Linda posted a great comment on an early post that is so full of helpful info I want to make it a post all on its own.
I am still working on genealogy although I recently went back to college so my time is tight for posting.
Sarah E. Coleman was born in Chester (Windsor County) Vermont, 20 March, 1834. She m. 24 Dec., 1851, John Randall Manning (b. Andover, Vt. Aug. 1826, son of John B. & Lucy (Stickney) Manning). Sarah was the oldest of the six children of her parents. She attended the district school and the old Chester Academy and began teaching at the age of fourteen, which was not unusual for her day and age, but would be considered outrageous in today’s world. John Manning was a joiner and carpenter. He was grandson of Joel Manning the pioneer and long-time minister of the Baptist church on East Hill, the first church to be built in Andover. A wonderful lithograph of Joel’s house which was also the early church is here to enjoy. After her marriage to John Manning they lived in Andover for a few years, and then moved to Mt. Tabor for a couple more. They emigrated to Wisconsin and then to Clayton County Iowa by 1870, intending to settle. Their son John was born while they lived in Wisconsin. They returned to Vermont settling at Weston for three years. In 1875 they again went west; this time to Red Rock Township, Minnehaha County, Dakota Territory. Here they took up a tract of government land and developed it into a large and productive farm. A portion if it was later made into a railroad hamlet and named ‘Manley.’ For a few years the nearest railroads were forty miles away and necessities were expensive and difficult to obtain. Among the economies practiced by the early settlers was the use of twisted bundles of hay for fuel. Log cabins were the rule in the neighborhood, but were replaced after a few years residency by framed houses. Throughout their long lives, Mr. and Mrs. Manning retained their native Vermont characteristics, strict honesty, simplicity in living, industrious habits, neighborliness and true friendliness, and they fully merited the respect and appreciation which they received. Through good reading and in other ways they kept in touch with the general affairs of the world. Mr. Manning served one term in the legislature. Mrs. Manning’s loving sympathy extended beyond her home and while her health permitted she was a ready helper in time of sickness and trail. Both Mr. and Mrs. Manning were Universalist in faith. After a full and productive life, John Manning died 18 Sept., 1908 (age 77). By 1910 Sarah and her son and his wife lived in the nearby village of Valley Springs and in Sept. 1914, they moved to Whittier, California. After a painful illness of three and one-half years, Sarah Manning died at the home of her son John W. Manning in Whittier, California, 31 March, 1916 (age 82).
Children
1. John William Manning, b. Wisconsin, 19 Feb. 1870 He m. 1899, Bertha M. Neilings (b. Iowa, 21 July 1870, dau. of Daniel & Elmina (Osborn) Nelings of Elkader, Iowa). They lived with his mother in Valley Springs, South Dakota in 1910. Shortly after their move to Whittier, California, John’s mother died. In 1930 Bertha’s widowed sister, Mary A. Swale (age 58) was boarding with John’s family. Their home was at 1666 Broadway in Whittier in 1940. John worked as a foreman on a citrus farm. John d. in Los Angeles, 21 Nov. 1944 (age 74). Bertha d. in Los Angeles, 22 Sept. 1952 (age 82). (Children: (1) Bessie Sarah Manning, b. SD, 1911. Bessie was working in a rare book shop when she m. in Los Angeles 29 Sept. 1938 Raul Rodriguez, a native of Guatemala and the public relations manager of the automobile club in southern California; (2) Irene E. Manning, b. South Dakota, 1913).
Perry Family Tree 