Jacob Merrill Manning (December 31, 1824 – November 29, 1882) was a prominent American Congregational clergyman, active in Boston, Massachusetts.
Biography
Manning was born in Greenwood, New York. He graduated from Amherst College in 1850 and studied theology at Andover Theological Seminary, completing his studies in 1853. In 1854, he was ordained as pastor of the Mystic Church in Medford, Massachusetts. In 1857, he became assistant pastor of the historic Old South Church in Boston, where he would later serve as senior pastor from 1872 until his resignation on March 15, 1882.
During the American Civil War, Manning served as chaplain to the 43rd Massachusetts Regiment (the "Tiger Regiment") from 1862 to 1863. He was a staunch abolitionist and wrote regular letters to the Boston Journal describing his wartime experiences. He also served as chaplain to the Massachusetts State Senate in 1858–1859.
Manning held numerous civic and academic positions: he was a member of the Boston school board, an overseer of Harvard University from 1860 to 1866, a trustee of the Massachusetts state library from 1865 to 1882, and a lecturer at Andover Theological Seminary from 1866 to 1872.
Selected Works
- The Death of Abraham Lincoln (1865) — a sermon preached in Boston following Lincoln's assassination
- Peace under Liberty
- Half Truths and The Truth (1873) — lectures on the origin and development of prevailing forms of unbelief
- Helps to a Life of Prayer (1875)
Death
Manning died on November 29, 1882, in Portland, Maine, at the age of 57. He was interred at Forest Hills Cemetery and Crematory in Jamaica Plain, Suffolk County, Massachusetts.
