Benjamin Arvid Manning

The following profile was researched and compiled by Candice L. Buchanan and Glenn J. R. T. Toothman III, for publication in "The Rain Day Boys: The Greene That Lay Near Grimpettes Woods" (2017). Learn more at RainDayBoys.com.

Birth: 22 July 1893 Pennsylvania[i]

Parents: John Newton Manning and Emma Elizabeth Bare[ii]

Residence at time of enlistment: 131 East Greene Street, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[iii]

Physical description: 5 feet 10 ½ inches tall, dark complexion, black eyes, brown hair[iv]

Death: Killed in action 29 July 1918 Cierges, Picardie, France[v]

Age at death: 25 years old

Last resting place: 9 July 1922 Green Mount Cemetery, Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania[vi]

Military rank: Serial No. 1241408. Mechanic. Company K, 110th Infantry, 28th Division.

Witness account of death: Statement given by Sgt. James Kane. “I saw Ben Manning when he was killed by machine gun fire on the morning of 29th July 1918. The machine gun fire was as thick as rain and when Manning raised up his body it was riddled with bullets he died instantly. We were lying down in an open field in front of the Grimpette woods just beyond the Ourcq river.”[vii]

Additional information:

Ben was an expert mechanic and artificer for Company K. He had honed his skills for years ahead of World War I in both military and civilian life. While Company K was still a unit of the 10th Pennsylvania Infantry, Ben had joined in 1916 to serve on the Mexican border.[viii] Before and between enlistments, Ben spent nearly a decade as a valued carpenter for the Acklin Lumber Company. Their appreciation of his work is inferred from the fact that they gave him a “fine wrist watch” on the day Company K left for training at Camp Hancock, Georgia.[ix]

When Ben was returned home for burial 9 July 1922, the Waynesburg Republican reported that, “the flag draped casket borne on a gun caisson escorted by members of the James Farrell Post, American Legion, was taken to the Methodist Episcopal church where funeral services were conducted.”[x]

In 1934, Ben’s elder brothers, Guy Harper Manning and Charles Earl Manning, applied for compensation as part of the Pennsylvania Veteran’s Compensation Act, identifying themselves as Ben’s surviving brothers and legal representatives. Their claim was not approved.[xi]

 

[i] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60884 : accessed 9 October 2017), Guy H. Manning and Charles Earl Manning, brothers of Benjamin A. Manning - application no. 285594; citing World War I Veterans Service and Compensation File, 1934–1948 (RG 19, Series 19.91), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

[ii] "Our County's Honored Dead" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 29 August 1918.

Pennsylvania, Death Certificates, 1906-1963, no. 96131, Emma E. Manning, 1930; digital images, Ancestry.com (www.Ancestry.com : accessed 12 November 2017); Pennsylvania Death certificates, 1906–1963 (Series 11.90), Records of the Pennsylvania Department of Health (Record Group 11), Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

[iii] "United States, Army Transport Service Passenger Lists 1910-1939," digital images, Ancestry.com (http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=61174 : accessed 14 October 2017), Ben A. Manning entry, line 22, page 30 (stamped), Ausonia, box 373; citing Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAI: 6234477. Record Group Title: Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985. Record Group Number 92. National Archives, College Park, Maryland. The ledger lists an emergency contact person and address for each passenger. Ben listed his mother, with whom he likely lived at the time of his enlistment. He gave her address as “131 East Greene St., Waynesburg, PA.”

[iv] "PA National Guard Veterans' Card File, 1867-1921," digital images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System (www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp: viewed 12 November 2017), Ben Arrid Manning, Private, Co K, 10th Inf., P. N. G.; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.135.

[v] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Guy H. Manning and Charles Earl Manning, brothers of Benjamin A. Manning - application no. 285594.

[vi] Green Mount Cemetery (Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania), record of interments, Interment Book 1: 20 and 24, Benjamin Arvid Manning entry.

Green Mount Cemetery (Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania), Ben A. Manning tombstone, section G, lot 22, grave 1; personally read by Candice Buchanan, 2008.

[vii] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Guy H. Manning and Charles Earl Manning, brothers of Benjamin A. Manning - application no. 285594.

[viii] "Mexican Border Campaign Veterans' Card File," index and record images, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), Pennsylvania State Archives Records Information Access System (www.digitalarchives.state.pa.us/archive.asp: viewed 12 November 2017), Ben A. Manning, Artificer, 10th Inf., Co. K; citing Pennsylvania State Archives, series #19.110.

[ix] "Wrist Watch for Manning" article, Washington Observer, Washington, Pennsylvania, 8 September 1917, page 3.

[x] "Benjamin A. Manning Buried with Full Military Honors" article, Waynesburg Republican, Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, 13 July 1922.

[xi] "WWI Veterans Service and Compensation Files, 1917-1919, 1934-1948," digital images, Ancestry.com, Guy H. Manning and Charles Earl Manning, brothers of Benjamin A. Manning - application no. 285594.