Manning, James, 1738-1791

James Manning (October 22, 1738 – July 29, 1791) was an American Baptist minister, educator and legislator from Providence, Rhode Island. He was the first president of Brown University and one of its most involved founders, and served as minister of the First Baptist Church in America.

Born in Elizabethtown in the Province of New Jersey (now Elizabeth, New Jersey), he attended the Hopewell Academy in Hopewell, New Jersey under the direction of Reverend Isaac Eaton in preparation for his religious studies. Manning then graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). Shortly after his graduation, he was publicly ordained by the Scotch Plains, New Jersey Baptist Church. In 1764, Manning was sent by the Philadelphia Baptist Association to found a college in Rhode Island, the cradle of American Baptists. Along with prominent Rhode Islanders, Manning was one of the founders of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (now Brown University) during the British colonial period. Manning served as Brown's first president from 1765 to 1791. While serving as president of Brown, Manning was first the minister of the Baptist church in Warren, and then moved to become the minister of the First Baptist Church in America in Providence for the period of July 1771 through April 1791.

In 1786, the Rhode Island General Assembly unanimously elected James Manning to serve as its delegate in the 7th Congress of the Confederation. In that role, he served on the Grand Committee, which proposed fundamental amendments to the Articles of Confederation. He died in Providence, Rhode Island and was interred in the North Burial Ground there.