Mannes Dargan Munn (1880-1946), Mannes Seymour Shrock (1873-1963)

  This oddly named political figure is Mannes Dargan Munn, a leading citizen and former mayor of Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Munn was born in Kershaw County on February 20, 1880, the son of John W. and Rebecca Ann Bulluck Munn. No information could be located in regards to Munn's childhood, education or marriage, and around 1900 was residing in Rocky Mount, employed "by the Atlantic Coast Line as an operator." He would advanced to the posts of chief clerk and freight agent and later joined John D. Chrisman in the former's brokerage firm. In 1914 Munn was elected as Chairman of the Rocky Mount Chamber of Commerce and was reelected to this post the following year. 

   In 1916 Mannes Munn and Clarence Alonzo Griffin (1886-1934) became the primary organizers of the Munn, Griffin and Co., a wholesale fruits and produce business based in Rocky Mount. This business was remarked as being a distributor of bananas, Virginia apples, and other types of produce, and "employed 32 workers with an annual payroll of 100,000 dollars." The company is also recorded by an ESC Quarterly report as having "10 outside salesmen and uses 15 delivery trucks in covering an area embracing a radius of 75 miles around Rocky Mount." Munn would also add the title of bank director to his cap, serving as director of the Planter's National Bank for an indeterminate period.

   In addition to his involvement in civic interests, Mannes D. Munn was also keen on local political affairs. He maintained a seat on the Rocky Mount Board of Aldermen from 1922 to 1931, resigning in the latter year to run for Mayor. He was successful in his quest for the office and served as Rocky Mount's mayor for four years, 1931-1935. Munn's time in the mayor's chair saw him acknowledged as the founding father of the Rocky Mount park system, with the Rocky Mount Telegram remarking on the construction of public playgrounds, swimming pools, and athletic fields during his terms.

   Active in other areas of Rocky Mount public life, Munn chaired the Volunteer Fireman's Relief Fund, was head of the Kiwanis Club Tuberculosis clinic, and for six years was a baseball club director. Munn died at age 66 on June 8, 1946. He was interred at the Pineview Cemetery in South Rocky Mount and was memorialized by the Rocky Mount Telegram as:

"One of the outstanding men of the generation that knew him most intimately, he was a truly loveable character, always loyal and faithful, as a businessman fair and aggressive as a Christian gentleman, a true follower of Christ."

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From the June 8, 1946 edition of the Gastonia Daily Gazette. 

From the Republican Oregon Voters Pamphlet, 1938.

  Six years following the publishing of the above profile on Mannes Dargan Munn, another public servant named Mannes has been found (September 10, 2019)--Mannes Seymour Shrock of Milwaukie, Oregon. A native of Indiana, Shrock removed to Oregon in the 1890s and three decades following his arrival was elected to one term in that state's house of representatives. In 1938 he was an unsuccessful aspirant for Governor of Oregon in the Republican primary. Born in Shipshewana, Indiana on March 16, 1873, Mannes Seymour Shrock was the son of Samuel J. and Rebecca (Yoder) Shrock.

   Removing to Oregon in 1892, Shrock married in the late 1890s to Minnie Daisy Thomas (1878-1941), to whom he was wed until her death. The couple would have four sons, Wayne (1899-1972), Linn, Paul, and Marvin. Schrock is recorded as a school teacher and principal between 1897-1901, teaching at Elliott Prairie for five months between 1897-98, and was principal of the Canemah school in 1901.

  Beginning in 1916 Shrock served as an agricultural agent for the counties of Yamhill and Umatilla, continuing in that role into 1918. Prior to his service in state government, Shrock served on the board of directors for the Clackamas County Savings and Loan Association, his full dates of service being unknown at this time. In 1924 he launched a bid for the Oregon House of Representatives as a Republican, and that November won the election. Serving during the 1925-27 term, Shrock represented the town of Milwaukie during this session.

  In 1938 Shrock reentered politics when he announced that he'd be seeking the nomination for Governor in that year's Republican primary. As one of seven candidates vying for the Republican nod, Shrock faced an uphill battle for the nomination. Shrock's platform was spotlighted (along with the other candidates) in the 1938 Oregon Voters pamphlet, in which Shrock stated:

"If I am elected governor I will apply the same economy and effiency that I have practiced in my private affairs during my forty five years residence in Oregon. I can see a wonderful future for Oregon by proper development of its natural resources, its agriculture, and its industries."

  Despite a pro-labor platform that advocated for the establishment of a labor relations court that would resolve disputes, Shrock lost the nomination to newspaper editor Charles Arthur Sprague (1887-1969), who would go on to win the general election that November. Widowed in 1941, Shrock continued residence in Milwaukie and in the latter period of his life held memberships in several civic and fraternal organizations in that area, including the Clackamas County Historical Society, the Milwaukie Chamber of Commerce, the Grange, Masons, and the Milwaukie Republican Club. Shrock celebrated his 90th birthday on March 16, 1963, and died one month later on April 17th. He was survived by his four sons and was interred at the Miller Cemetery in Silverton, Oregon.