Manzanares, Francisco Antonio, 1843-1904

Francisco Antonio Manzanares (January 25, 1843 – September 17, 1904) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Delegate for the New Mexico Territory from 1884 to 1885.

Born in in Abiquiú, Nuevo México, he grew up with Spanish as his first language, and during his youth attended Taos School under the instruction of Father Antonio Jose Martinez. In 1863 he began attending St. Louis University, where he studied English until 1864. After leaving the university, Manzanares worked one year at Chick, Browne, and Company, a merchandising firm in Kansas City, Missouri. He then moved to New York City to study in a commercial college and worked in a bank. When he returned to Chick, Browne, and Company, Manzanares took advantage of the burgeoning railroad industry by expanding the firm’s business to cities that served the Kansas Pacific and the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroads. Propelled by his ambition and work ethic, he rose from company clerk to partner in four years by buying interest from a senior partner. Renamed Browne & Manzanares, the firm moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, and competed with commissioning firms such as Otero, Sellar, and Co. and the Romero firm. Eventually, Browne & Manzanares established branches in five cities in New Mexico and Colorado.

In 1882 Manzanares received the Democratic nomination to challenge the incumbent Territorial Delegate, Tranquilino Luna, for a seat in the 48th Congress. Although Luna was declared the winner, and the territory certified the results, Manzanares contested the election because of alleged voting irregularities in a number of precincts. Midway through the congressional term, the House Committee on Elections overturned the election results and awarded Manzanares the seat. Sworn into the House on March 5, 1884, Manzanares served on the Committee on Coinage, Weights, and Measures (the only committee New Mexico Territorial Delegates had served on until that point). Manzanares declined to serve for a second term and returned to managing his business empire in New Mexico and Colorado.

In 1886 and 1897, Manzanares served as a member of the board of county commissioners in San Miguel County in 1896 and 1897. He also participated in the 1889 New Mexico constitutional convention. In 1902 Manzanares sold his interest in Browne & Manzanares for a 5,000- to 6,000-acre plot of land in San Miguel County and a cash settlement. After a long bout with a stomach disease, he died in Las Vegas, New Mexico. Manzanares was interred in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Las Vegas.