Portrait courtesy of "Milford", by Dave Kenton, 2002.
A trio of "Manloves" are featured on the site today and this author finds it intriguing that not one, but three men have been elected to office in the United States that bore this curious name. Even more curious, all hail from Delaware! The first of these men, Manlove Roland Carlisle, was long a prominent shipbuilder in his region. Carlisle operated a shipbuilding yard in Milford for over four decades and entered the political life of his state in 1856 with his election to the Delaware state senate, serving one four-year term.
Born on September 15, 1809, in Delaware, little is known of Carlisle's early life or education, excepting note of his marrying in 1837 to Ann Watson (1813-1857). Their union would be childless. Four years following her death he remarried to Ruth Watson Tharp (1828-1907), who would survive him. A daughter of former Governor William Tharp, Ruth had five children from her previous marriage to Bethuel Watson: Mary Elizabeth (1847-1927), William Tharp (1849-1917), Benaiah (died in infancy in 1852), Annie Belle (1854-1918), and Minnelia Warfield (1858-1944). Of these children, William Tharp Watson would go on to political prominence of his own, serving in the Delaware state senate. Following the death of Governor Joshua Marvil in 1895, Tharp (then president of the senate), succeeded to the governorship and served until 1897.
Manlove Carlisle first entered into shipbuilding in Milford with William Reville in the early 1830s. Their partnership extended until Reville's retirement in 1853, with their firm completing construction on 29 vessels during that period. Following Reville's retirement, Carlisle partnered with his younger brother Theodore, "during which time they built many three master schooners of one thousand tons burden." Their partnership would extend into the late 1870s.
With his name firmly established in Delaware business circles, Manlove Carlisle entered politics in November 1856 with his election to the Delaware state senate from his home county of Sussex. He took his seat in January 1857 and during this four-year term was elected as senate speaker during the 1859-60 session.
Little else is known of Carlisle's life after he left state government, except the mention of his serving as senior warden for Christ Episcopal Church in Milford. Several weeks prior to his death Carlisle's health began to fail, with the Middletown Transcript noting that he was unable to take nourishment for over forty days, "save the medicine provided by his physicians." He died at his Milford home on November 10, 1881, aged 72. He was survived by his wife and step-children and was interred at the Christ Episcopal Church Cemetery in Milford.
From the Wilmington Evening Journal, June 26, 1909.
A leading government official in Wilmington, Delaware during the early 20th century, Manlove Howard Jester represented that city for one term in the Delaware House of Representatives, and two years after leaving office was appointed by President Taft as U.S. Postmaster at Wilmington. A lifelong Wilmington resident, M. Howard Jester (as most sources record him) was born in that city on November 14, 1870, the son of Charles and Elizabeth (McDaniel) Jester.
A student in schools local to Wilmington, Jester also attended the Goldey-Beacom College in that city. Beginning in the mid-1890s he was employed by the Schwartzchild and Sulzberger Beef Co. of Wilmington, and for fifteen years served as its cashier. He married in New Castle County on August 20, 1895 to Flora Clayton (1873-1954), to who he was wed until his death. The couple had at least three children, including a daughter, Elizabeth A. Jester (1901-1986).
An active Republican Party worker in his city, Jester was a member of the Young Men's Republican Club and in July 1904 announced his candidacy for the Delaware General Assembly. He was elected in November, and the 1905-07 session saw him named to the committee on Elections, and was the Republican floor leader during that session. Jester's legislative service saw him pull political double-duty in the additional role of assistant postmaster at Wilmington, from which he later resigned. Sometime later, following the election of Senator Henry DuPont, Jester in 1906, he was reappointed to that post and "made a splendid record" while in office.
After leaving the legislature Jester continued in his role as assistant postmaster and in May 1909 was appointed by President William Howard Taft to be U.S. Postmaster at Wilmington. Following confirmation in June, Jester journeyed to Toledo, Ohio in August 1909 to take part in the annual convention of first-class U.S. Postmasters, and in the following year met with First-Assistant Postmaster General C.P. Grandeld to discuss the possibility of street-car mail service in Wilmington. Jester served as postmaster through the Taft administration and stepped down in July 1913, several months after the election of Democratic President Woodrow Wilson.
After leaving the office of postmaster Jester was selected as assistant city treasurer of Wilmington, and in 1920 was elected as secretary of the Wilmington Board of Public Education. He served with that board until December 1921, when he entered into the post of Delaware state tax commissioner. His ascension to that office came about due to the death of commissioner George W. Sparks, who had died shortly after being appointed in late 1921. Jester's full dates of service remain unknown at this time, but was still the incumbent in January 1923, when he reported on his office having:
"110,000 accounts of taxables in the state, that 10 percent of them are delinquents, and that most of this 10 percent are residents of Wilmington, where the greatest opposition to the $3 filing fee exists."M. Howard Jester continued residence in Wilmington until his death, which occurred at home on November 14, 1932, his 62nd birthday. The Wilmington Evening Journal notes that on that day he had been feted with a small birthday party and afterward was stricken by at least three heart attacks throughout the evening and night. He was survived by his wife and daughter and was interred at the Riverview Cemetery in Wilmington.
Portrait from the History of Delaware, 1609-1888.
