John Wesley Manes (sometimes spelled Manus) was born in Arkansas during the Civil War, the son of John W. and Harriett (McNair) Manes, Sr. The family originally settled in Searcy County and prior to 1880 went to Boone County where John's mother died of malaria that year. After 1880, the family relocated to Taney County, Missouri where the father remarried Virginia Morris.
On August 20, 1886, Taney County Sheriff J.K.P. McHaffie led a group of men near Taney City including Deputy John Manes in search of James Brown, a fugitive from Arkansas who had robbed and burned a store in that state and broken into several homes on the run north into Taney County. Brown was holed up at his grandfather's cabin near what is today the community of Dickens.
"Brown, who had gotten wind of them following him, left the house and went down to a holler north of the house about a quarter of a mile," reported John Malone Haworth in a story recounting events a century later in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly, Summer 1986. "They asked his grandfather if he knew anything about Brown’s whereabouts, and he declared he knew nothing, but they knew he was there or had been there, so they scattered around the place and started searching."
"Manus started down into the hollow (and) Brown shot him in the stomach," according to Mary Hartman and Elmo Ingenthron in Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozark Frontier, pp196-7. "Manus fell to the ground and Brown climbed the hill toward him."
"(I)t was just a matter of time before he would die. He had a Winchester rifle, and Brown came out of hiding and came up to where Manus was to get his rifle and when he got within a few yards of Manus he told him, 'Well, I’ve got you and will get the rest of them with your rifle'.
"Manus grabbed his rifle and shot Brown’s arm practically off and shot again and hit him in the side, although the bullet did not bury itself." Brown was later killed by the posse.
"A doctor had been summoned when I got there, Doc Bladin (F.V. Baldwin), to take care of Manus," Haworth remembered. "They were in the yard and Manus was on a cot.
According to Ray Coulter of rural Forsyth, John Manes was carried into what is today the Rick and Rhonda Turner home near Taneyville and lifted upstairs to a bedroom where he died.
"The blood still stains the floor," according to Coulter. Rhonda Gimlin Turner recently confirmed the story adding that the floor is today carpeted.
It is not certain where John Manes was buried. He was likely deputized on this one occasion to help the Sheriff apprehend Brown. The nearest cemetery is a half-mile away at Dickens.
His death has been added to the roster of eight total lawmen killed in the official performance of their duties in Taney County's 178 year history. They include:
Sheriff Berry Ellison (1861)
Deputy James Coggburn (1879)
William Bates (1879)
Sheriff Galba Branson (1889)
Deputy Ed Funk (1889)
Deputy George Williams (1892)
Sheriff Newton Boles (1924)
On August 20, 1886, Taney County Sheriff J.K.P. McHaffie led a group of men near Taney City including Deputy John Manes in search of James Brown, a fugitive from Arkansas who had robbed and burned a store in that state and broken into several homes on the run north into Taney County. Brown was holed up at his grandfather's cabin near what is today the community of Dickens.
"Brown, who had gotten wind of them following him, left the house and went down to a holler north of the house about a quarter of a mile," reported John Malone Haworth in a story recounting events a century later in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly, Summer 1986. "They asked his grandfather if he knew anything about Brown’s whereabouts, and he declared he knew nothing, but they knew he was there or had been there, so they scattered around the place and started searching."
"Manus started down into the hollow (and) Brown shot him in the stomach," according to Mary Hartman and Elmo Ingenthron in Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozark Frontier, pp196-7. "Manus fell to the ground and Brown climbed the hill toward him."
"(I)t was just a matter of time before he would die. He had a Winchester rifle, and Brown came out of hiding and came up to where Manus was to get his rifle and when he got within a few yards of Manus he told him, 'Well, I’ve got you and will get the rest of them with your rifle'.
"Manus grabbed his rifle and shot Brown’s arm practically off and shot again and hit him in the side, although the bullet did not bury itself." Brown was later killed by the posse.
"A doctor had been summoned when I got there, Doc Bladin (F.V. Baldwin), to take care of Manus," Haworth remembered. "They were in the yard and Manus was on a cot.
According to Ray Coulter of rural Forsyth, John Manes was carried into what is today the Rick and Rhonda Turner home near Taneyville and lifted upstairs to a bedroom where he died.
"The blood still stains the floor," according to Coulter. Rhonda Gimlin Turner recently confirmed the story adding that the floor is today carpeted.
It is not certain where John Manes was buried. He was likely deputized on this one occasion to help the Sheriff apprehend Brown. The nearest cemetery is a half-mile away at Dickens.
His death has been added to the roster of eight total lawmen killed in the official performance of their duties in Taney County's 178 year history. They include:
Sheriff Berry Ellison (1861)
Deputy James Coggburn (1879)
William Bates (1879)
Sheriff Galba Branson (1889)
Deputy Ed Funk (1889)
Deputy George Williams (1892)
Sheriff Newton Boles (1924)
John Wesley Manes (sometimes spelled Manus) was born in Arkansas during the Civil War, the son of John W. and Harriett (McNair) Manes, Sr. The family originally settled in Searcy County and prior to 1880 went to Boone County where John's mother died of malaria that year. After 1880, the family relocated to Taney County, Missouri where the father remarried Virginia Morris.
