Brown-Jackson-Bartholomew County IN Archives Biographies.....Manuel, Andrew A. 1856 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 27, 2007, 5:53 pm

Author: B. F. Bowen (1904)

ANDREW A. MANUEL.

   Prominent in business circles and enjoying worthy prestige as one of the
leading citizens in the community of which he has long been an honorable
resident, Andrew A. Manuel stands out a conspicuous figure among the successful
and representative men of Brown county. Characterized by breadth of wisdom and
strong individuality, his achievements represent the result of innate talent in
directing effort along lines where mature judgment and rare discrimination lead
the way. Mr. Manuel has been actively identified with his part of the state for
a number of years, contributing to its material progress and prosperity to an
extent equalled by few of his contemporaries, at the same time lending his
influence and means to the generous support of all enterprises having for their
object the social, educational and moral welfare of the community and the
advancement of the people to a higher standard of citizenship. The story of his
success is brief and easily told, as it contains no exciting chapters, but on
the contrary consists of a series of ordinary events in which well defined
purposes, noble aims and high ideals have been especially prominent.

   Andrew A. Manuel is a native of Belmont county, Ohio, and one of a family of
sixteen children whose parents were James and Jane Manuel, the father born in
Batemon, Maryland, the mother in the state of Pennsylvania. James Manuel was a
drummer boy in the American army during the war of 1812, in which struggle his
father also took part as a soldier in the ranks, both earning creditable records
in their respective lines of duty. When a young man James Manuel learned
blacksmithing in the city of Baltimore and later located in Bellaire, Ohio,
where he followed the trade until 1856, when he disposed of his interests there
and changed his abode to Jackson county, Indiana, thence subsequently moved to
the county of Brown where he purchased a farm and engaged in the pursuit of
agriculture. He spent the remainder of his days in the latter county, departing
this life at a good old age, about the year 1896; his companion preceded him to
the grave in 1871.

   Andrew A. Manuel was born in Bellaire, Belmont county, Ohio, on March 14,
1856, and when an infant was taken to Jackson county, Indiana, where he spent
his childhood and early youth, attending the meantime the district school near
the family homestead. Later he accompanied his parents to Brown county, where he
finished his preliminary education, after which he pursued the higher branches
of learning in the Hope Normal School, Bartholomew county, where in due time he
was graduated with an honorable record. While attending the latter institution,
Mr. Manuel procured a teacher's license and took charge of a country school and
so successful was his first term that he decided to continue teaching,
accordingly for eighteen consecutive years thereafter he devoted his attention
very closely to educational work, the meanwhile earning the reputation of one of
the most capable and popular instructors in this part of the state. In 1899 he
was elected superintendent of the Brown county public schools, an office he
filled very acceptably for a period of four years, during which time he aroused
a greater interest in behalf of education, introduced a number of reforms,
including among others the township commencement exercises, and brought the
schools to such a high standard of efficiency that they compared favorably with
those of any other county in Indiana. As an educator and official, Mr. Manuel
demonstrated great force of character and executive ability of a high order and
through his influence a better class of teachers was secured, while advancement
in every line of work characterized the entire period of his incumbency in the
position of superintendent. By painstaking and untiring effort in the discharge
of his duties he made a record creditable to himself and eminently satisfactory
to the people of his jurisdiction and it is generally conceded that the county
has never been served by a better qualified or more popular official.

   About the year 1886 Mr. Manuel opened a general mercantile establishment in
the village of Beck, and to this line of trade he has since devoted his
attention, building up during the interim a large and lucrative patronage and
becoming widely and favorably known as an enterprising business man of sound
judgment, keen discrimination and wise forethought. His store is now one of the
largest of the kind in the country and his relations with the public have been
such as to win him a custom which in magnitude and importance compares well with
that of business houses in the larger cities and towns of the state. In addition
to selling •goods, he owns and personally manages a fine little farm of forty
acres, adjacent to the town in which he lives, and besides this has other
valuable property, being in independent circumstances with a sufficient
competence in his possession to render unnecessary any anxiety as far as the
future is concerned.

   In politics Mr. Manuel is a zealous arid uncompromising Democrat and for a
number of years has been one of the leaders of his party in Brown county, being
a safe and judicious adviser in its councils, a successful organizer and an
active and effective campaigner. Fraternally he is identified with the Knights
of Pythias and at different times has been honored with important official
positions, in the local lodge to which he belongs. His domestic life dates from
October 16, 1883, when he contracted a matrimonial alliance with Miss Edna
Strahl, who was born in Ohio and reared to young womanhood in Indiana, her
parents moving to this state when she was a child. Mrs. Manuel is an intelligent
and estimable lady of beautiful character and her influence and hearty
co-operation have contributed not a little to the success which has
characterized her husband's career. She is a true helpmeet in all the term
implies, presides over her household with becoming dignity and grace and in
addition to her domestic duties manifests an abiding interest in all that
concerns the social and moral welfare of the community, being active in
charitable and benevolent work, both public and private, and ever ready to
extend a helping hand to the poor and unfortunate.

   In addition to himself and wife, Mr. Manuel's home circle includes four
children, the oldest of whom, a daughter by the name of Jessie Myrtle, is an
educated and cultured young lady of high social standing and one of Brown
county's most efficient and popular teachers. Frank, the second in order of
birth, is a young man of sterling worth and his father's capable assistant in
the store. Mary and Mildred, the youngest of the family, are pursuing their
studies in the home school, being taught at present by Mr. Manuel, and, like
their older brother and sister, give every promise of useful and honorable futures.

   Mr. Manuel is essentially a self-made man and his progress from humble.
circumstances to his present conspicuous position in the business and social
world is the result of his own efforts. His integrity has always been above
criticism and in every relation of life he has shown a due sense of the
responsibility resting upon him as a citizen, ordering his life according to the
highest ethical principles. He entertains broad and liberal views, keeps in
close touch with the questions and issues of the hour and, although firm in
convictions which are in-expression of his opinions, he is tolerant of variably
well fortified, and fearless in the the [sic] opinions of others. Of genial and
courteous presence, well poised under all circumstances, vivacious in
conversation and an agreeable companion, he is popular with all who know him and
numbers his friends by the hundred throughout the county honored by his
citizenship. Believing in using the good things of the world to useful and
practical ends, he has surrounded himself and those dependent upon him with many
of. the comforts and luxuries of life, not the least of which is his pleasant
and attractive home in Beck, the abode of an ideal domestic circle and the
center of a gracious and generous hospitality.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from

BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF BARTHOLOMEW COUNTY
INDIANA

INCLUDING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE GOVERNORS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS OF INDIANA

ILLUSTRATED

1904

B. F. Bowen PUBLISHER


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