Manly, Matthias Evans, 1801-1881

Matthias Evans Manly of New Bern, N.C., was a lawyer, state legislator, superior court judge, and state Supreme Court judge.

Matthias Evans Manly (12 April 1801-9 July 1881), lawyer and jurist, was born near Pittsboro, N.C., the third of six children of Elizabeth Maultsby and Basil Manly, who had moved to Chatham County from Bladen. His father was originally from St. Marys County, Md., and was Roman Catholic. His mother was a Quaker. Matthias Evans Manly was Roman Catholic.

Manly received his early education at the Bingham School in Orange County and was graduated with honors from the University of North Carolina in 1824. Five years later, he received an M.A. degree, and, in 1862, the University awarded him the honorary degree of LL.D. For a while after his graduation, Manly tutored mathematics at the University. He then studied law under his brother Charles; settled in New Bern, N.C.; and became a successful lawyer.

In 1834 and 1835, Manly served in the state legislature, and, in 1840, the governor appointed him a superior court judge to complete the term of R. M. Saunders, who had resigned. When the legislature met the following year, he was elected to that position, which he held for the next 19 years.

In December 1859, Manly was appointed to the North Carolina Supreme Court and served for six years. After the Civil War, Manly was one of the few former supporters of the Confederacy to be elected to the constitutional convention of 1865. In 1866, Manly was elected to represent Craven County in the state senate, of which he was voted president. At that session, he was elected by the General Assembly to the United States Senate, but when the state was denied representation in Congress, he was not permitted to take his seat.

Manly resumed his law practice in New Bern and served as presiding justice of Craven County until the county court system was abolished in 1868. He also became mayor of New Bern and represented the state as its proxy in the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad.

In 1832, Manly married Hannah Gaston, daughter of Judge William Gaston, with whom he had two daughters: Jane and Hannah. After his wife's death, Manly married, in 1844, Sarah Louisa Simpson, daughter of Samuel Simpson, and they had nine children: Matthias Evans, Jr., Maria, Elizabeth, Gaston, Basil, Clement, Mary, William, and Sarah Simpson.

Matthias Evans Manly's son, Clement Manly (1853-1928), was a lawyer in Winston, N.C., and was chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party in the 1890s.