Basil Manly Jr. was the son of Basil and Sarah Murray (Rudulph) Manly, and was born on December 19, 1825 in Edgefield District, S. C. His early years were spent in Charleston, while his father was pastor of the First Baptist Church there, but in 1837 his father became president of the University of Alabama and Basil removed with the family to Tuscaloosa.
Basil entered the University in 1839, at the age of fourteen, graduating four years later with first honors. On October 19, 1840, he had united with the Baptist church of Tuscaloosa; he was licensed to preach May 13, 1844, and entered Newton Theological Institution, Newton Center, Massachussets, the same year. Increasing bitterness of feeling over slavery led to a split between Northern and Southern Baptists and the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in May 1845, and this event rendered his position so uncomfortable at Newton that he withdrew and entered Princeton Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1847.
He was ordained by the Tuscaloosa church January 30, 1848, having been called to the pastorate of the church at Providence, Ala. This position he held till January 28, 1849, at the same time preaching at Sumterville, Ala. , and in Noxubee County, Miss. He then became stated supply of the Tuscaloosa church, 1849-50, but on September 1, 1850, went to the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Richmond, Va. This important pastorate he held till September 1, 1854, when he became president of the Richmond Female Institute, which he had assisted in founding. At the same time he supplied the Walnut Grove Baptist Church. When the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary was being established, Manly was appointed to draw up the articles of faith which each professor is required to sign at his inauguration, and when it was opened at Greenville, S. C. , in 1859, he was made professor of "Biblical Introduction" and "Old Testament Interpretation. " In addition to his teaching, he preached for a time at the churches of Damascus, Siloam, and Clear Springs. The Seminary opened with bright prospects, but was soon closed by the Civil War, which left it in ruins. Manly returned with the others to the work of rehabilitation in 1865, but seems to have lost hope by 1871, in which year he became president of Georgetown College, Georgetown, Ky. In 1877, however, when the Seminary was removed to Louisville, he was reelected to his old position, and the remainder of his life was given with singular devotion to the work of ministerial education. He rendered other important services to his denomination, however. He died on January 31, 1892 in Louisville, Kentucky, at the age of sixty-six.
Manly was singularly gentle, lovable, and versatile; an able scholar and an effective teacher.
He was twice married: on April 28, 1852, to Charlotte Elizabeth (Whitfield) Smith, who died in 1867; and on June 10, 1869, to Henrietta Summers Hair, who survived him.
January 28, 1798 - December 21, 1868 Was an Amerian clergyman and educator.
1 August 1806 - 12 September 1894
28 May 1837 - 1 May 1924
4 October 1842 - 1 March 1921
11 February 1845 - 15 August 1919
12 September 1839 - 18 December 1917
10 Jan 1833 - 11 Jan 1900
6 July 1832 - 27 June 1867
