Governor Charles Manly's Law Office

A Chatham County Native Son

Law Office Interior. Photo by Duane Hall

Charles Manly was born in Chatham County in 1795, son of Basil Manly and Elizabeth Maultsby. After graduating with honors from the University of North Carolina in 1814 at the age of 19, he was hired as a tutor for the children of John Haywood of Raleigh. Manly also read law with Haywood and was admitted to the bar in 1816. In 1817 he married Haywood’s niece, Charity Hare Haywood, and settled in Raleigh.

Manly photo courtesy of CCHAManly was elected reading clerk in the House of Commons in 1823 and was chief clerk for seventeen years. He also practiced law in Pittsboro, for soon after coming to the bar he was elected county attorney and must have traveled from Raleigh to discharge these duties, staying with his sister Louisa Thompson. Manly was elected Governor of North Carolina in 1848, serving one term.  

Manly was a devoted supporter of his alma mater, serving as secretary-treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the University of North Carolina from 1821 until 1869, except for his years as governor. He died in 1871 and is buried in the City Cemetery in Raleigh.
 

 

Governor Manly’s Law Office 

In 1842 Manly purchased land near what is now SunTrust Bank on Hillsboro Street, hiring local craftsman George Ellington to build a one-room structure that tradition holds is the same building now standing north of the Masonic Lodge in Pittsboro. Manly called his office “Fort Snug,” and it became a meeting place for area lawyers. He sold the property in 1857, and the building was eventually moved to the back of a lot on Salisbury Street owned by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Blair.  

In 1966 the newly-formed historical society voted to accept the building from the owners, and toManly office being moved move and restore it as part of the county’s bi-centennial celebration, using furnishings loaned by Harvey Gunter, former Pittsboro resident and a benefactor of the Manly office. The structure has since been maintained by CCHA and serves as a small, but fine example of a nineteenth century office.

The structure was repaired and repainted in 1995 under the direction of Wayne Kirts and in 2006 as an Eagle Scout project directed by Reid Montgomery. In 2007, with the aid of a generous grant by Harvey Gunter, the Manly Law Office was fitted with period-appropriate green shutters.  Painstakingly painted by Jane Pyle and Nancy Photo by Jane PyleSimons, and installed by Doug Cordaro and Carl Bigness—all CCHA volunteers—the shutters give the office a more finished look. New curtains made by Judith Peterson complement the exterior improvements.

As with all old structures, the Manly Office requires periodic maintenance and repairs. On the CCHA agenda for 2009 are plans to replace the “tin” roof of the structure with a cedar shake roof that is likely to more closely approximate the original. Also needed are repairs to rotting sills under both doors.

The Manly Law Office is open for tours and by request to history@chathamhistory.org.   

 

How you can help Jane Pyle and Harvey Gunter. Photo by Walter Harris

  • The Manly Law Office needs a steward—a docent-housekeeper to open the museum and be present on First Sundays and for tours, someone who would sweep and dust periodically; in short, a mother-hen.  The Masons mow the grass but do not prune the boxwood or shrubbery or keep the weeds off the sidewalk.  

  • A really dedicated volunteer could research nineteenth-century detached law offices and make plans for a more authentic restoration.  

  • Donations to support the ongoing maintenance of the Manly Law Office and grounds are gratefully received.  

To volunteer write to us at history@chathamhistory.org  Contributions can be made at the museum or by mail sent to CCHA, PO Box 93, Pittsboro NC  27312.

Help Received

In December, thanks to a kind benefactor, the Charles Manly Law Office roof was replaced with cedar shingles.  Not only does this repair a roof in need, it is made of material more authentic to the period.

 

 

 

 
 
 

 

Last modified: 03/26/2010
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