Misunderstood By Souls of Lesser Fire 

Last Will and Testament of  Dr. A. L. MANNING

In the name of God, amen, I Anthony Lafayette Manning MD of Dorchester County in the Sate of Maryland, being weak in body, but of sound; and disposing mind, memory, and understanding: considering the certainty of death, and the uncertainty of the time thereof, and being desirous to settle my worldly affairs, and thereby be the better prepared to leave this world whenever it shall please God to call me hence, do therefore make and publish this my last will and testament, in manner and form following: that is to say.

First and principally, I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God hoping that He will receive it with mercy through the merits of His Son Jesus Christ; and my body to the earth to be decently buried: in lot No. 2, front tier of lots, and the third lot to the left of the main avenue on entrance in East New Market Cemetery, in Dorchester County, and State of Maryland, that I have purchased and have a receipt for; my coffin to be bricked in with two good courses of hard red, or arch bricks, and double arched, laid in cement not mixed with sand; and plastered all over on the out side with a coating of cement; and to have placed at my head a monument of polished scotch granite of a reddish hue, in fosur, four feet square all the way up; and to rise five feet from the square gray granite base, that is to be four feet and a half square, three feet in the ground, and two feet above ground, securely fastened on this base, and on the polished scotch granite, have carved in deep, plain letters, my name, birth 19th of December 1831, and date of my death, on one side, and these lines following of my very own composition, on one, or more sides of the polished scotch granite.

A human beings last remains lie here
Who has tried this world, and found it all a tear,
While friendship, love, and hate have passed away,
As things that were, amid the world's decay;

With heart unknown, and its affections spurned,
Condemned and blighted, while it madly yearned
For some true heart, on which it should rely,
Ere all was past, and it had come to die.

Alone he struggled upward for the right,
Amid fiercest foes, who tried his soul to blight,
Amid temptations, trials, dangers dire,
Misunderstood by souls of lesser fire:

And all condemned, because he could not show,
His finer nature, neath the treacherous blow,
But now his God has lain him down to rest:
It matters not, He knew his nature best,

Then oh vain world, deceitful world, adieu,
For God alone is just, alone is true,
Nor care I what your estimate may be,
When He alone the heart can read and see,

Alone can estimate its every worth,
While here the form returns to mother earth,
Then drop no tears, since I desire no flow,
From loving hearts, and scorn each melting foe."

By A. L. Manning MD
Formerly Surgeon U. S. Army
Expressly for his own epitaph

The entire lot to be fenced in with stout granite posts and stout wrought iron railing and strong wrought iron gate, and well painted, leaving room for my very much beloved sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas, to be buried by my side should she not desire otherwise to be buried when it shall please God to take her also."

Secondly, after my debts and funeral expenses are paid I desire that my poems and my prose life shall be published together, and suitably illustrated in book form, one copy to be made a present to each of the following libraries: the Peabody, the Mercantile, the Maryland Institute, and the Maryland University school of Medicine libraries; all of Baltimore City, Maryland, and the Smithsonian Institute library of Washington, D.C. and the remaining copies to be sold as deemed best, and the proceeds if any therefrom the five thousand copies, to go to my sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas; and to the furtherance of this purpose, and to the completion of my grave, monument, and lot, and to the paying of all my indebtedness, I will that my property situated at the South East corner of North Charles Street and North or Boundary Avenue in Baltimore City, and state of Maryland, consisting of a lot fronting twenty-five feet on North or Boundary Avenue and running full width all the way back, and binding on N. Charles Street one hundred and seventy five feet to a twenty feet alley, together with all the improvements thereunto belonging, shall be sold to the best advantage, and the proceeds to be immediately, or as soon as possible, applied as stated above, and should the proceeds from the sale of this property be more than sufficient to defray the expenses of the objects above named, the residue is to be invested in good permanent, irredeemable ground rents in Baltimore City, Md, and a sufficient part of the income therefrom applied yearly to keeping my grave, monument, and lot in first rate order forever, and in case this sale is sufficient for these expenses, the Framed dwelling and lot next herein after mentioned shall not be sold, but be inherited by my sister Mrs. Eugenia S, Thomas and her heirs in the same manner as she is to inherit the other property willed to her by me: but should the sale of the Baltimore City property not be sufficient to pay my debts, funeral expenses and for the publication of my life and poems, then I will that the frame dwelling and lot with all the improvements thereunto belonging built by me, and adjoining my hotel property in East New Market, Dorchester County and state of Maryland, shall also be sold to the best advantage, and the proceeds immediately appropriated to the completion of my monument, burial lot, my funeral expenses, my indebtedness, and to the publishing of my life and poems in book form both together; and if any should be left, to be invested in good permanent irredeemable ground rents in Baltimore City, Md, and a sufficient part of it appropriated yearly toward keeping in complete repair my monument, grave, and burial lot forever, and the residue, if any, shall go to my sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas.

