James Madison Judkins Manning was the first child of William Madison and Lucy Ann (Judkins) Manning born on May 21, 1837 in Stewart County, Tennessee.  Later, his family moved to western Kentucky to Calloway County near Almo, Ky.  There, he grew up and years later, he began to study to become a dentist.  Then, the War Between the States broke out.

 

At age twenty-four, he enlisted in the Confederate Army at Camp Boone, near Clarksville, Tennessee, on August 1, 1861.  He served with Company H of the 3rd Kentucky Mounted Infantry under General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

James Madison and his brother, Charles Gee Tatum Manning, stayed and fought together for most of the four years of the War, engaging in battles at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Corinth, Chickamauga, and many other important engagements in Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana.

 

In James Madison's early years, he helped a nearby doctor with his medical chores.  While he was in the Army, he received medical experience, as he was called on to tend the wounded.  After working for many hours without sleep, he would lie down on the ground and use a rock for a pillow.

 On one occasion, James Madison was delivering a baby when three Confederate soldiers rode up on horseback and demanded that he come out of the house immediately.  Hurriedly, he grabbed the naked newborn and threw a sheet around it so he could hug the child to keep it warm.  with baby in arms, he answered "yes" when he was asked if he was J.M.J. Manning.

Shortly afterwards, the soldiers rode away without explaining anything to him.  Later, he learned that they had orders to shoot him on sight for helping the wounded of the Union Army.  He was known to treat any wounded soldier, either Confederate or Union.  The men did not have the heart to shoot him when he came out of the house with a helpless baby in his arms, knowing also that the Mother needed his help.  the soldiers reported to their superiors that they never found him.  (This story was told to his oldest daughter, Mae, by JMJ after the war ended and he returned home.)

While the Manning brothers were serving in the Army, their parents, brothers and sister were home in Calloway County, trying to keep the Yankee guerillas from robbinb them of everything they had.  They soon learned when they heard hohrses coming, to make sure their money and valuables were buried in the ground in the nearby fields and woods.

After the War was over in April, 1865, he was dischargd as a First Lieutenant.  Before the war, the Mannings were slave owner.  Although their slaves were freed, they remained on the Manning farm as the family were good, gentle and religious people.

Soon after James Madison returned home, he married his sweetheart, Luvenia Catherine Penny on June 25, 1865.  Luvenia was born on February 17, 1843 in Montgomery County, Tennessee.  They bought a farm near Almo where they raised their seven children.  Their first child was a daughter, Ida Mae.  She later was known to have assisted her father as he treated the ill in the surrounding countryside.  After her birth, his slave, "Aunt Tiny" was given the responsibility as "Mammy" to all seven of the Manning children. 

Luvenia Penny Manning's uncle was the father of J. C. Penny, founder of J. C. Penny Department store.  He visited many times in the home of Ida Mae and her husband Eddie Trevathan in Almo, Ky, and later in Mayfield, Ky, before he established his business.

James was a member of the first class to graduate from what is now the University of Tennessee Medical School.  At that time, it was called Memphis Hospital School of Medicine. 

The Mannings were very strong and faithful members of the Church of Christ.  They helped to establish a church at Almo, Ky which still stands today.  James served as an Elder.  when he was older, he retired and moved to Hardin, Marshall County, Kentucky.

A very unusual circumstance was the fact that James and Luvenia both died on November 21, 1912 within the same hour.  James died first.  Since she was so ill, the family did not tell her about his death and she never knew that he had preceded her in death.  Both are buried at the Manning family cemetary at Almo, Kentucky. 

Source: Martha Hicks