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Manly, Charles

Charles Manly (1795-1871) was born in Chatham County, NC, to Basil and Elizabeth Maultsby Manly. His father was a staunch Roman Catholic; his mother, a Baptist. Charles Manly became an Episcopalian. A member of the Dialectic Society when he was a student, Manly received his BA degree in 1814. He was admitted to the bar in 1816 and a year later married Charity Hare Haywood; they were the parents of six daughters and five sons. Manly was clerk assistant of the NC House of Commons from 1824 to 1830, then was elected principal clerk for the next seventeen years, except in 1842-43, when he was defeated. Manly served as secretary-treasurer of the University's board of trustees from 1821 to 1849. In 1848 he defeated Democrat David S. Reid to become governor of the state. At the end of his term in 1851, Manly resumed his duties as the board's secretary-treasurer until 1868 (Dictionary of North Carolina Biography 4:210-11).