On August 20, 1886, Taney County Sheriff J.K.P. McHaffie led a group of men near Taney City including Deputy John Manes in search of James Brown, a fugitive from Arkansas who had robbed and burned a store in that state and broken into several homes on the run north into Taney County. Brown was holed up at his grandfather's cabin near what is today the community of Dickens.
"Brown, who had gotten wind of them following him, left the house and went down to a holler north of the house about a quarter of a mile," reported John Malone Haworth in a story recounting events a century later in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly, Summer 1986. "They asked his grandfather if he knew anything about Brown’s whereabouts, and he declared he knew nothing, but they knew he was there or had been there, so they scattered around the place and started searching."
"Manus started down into the hollow (and) Brown shot him in the stomach," according to Mary Hartman and Elmo Ingenthron in Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozark Frontier, pp196-7. "Manus fell to the ground and Brown climbed the hill toward him."
"(I)t was just a matter of time before he would die. He had a Winchester rifle, and Brown came out of hiding and came up to where Manus was to get his rifle and when he got within a few yards of Manus he told him, 'Well, I’ve got you and will get the rest of them with your rifle'.
"Manus grabbed his rifle and shot Brown’s arm practically off and shot again and hit him in the side, although the bullet did not bury itself." Brown was later killed by the posse.
"A doctor had been summoned when I got there, Doc Bladin (F.V. Baldwin), to take care of Manus," Haworth remembered. "They were in the yard and Manus was on a cot.
According to Ray Coulter of rural Forsyth, John Manes was carried into what is today the Rick and Rhonda Turner home near Taneyville and lifted upstairs to a bedroom where he died.
"The blood still stains the floor," according to Coulter. Rhonda Gimlin Turner recently confirmed the story adding that the floor is today carpeted.
It is not certain where John Manes was buried. He was likely deputized on this one occasion to help the Sheriff apprehend Brown. The nearest cemetery is a half-mile away at Dickens.
His death has been added to the roster of eight total lawmen killed in the official performance of their duties in Taney County's 178 year history. They include:
Sheriff Berry Ellison (1861)
Deputy James Coggburn (1879)
William Bates (1879)
Sheriff Galba Branson (1889)
Deputy Ed Funk (1889)
Deputy George Williams (1892)
Sheriff Newton Boles (1924)
On August 20, 1886, Taney County Sheriff J.K.P. McHaffie led a group of men near Taney City including Deputy John Manes in search of James Brown, a fugitive from Arkansas who had robbed and burned a store in that state and broken into several homes on the run north into Taney County. Brown was holed up at his grandfather's cabin near what is today the community of Dickens.
"Brown, who had gotten wind of them following him, left the house and went down to a holler north of the house about a quarter of a mile," reported John Malone Haworth in a story recounting events a century later in the White River Valley Historical Quarterly, Summer 1986. "They asked his grandfather if he knew anything about Brown’s whereabouts, and he declared he knew nothing, but they knew he was there or had been there, so they scattered around the place and started searching."
"Manus started down into the hollow (and) Brown shot him in the stomach," according to Mary Hartman and Elmo Ingenthron in Bald Knobbers: Vigilantes on the Ozark Frontier, pp196-7. "Manus fell to the ground and Brown climbed the hill toward him."
"(I)t was just a matter of time before he would die. He had a Winchester rifle, and Brown came out of hiding and came up to where Manus was to get his rifle and when he got within a few yards of Manus he told him, 'Well, I’ve got you and will get the rest of them with your rifle'.
"Manus grabbed his rifle and shot Brown’s arm practically off and shot again and hit him in the side, although the bullet did not bury itself." Brown was later killed by the posse.
"A doctor had been summoned when I got there, Doc Bladin (F.V. Baldwin), to take care of Manus," Haworth remembered. "They were in the yard and Manus was on a cot.
According to Ray Coulter of rural Forsyth, John Manes was carried into what is today the Rick and Rhonda Turner home near Taneyville and lifted upstairs to a bedroom where he died.
"The blood still stains the floor," according to Coulter. Rhonda Gimlin Turner recently confirmed the story adding that the floor is today carpeted.
It is not certain where John Manes was buried. He was likely deputized on this one occasion to help the Sheriff apprehend Brown. The nearest cemetery is a half-mile away at Dickens.
His death has been added to the roster of eight total lawmen killed in the official performance of their duties in Taney County's 178 year history. They include:
Sheriff Berry Ellison (1861)
Deputy James Coggburn (1879)
William Bates (1879)
Sheriff Galba Branson (1889)
Deputy Ed Funk (1889)
Deputy George Williams (1892)
Sheriff Newton Boles (1924)
Family Members
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
