The Mannings were typical of many families living in Holly Springs, Mississippi during the late 19th-century. Van Manning was a lawyer and former Confederate who arrived in Reconstruction Mississippi in the 1860s. His wife Mary was a local Holly Springs girl from a well-to-do family. Van built a successful legal career and later served in the United States House of Representatives from 1877 to 1883. However, his life was filled with personal tragedies. In 1861, the Mannings lost their infant son, William Manning. The boy’s death-haunted Mary, who prayed that…
