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Manning family collection,
ca. 1860-1950s
MS 350
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Creator: |
Manning family |
Collection Name: | Manning family
collection,
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Inclusive Dates: | ca.
1860-1950s |
Physical Description: | 1.6 linear feet |
Abstract: | Contains photographs of Manning family members,
ca. 1860-1950s, including photographs at the Tucson family home (Paseo Redondo,
also known as "Manning House") and at Manning Camp in the Rincon Mountains.
Contains materials (articles, correspondence and personal papers) of the
Manning family members as well as materials related to their
properties. |
Collection Number: | MS 350 |
Repository: |
University of Arizona Libraries, Special
Collections
University of Arizona
PO Box 210055
Tucson, AZ 85721-0055
Phone: 520-621-6423
Fax: 520-621-9733
URL: http://speccoll.library.arizona.edu/
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Biographical Note
The Manning Family was instrumental in the agricultural and urban
development of Tucson and southern California during the late-nineteenth
century. The family owned huge tracts of rich agricultural land in Arizona,
California, and Mexico, were successful real estate developers, were active in
local and national politics, and played a significant role in the growth of
transportation technology in Tucson. Most of the family's fame and fortune was
due to Levi Howard Manning, a kind of "Howard Hughes" figure of the
southwest.
Levi Howard Manning (1864-1935) was born in Holly Springs, Mississippi
in 1864. His father was a state senator and the family owned a successful
plantation in Holly Springs. According to family legend, Levi arrived in Tucson
with a scandal hot on his heels. In 1882, at the age of eighteen, Levi came
home from college for spring vacation with a fraternity brother. There was a
circus in town, and the two went, managing to free an elephant while there. The
elephant subsequently ransacked the town. When Levi told his mother, she told
Manning that he should leave town before his father found out about his
escapade. Levi left town that day with a small amount of money from his mother
and her best carriage horses. He arrived in Tucson in 1883 (some accounts say
1884), penniless. Manning's enterprising nature soon led him from a job hauling
buckets of water to working as a reporter for the Tucson newspapers the Star
and the Citizen. A few years later, Manning turned to agriculture and mining.
He married Cordelia (Gussie) Lovell O'Connell, a renowned beauty and member of
an established Tucson family.
The exact date of the rise of Manning's fortunes is unknown, but between
his arrival in Tucson and his election as its 17th mayor, Manning managed to
get involved in a variety of successful ventures. Manning and his business
partners spent millions of dollars developing land in the Santa Cruz Valley,
and built and equipped the Santa Rita Hotel. His involvement in the
reorganization of Tucson Gas, Electric Light & Power Co. paved the way for
the installation of power for a street railway system. Additionally, Manning
discovered Signal Hill in California, a site of rich oil deposits. Under
President Cleveland, Manning served as Surveyor Governor of Arizona
Territory.
In 1906, Manning began his first venture into cattle farming with his
purchase of what would become known as Scotch Farms, a 500 acre ranch between
Tucson and the San Xavier Mission. Eight years later, in 1914, Manning bought
the entire Canoa Land Grant, which at that time spanned west from the base of
the Santa Rita Mountains across the Avra Valley (ca. 40,000 acres). After
purchasing the ranch, Manning developed it into what was considered one of the
finest cattle ranches in the southwest, running mostly Hereford cattle, but
also breeding Arabian horses. In 1916, the southern half of the ranch was sold
to the Intercontinental Rubber Company, which was at that time experimenting
with the production of guayule as a wartime substitution for rubber. Manning
later acquired land adjacent to the southern half of the Canoa, to create a
ranch of nearly 100,000 acres, and began a scientific breeding program to
improve the quality of his cattle.
In 1921, Manning's son, Howell (1899-1966) assumed the daily operation
of the ranch. Howell had attended Culver Military Academy and Dartmouth College
before joining the army as a machine gunner during World War I. Howell, who
later became known as "Big Howell," leased or sold large portions of the Canoa
ranch, mainly to finance a farming and ranching operation in Guaymas, Mexico.
Howell was known as a sportsman and frequently went on long ocean fishing
expeditions in Mexico. In the mid-1920s, Howell married Margaret Ferguson, and
had two sons, Howell Jr. (killed in a car accident in 1951) and Marklan. The
marriage lasted approximately ten years, and in 1933 Howell married his second
wife, Evelyn. In 1935 the couple had a daughter, Clare (known as "Jinx").
In 1949, the family home, Paseo Redondo, was sold to the Tucson Elks
Lodge (Levi H. Manning had been a member of the Lodge). The Elks owned the
property until 1979, when it was sold to a local real estate developer. The
house, located in downtown Tucson, still stands.
