are divided into civil parishes for local administrative purposes. Many of the civil parishes in County Mayo have a corresponding Roman Catholic parish, but their borders are not always coterminous. As one can see by following this link, the Moygownagh Roman Catholic Parish encompasses several townlands that fall within the boundaries of neighboring civil parishes.

John Manley's death certificate identified his father as Anthony Manley. Whie several Anthonys lived in this area at the time, (including one in Treanagh, the townland next door) that actual person has never been identified. He died sometime after John's younger brother James was born and John's mother Mary married Francis McNamara of Fairfield Lower, a townland which lies within the boundaries of the Moygownagh RC parish and the Kilfian civil parish. Also on his death certificate, John's mother was identified as Mary McNamara. However she became a McNamara when she remarried. Her original maiden name is unknown.

Francis and Mary McNamara had seven additional children and the entire family emigrated from Mayo to Quebec, Canada in 1860. They purchased farmland in the township of Lochaber. A John McNamara, possibly Francis’ brother, had already emigrated to the same area around 1835. Sometime in the later half of the 1860s, John's half-brothers Michael and Patrick McNamara relocated from Canada to Scranton. Patrick was a carpenter and operated a custom furniture shop in his home on Eynon Street in West Scranton. He was commisioned to produce elaborate wood carvings for churches.

John and Mary appear together in Scranton on the 1860 Census. His occupation was listed as "Iron Worker," which meant that he worked at the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company. The population of Scranton in 1860 was 9,223 and consisted mostly of the Iron Company employees and their families. In 1866, Scranton annexed the boroughs of Hyde Park and Providence and was incorporated as a city. By 1870, its population had ballooned to 35,092.

John was the only Manley listed in the Scranton City Directory of 1861. He and Mary lived in company housing on Orchard Street between Pittston and Prospect Avenue. This was the base of what was called the "Shanty Hill" neighborhood. One of Scranton's earliest residential neighborhoods, many Irish immigrants who found work at the nearby Iron Furnaces lived on Shanty Hill. The alleys and courts in this neighborhood bear the names of many of these early families. An alley that runs parallel to Orchard Street one half block to the south is named Manley Place. The furnaces of the Iron company are located at 159 Cedar Avenue in Scranton and were restored in the late 1960s.

John's brother James joined him in Scranton in 1862. James married Catherine Clark in 1864, lived in South Scranton, and worked in the rolling mill of the LI&CC. Sometime during the early half of the 1870s, James relocated his family to Allentown, PA and was employed by a steel company there.

In 1866, John purchased land in South Scranton from the Pawnee Coal Company. In the 19th century, coal companies purchased large parcels of land in Scranton so they could protect the right to mine the anthracite coal deposits below. They would resell lots for home development, but purchasers were required to relinquish any rights to the mineral deposits beneath the lot. John Manley's original deed was recorded in the Luzerne County Courthouse. Scranton was located in Luzerne County PA until 1878, the year it became the seat of the newly formed Lackawanna County.

John purchased a large lot (40 X 140 feet) that was located on the northeast corner of Prospect and Beech Streets. He did not build on the lot immediately. When the 1870 census was taken, he reported that he lived on Moosic Street, probably to be close to the Rolling Mill where he worked.

By 1875, Scranton city directories began to identify his location as Prospect Street near Beech. Houses were not numbered yet. That house eventually became 902 Prospect Avenue. Sometime around 1880, John constructed a second house on the western half of the lot. His location was then described as Beech Street near Prospect. That house was eventually numbered 540 Beech Street and he lived there until his death. The photo above shows how the lot appeared in 2012. The original house, 902 Prospect, is on the left. At some point, a small commercial building was added on the side yard. 540 Beech Street is the house in the lower right of the photo. The original lot was officially divided into two lots shortly after John's death.

On the 1880 census, William Hughes, who worked in a coal breaker and had a lung disease, lived with the Manleys and was identified as an uncle. William's sister was Mary Coleman's mother, Mary Hughes Coleman. William emigrated to the U. S. from Moygownagh. His death certificate, dated 22 Feb 1889, identified him as a 75 year-old male, who lived on Beech St.

Also on the 1880 census, John and Mary's oldest daughter Sarah lived next door, probably at 902 Prospect, with her husband Michael Quinn. Mary Coleman's mother, Mary Hughes Coleman was living with the Manleys when she died in 1894. Her obituary identified Moygownagh as her place of birth.

John's mother Mary died in 1898. On the left is a photo of the grave she shares with her second husband Francis McNamara in Lochaber, Quebec, Canada. The inscription reads, "In Memory of Francis McNamara Died Feb. 4 1887 Aged 77 yrs Also His Loving Wife Mary Manley Died May 12, 1898 Aged 74 yrs Safely anchored in this arbor of eternal rest."

In 1900, John and Mary, who should have been around 60 years old, still had two children living at home, 18 year-old Michael and 16 year-old Thomas.  Mary reported on this census that she gave birth to a total of 12 children, but only 8 were alive. 

John's wife, Mary Coleman, died on October 13, 1901, one day after his brother James died in Allentown. In 1902, the Lackawanna Steel Company moved from Scranton to Lackawanna NY, near Buffalo. John's daughter Mary and her husband Henry Joynt also moved to Lackawanna around that time. 

In 1910, John's age was now listed as 70 and he lived with 26 year-old Thomas, a fireman, and 30 year-old Catherine.  In 1920, 83 year-old John appeared on his last census. He was still living on Beech Street with 40 year-old daughter Catherine and 35 year-old son Thomas, still a fireman. These children never married and were eventually buried with their parents in Saint Mary's Church cemetery in Dunmore.

On December 6, 1921, representatives of the forces that had been waging a war of independence with the English army signed a treaty that essentially ended 700 years of British rule in Ireland. John Manley died on April 10, 1922. His life began during the Great Famine and ended shortly after his homeland gained independence.

Obituary
Scranton PA 10 Apr 1922
John Manley Sr., about seventy-five years old, one of the pioneer residents of South Scranton, died about 7 o'clock this morning at the family home, 540 Beech Street, following a few days illness of pneumonia. He was a devout member of St. John's Roman Catholic Church, a member of the Holy Name Society, and other organizations of that congregation. His passing will be mourned by a legion of acquaintances. Mr. Manley leaves the following children: Anthony, John, Jr., Peter, Frank, Michael, Thomas, Miss Catherine, all of this city, and Mrs. Henry Joynt of Lackawanna, N.Y. The funeral will take place Wednesday morning with a requiem mass in St. John's church at 9:30 o'clock. Burial will be in St. Mary's cemetery, Dunmore.