Revolutionary War veteran honored in Perry County

About 20 descendants and a handful of other spectators gathered Saturday in what used to be Wittenberg, Missouri, in Perry County to pay their respects to an ancestor who served in the Revolutionary War.

This is the new marker honoring Revolutionary War veteran John Manning on what used to be his property in Wittenberg, Missouri. (Lindsay Jones)

That ancestor was John Manning, originally a Maryland resident of some stature who signed up to serve in the War of Independence in 1778, later moving to the Missouri wilderness as part of a Spanish land grant, said Mike Lundy, president of the Perry County History Museum and commander of the Sons of the American Legion.

Historical documents show Manning was a private in the 3rd Maryland Regiment for three years. He was stationed in Wilmington, Delaware, while many other troops overwintered at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, between 1777 and 1778.

Manning's move to the local area happened six months before Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St. Louis to begin their famous expedition through the Louisiana Purchase and 18 years before Missouri became America's 24th state.

Mike Lundy addresses the crowd Saturday during a memorial event for Revolutionary War veteran John Manning. (Lindsay Jones)

Lundy and other history enthusiasts helped organize Saturday's memorial on the land where Manning settled in 1803 at a place now called, simply, Pavement Ends.

Manning's 640 acres sat between the Mississippi River and nearby Brazeau Creek. The river landing a stone's throw away also served as the place where German immigrants from Saxony disembarked about 40 years later, founding the towns of Wittenberg, Altenburg and Frohna, Missouri, among others.

Dr. Jerrell Driver, president of the Allen Laws Oliver Sons of the American Revolution chapter and also a descendant of a Revolutionary War veteran, was among five men in period dress who helped organize and officiate Saturday's dedication of a plaque in Manning's honor.

Driver entreated the crowd to consider the younger generations when thinking about being involved in ancestral and historic preservation efforts. It's easy to brush the time commitment aside, but heritage can get lost in the process, he said.

Mike Lundy addresses the crowd Saturday during a memorial event for Revolutionary War veteran John Manning. (Lindsay Jones)

"As time goes on, it gets harder and harder to make that connection to a Revolutionary War patriot," he told the crowd.

The marker unveiled Saturday on a boulder that sits a few hundred feet from the river landing couldn't be placed near Manning's grave, but was put where local historians knew his property once sat, Lundy said. He and others believe Manning is buried on a nearby hill, but because his grave marker most likely was wooden, it disintegrated long ago.

The hill in question also overlooks the river and really is where the pavement ends, as no roadway continues past it.

"I'm sure that Manning stood here like us and admired the beauty of his property," Lundy said during his remarks.

ljones@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3652

Pertinent address:

Wittenberg, Mo.