Scope and Content Note
The photographs in this collection primarily depict members of the
family in formal and informal poses. There is little here that documents their
activities as cattle farmers. A series of cynotypes from the early part of the
20th century documents the family's vacations at their camp in the Rincon
Mountains. A series of panoramic photographs of Gussie Manning and members of
the Elks Lodge was probably taken in the 1930s, rather than twenty years
earlier, as the notation on the back of the prints.
Organization
The photographs are arranged chronologically for the primary members of
the family and extended family thereafter. Notations have been made for
particular studios or photographers where applicable. Print materials are
arranged chronologically for family members and followed by materials related
to the properties.
Restrictions
None.
Copyright
It is the responsibility of the user to obtain permission to publish
from the owner of the copyright (the institution, the creator of the record,
the author or his/her transferees, heirs, legates, or literary executors). The
user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Arizona Board of Regents for the
University of Arizona, its officers, employees, and agents from and against all
claims made by any person asserting that he or she is an owner of
copyright.
Access Terms
Personal Name(s)
Ferguson, Margaret
Foster, Jessie Louise O'Connell.
Manning, Claire.
Manning, Evelyn Lockhart,1970
Manning, Howell, Jr.,1923-1951
Manning, Howell,1899-1966.
Manning, Levi Howard,1864-1935.
Manning, Marklan
Manning-Catron, Deezie
O'Connell, Cordelia (Gussie) Lovell.
Yeager, Mildred Lovel Coil.
Corporate Name(s)Canoa Ranch.
Intercontinental Rubber Company
Tucson Gas and Electric Co.
Subject(s) Ranching -- Arizona
Avra Valley (Ariz.)
Guayule
Land grants -- Arizona
Manning Camp -- Arizona -- Rincon Mountains.
Manning House -- Arizona -- Tucson
Santa Cruz River Valley (Ariz. and Mexico)
Signal Hill (Calif.)
Credit Line
Manning family collection (MS 350). Special Collections, University of Arizona Libraries.
Container List
| | | | | | | | | | | |
box | folder |
1 | 1 | | Levi Howell Manning Contains Photos, including Gilbert
Studios, Earl V. Lewis Co., and invitation.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 2 | | Cordelia "Gussie" Lovell Manning, Contains Photos, including
Buehman Studios.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 3 | | Jesse Louise O'Connell Foster, Contains Photos, including
Buehman Studios.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 4 | | Howell Manning, Contains Photos, including Steckel Studios,
Pereira Studios.
, 1899-1905 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 5 | | Howell Manning, Contains Photos, including Buehman Studios.
, 1905-1911 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 6 | | Howell Manning, Contains Photos.
, 1911-1950 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 7 | | Howell Manning, Jr., Contains Photos.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 8 | | Mildred Lovel Coil Yeager, Contains Photos.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 9 | | Family, Contains Photos.
, 1900-1905 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 10 | | Family, Contains Photos, including Buehman Studios.
, 1900-1905 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 11 | | Family, Contains Photos.
, 1910-1930 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 12 | | Family, Contains Photos.
, 1910-1930 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 13 | | O'Connel Family, Contains Photos, including J.H. Heering's
Gallery, Buehman Studios, G. R. White's Gallery, W.W. Wright's Gallery, Putnam
Gallery and a tin type.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 14 | | Miscellaneous Family Contains Photos, including The New
Phpotographic Art Company, Brady's National Portrait Gallery, Buehman Studios.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 15 | | Manning Camp, Rincon Mtns. Contains Cynotypes and Photos.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
1 | 16 | | Elks at Paseo Redondo Contains Photos.
, 1930's |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
box | folder |
2 | 1 | | Levi Howell Manning Tributes Contains articles.
, 1939,
1984 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 2 | | Howell Manning Materials Contains Personal Papers, articles.
, 1966 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 3 | | Howell and Deezie Manning Correspondence.
, 1948-1955 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 4 | | Manning Family Ancestry.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 5 | | Evelyn Lockhart Manning Materials Contains articles and
correspondence.
, 1966-2000 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 6 | | Howell Manning Jr. Materials Contains Personal Papers,
articles.
, 1946-1951 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 7 | | Deed of Land Grant- Canoa Ranch Contains photocopy of grant
and article.
, 1872 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 8 | | Canoa Ranch Historical Perspectives Contains articles,
brochures, and pamphlets.
, No
Date |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 9 | | Canoa Ranch Development Contains articles.
, 1988-2001 |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
2 | 10 | | Manning House Historical Perspectives Contains articles and
brochures.
, No
Date |