Delaware seems to have cornered the market on politicians named Manlove, as it elected three of them to public office! Following Manlove R. Carlisle and Manlove Howard Jester is Manlove Hayes, who served one term in the state house of representatives, one term as clerk of the state senate, and in the twilight of his life was elected as a presidential elector for Delaware. During a long life--he lived to age 93--Hayes gained additional repute through his work in railroading and banking, being a founder of the First National Bank of Dover. Born near Dover, Delaware on May 5, 1817, Manlove Hayes was the son of Manlove and Ann (Bell) Hayes.
Manlove Hayes spent his early life on his family's farm and would attend the Newark Academy. He later spent one year at school in York, Pennsylvania, and studied at the Delaware College until 1836. He put his studies on hold in the latter part of that year to make his first foray into railway construction, taking an assistant engineering post under John C. Trautwine, then involved in the construction of the East Tennessee Railroad. A railway that would extend from the Knoxville, Tennessee to "the Georgia state line" Hayes eventually rose to become a division manager in that railway's construction.
Hayes would continue with the East Tennessee until the effects of the Panic of 1837 hit the company in 1840, whereafter he returned to his old home in Delaware. Following his return, Hayes engaged in farming and in 1846 joined with two partners in establishing a steamboat line (titled the Dona Steamboat and Transportation Company) that would run from Dona Landing (near Dover) to Philadelphia. This period saw Hayes put his previous engineering skills to use with his superintending the construction of a wharf, hotel, and outbuildings near the landing.
Upon the death of his father in 1849, Manlove Hayes took over the day to day operations of the family homestead, "York Seat", where he farmed and resided until his move in 1864. Hayes would be active in agricultural pursuits for decades after and was remarked by the 1888 History of Delaware as being "one of the first persons in Kent County to engage in growing fruits for market", including peaches. He would serve as the recording secretary for the Delaware State Agricultural Society beginning in 1849, and in 1856 served as the corresponding secretary for the Kent County Agricultural Society.
Manlove Hayes married in Delaware in February 1851 to Rebecca Carmalt Howell (1824-1912). The couple's near six-decade marriage produced four daughters, Mary (1852-1910), Edith (born 1855), Laura (1857-1861), and Anna Belle (1863-1945).
In his youth an active member of the Whig Party, Manlove Hayes noted his autobiography, "Reminiscences", that he cast his first vote as Whig in Tennessee, and in 1839 attended a Whig Convention in Knoxville. After his return to Delaware in 1840 he was an "enthusiastic supporter" of that year's Whig presidential ticket of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. In 1844 Hayes was selected as part of Delaware's delegation to that year's National Whig Convention in Baltimore, where Henry Clay and senator Theodore Frelinghuysen were nominated as the party standard-bearers.
Manlove Hayes in old age. From "Reminiscences", 1911.
In late 1845 Hayes entered into his first political office, being elected as clerk of the Delaware state senate. He served during the 1846 session and was later to remark:
"This honor I appreciated as a high compliment, and it was, under the circumstances, a great help to me, though at the time the salaries were small. I was, as I remember, paid $400. for my services and $100. in addition to printing the Journal."After leaving the post of senate clerk Hayes was returned to public office in 1851 when he was elected as one of Kent County's representatives to the Delaware General Assembly. Serving in the 1852-53 session, this was the last Whig assembly to convene in the state. Hayes's one term saw that body elect former Secretary of State John M. Clayton as the new U.S. Senator from Delaware, and on the legislative front, Hayes was a leader in brokering compromise legislation that allowed the Delaware Railroad Company to connect a route with the New Castle and Frenchtown, and the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railway.
Hayes continued to be politically active after leaving the legislature, and in 1860 supported the Constitutional Union candidacies of John Bell and Edward Everett. Hayes would be a delegate to the Constitutional Union convention held in Baltimore that year and served on the committee to notify Bell of his nomination and "secured his consent to run." Following this election, Hayes transferred political allegiance to the Republican Party and in 1872 chaired the Kent County Republican Executive Committee. Four years later he was elected president of the Delaware Republican State Convention, which appointed members of the state executive committee that year.
The latter portion of Manlove Hayes's life saw him continue to experience business successes, and beginning in 1864 he held the directorship of the Delaware Railroad Company. He would serve in that capacity for over forty-five years, and in 1870 assumed the additional roles post of secretary and treasurer. In 1880 Hayes would author a complete history of the company up to that time. A founder of the First National Bank of Dover, Hayes later was a founding organizer of the Dover Free Library in 1885 and served as its president for an indeterminate period.
Throughout his long life Manlove Hayes remained especially devoted to his alma mater, Delaware College, being a member of its board of trustees well into the 1890s. He returned to political service in 1904, when, at the age of 87, he was elected as one of three Republican Presidential electors for Delaware, supporting Theodore Roosevelt and Charles Fairbanks.
A former president of the Delaware Historical Society, Hayes had attained the title of one of his state's "grand old men" by the time of his 90th birthday in 1907, and several months prior to his death was still active enough to attend a railroad stockholder's meeting.
After several decades of service to his state, Manlove Hayes died at his home in Dover on October 31, 1910, aged 93. He was survived by his wife and children and was interred at the Friends Meeting House Cemetery in Little Creek, Delaware.
From the New York Tribune, November 1, 1910.
For more on the life of Manlove Hayes, written by the man himself, please read his autobiographical memoir "Reminiscences", which was published with updated information by his daughters following his death.
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