Thirdly, I give and devise to my dearly loved and only own sister, and nearest relative living, Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas, my farm that was willed to me by my father, Major Anthony Manning lying in Dorchester County and State of Maryland, formerly the home farm of my father, containing four hundred and twenty one acres, more or less, together with all the improvements, and timbered land, and timber thereunto belonging to her and her heirs forever: Also unto her my large Brick House, and lots, and garden, and all that outhouses and improvements usually belonging to and going with said house and lots, situated in East New Market Dorchester County State of Maryland where my father died, and is now occupied as a hotel, also my large Brick store house and improvements and the ground on and over which it is built, also my small framed store house and improvements and the ground on and over which it is built, situated in East New Market Dorchester County and state of Maryland.  All of these to my sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas, and her natural heirs forever.

Also I bequeath to her all of my personal effects of whatever kind, jewelry, instruments, books, trunks, & furniture, and everything else, because she has been my very best and most unwavering friend since the death of my kind and loved father, and because she is my only own sister and nearest relative, pure, true, and good, to whom I have gladly willed it. And not from any fear or distrust of my brother in law Dr. James H. Thomas, whom I believe to be honorable in every way, but from the uncertainty of business affairs and misfortunes in this life, and lest they might sometime in from unforeseen circumstances find themselves without a home & hereby will that the property that I have willed to my sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas shall be in her sole control without the interference of anyone whatever, and that is shall not under any circumstances whatever be mortgaged or sold so long as she shall live, and that at her death it shall go to her child or children if she has any, but if dying without any shall then go to my natural relatives at law, except William Thomas Manning and his children by his second wife, these shall be excluded, and those who inherit my property shall see that my grave, monument, and burial lot shall be kept in a thorough state of repair all the time, as stated above from a part of the proceeds arising from said property that I have willed to my sister Eugenia S. Thomas, and that they have heired through her, and I hereby constitute and appoint my dearly beloved sister Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas my sole executress of this my last will and testament, and intrust the revising and corrections of my poems to my brother-in-law Dr. James H. Thomas who is my sister's husband, and my respected old school mate, before they go to the press for publication.

In testimony whereof & hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 25 day of January in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and seventy eight (1878)

Signed, sealed, published and declared by the above Testator, Anthony L. Manning, as and for his last will and testament, in the presence of us, who at his request, in his presence, and in the presence of each other, have subscribed our names, and written thereto:

Witness H. F. Willis
Witness Elizabeth S. Goslin
Witness Walter R. Charles
State of Maryland. Dorchester County to wit:

On the 4th day of April Anna Domini 1878, personally appeared Mrs. Eugenia S. Thomas, (wife of Dr. James H. Thomas) the within named Executrix, and made oath on the Holy Evangely of Almighty God that this paper or instrument of writing, purporting to be the last will and testament of Dr. Anthony L. Manning, late of the said County, deceased, was deposited in her hands for safe keeping by the said Testator, and that, to the best of her knowledge, it is the true and whole last will and testament of the said deceased, and that she knows of no others of a younger date.

And at the same time, personally appeared Dr. Henry F. Willis, Miss Elizabeth S. Goslin and Walter R. Charles, the subscribing witnesses to the aforegoing (and annexed) last will and testament of Dr. Anthony L. Manning late of the said County, deceased, and made oath on the Holy Evangely of Almighty God that they each of them, did see the said Testator sign and seal the said will, that they heard him publish, pronounce and declare the same to be his last will and testament; that at the time of so doing the said Testator was, to the best of their apprehensions, of sound and disposing mind, memory and understanding, and that they respectively subscribed their names as witnesses to the said will in the presence and at the request of the said Testator and in the presence of each other.

Certified by E. W. LeCompte
Register of Wills for Dorchester County
State of Maryland, Dorchester County, to wit:

I hereby certify that the aforegoing is truly copied from Liber E.W.L. No. 2, Wills folio 241, 242, 243,244 and 245, one of the record books for the said county now in my office-

In testimony I herewith subscribe my name and affix the seal of my office, this nineteenth day of January in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and eighty three-

E. W. LeCompte
Register of Wills for Dorchester County

For Mrs Eugenia Thomas