{{Short description|American politician (1864–1935)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Levi Manning | image = Levi Howell Manning.jpg | caption = Manning, {{circa|1913}} | order = | office = Mayor of Tucson, Arizona | term_start = 1905 | term_end = 1907 | predecessor = Charles J. Schumacher | successor = Charles F. Slack | birth_date = {{birth date|1864|05|16}} | birth_place = Halifax County, North Carolina, C.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1935|08|06|1864|05|16|mf=y}} | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = Evergreen Cemetery<br />Tucson, Arizona, U.S. | resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|32.2654|-110.9788|scale:5000|display=inline}} | alma_mater = University of Mississippi | profession = | spouse = {{marriage|Gussie Lovell O'Connell|1898}} | children = | relatives = Van H. Manning (brother) | father = Van H. Manning | party = }}
'''Levi Howell Manning''' (May 18, 1864 – August 1, 1935) served as Mayor of Tucson, Arizona from 1905 to 1907.
==Early life== Levi H. Manning was born second in a family of four brothers and four sisters in Halifax County, North Carolina to Vannoy Hartrog Manning, a U.S. Representative from Mississippi and an officer in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the American Civil War.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005>{{cite news |title=Early Mayor Levi Manning left lucrative legend |newspaper=Tucson Citizen |date=May 5, 2005 |last=Allen |first=Paul |url=http://tucsoncitizen.com/morgue2/2005/05/09/64440-early-mayor-levi-manning-left-lucrative-legend// |access-date=December 15, 2013}}</ref>
In 1883, during summer break while attending the University of Mississippi, Manning and a fraternity brother acquired the use of a circus elephant. The elephant escaped from Manning and rampaged through town. Upon hearing the story, Manning's mother advised him to get out of town before his father found out. Consequently he moved to Tucson, Arizona, in early spring 1884.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005 />
==Career== Upon arrival in Tucson, Manning worked as a reporter for ''The Daily Arizona Citizen'' and later ''The Arizona Daily Star''.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005 /> He later bought a controlling interest in and was general manager of the Tucson Ice & Electric Light Company for two years, making a “considerable fortune” when he sold it.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005 /> He was chief of the Mineral Department in the office of U.S. Surveyor during the latter half of Grover Cleveland's first administration. In 1893 President Cleveland appointed Manning as Surveyor-General of Arizona, which he held until 1897.<ref name=Citizen_01_04_1946>{{cite news |title=Room given to UA for Gen. Manning |newspaper=Tucson Citizen |date=January 4, 1946 }}</ref>
Manning developed several mines in Sonora, Mexico, and founded the Owl Club of Tucson and developed real estate in Tucson. In 1900 Manning became president and general manager of a general mercantile firm in Tucson, renamed the L. H. Manning Co. with the acquisition of Norton & Drake. In 1904 Manning, Charles M. Shannon, and Epes Randolph opened the Santa Rita Hotel in Tucson. He also developed agricultural districts in the Santa Cruz valley.<ref name=Citizen_01_04_1946 />
In 1904 Manning homesteaded 160 acres in the Rincon Mountains to the east of Tucson, building a cabin that still exists today.<ref name=Manning_Cabin>{{cite web |url = http://www.southwestlearning.org/topics/manning-cabin |title = Manning Cabin |website = Learning Center of the Southwest |access-date= 16 December 2013 }}</ref> The same year, along with Frank H. Hereford and W.H. Barnes, he helped establish the first Tucson Country Club, which was located on present-day Speedway Blvd and Campbell Ave.<ref name=Star_04_27_2015>{{cite news |title=Street Smarts: Country Club, Golf Links used to be one road |newspaper=Arizona Daily Star |date=April 27, 2015 |last=Leighton |first=David |url=http://tucson.com/news/blogs/streetsmarts/street-smarts-country-club-golf-links-used-to-be-one/article_7000c651-d111-5e99-b212-46b60d29e769.html |access-date=April 28, 2015}}</ref> His mansion in Tucson was designed by Henry C. Trost.{{citation needed |date=April 2024}}
===Mayor of Tucson=== Manning was elected mayor on an anti-gambling ticket. Though gambling was legal in territorial Arizona, Manning and the city council enacted local ordinances that put the Tucson gambling houses out of business.<ref name=Star_05_18_2015 />
In 1906 Manning was instrumental in bringing an electric trolley system to Tucson that replaced horse and mule drawn vehicles.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005 />
==Personal life== On May 28, 1898, Manning married Gussie Lovell O'Connell, who had been born in San Jose, California.<ref name=Star_05_18_2015>{{cite news |title=Street Smarts: Manning kept Owls Nest flying |newspaper=Arizona Daily Star |date=May 18, 2015 |last=Leighton |first=David |url=http://tucson.com/news/blogs/streetsmarts/street-smarts-manning-kept-owls-nest-flying/article_d7d18341-0aba-5f7f-9289-8ddbc420a9dd.html// |access-date=May 19, 2015}}</ref> He died August 1, 1935,<ref name=Star_05_18_2015 /> in Beverly Hills, California, and is buried Evergreen Cemetery in Tucson.<ref name=Citizen_05_09_2005 />
Manning was described as "far-seeing," "a man of vast schemes," and "ranked with the most important builders Southwest."<ref name=Citizen_01_04_1946 />
The Manning House, and the street Manning House Way are in downtown Tucson.<ref name=Star_05_18_2015 />
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *[http://mbreiding.us/ert/Arizona/Rincons/levimanning.htm Manning History] *{{Find a Grave|30026314|Levi Howell Manning}}
{{TucsonMayors}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manning, Levi}} Category:1864 births Category:1935 deaths Category:People from Halifax County, North Carolina Category:People from Arizona Territory Category:Mayors of Tucson, Arizona Category:American hoteliers Category:19th-century American newspaper people Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:20th-century mayors of places in Arizona