David Thomas Mansker (1847-1929) Free Will Baptist Minister
and His Wife Martha Jane (Stewart) Mansker (1846-1921)
Compiled by Jeanine Ricketts, November-December 2003
(Some of the background and research material for this history had previously been gathered by Dennis Mansker, and published at www.mansker.org and was also obtained from Carl and Cherry Loney Fisher, e-mail address, kingfish4@cox.net .
David Thomas Mansker
The ancestry of David Thomas (Tom) Mansker is German. He descends from the immigrant, Ludwig Mäintzger, who was born about 1726, probably in the Baden-Wurttemberg area, somewhere near the towns of Neureut, Karsruhe, and Mainz, which are located near the Rhine River in southwestern Germany. Ludwig Mäintzger was Thomas Mansker’s second great-grandfather. His great-grandfather was George Mansker, born about 1747 in Germany; his grandfather was William Mansker, born about 1774 in Pennsylvania; and his father was John R. Mansker, born in Tennessee.
Ludwig Mäintzger, Immigrant Ancestor
Ludwig was a passenger on the ship “Christian,” captained by Thomas Brady, which sailed from Rotterdam, and landed in Philadelphia on the 13th of September 1749. His arrival was during the first year of a five year period of extensive German immigration to this country, estimated to have been about 90,000 persons. Ludwig settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; and, as early as May of 1751, had his children baptized in the Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church at New Holland, Earl Township, in Lancaster County. Ludwig fathered at least seven children; and he provided for them on his farm where he raised crops and animals. In 1776, he responded to his state’s call for military assistance, serving as a Private in Company E in the Pennsylvania State Rifle Regiment, more commonly known as Mires’s Regiment. He died in service near Coryell’s Ferry, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of November 1776. Upon examining the records available on Ludwig’s life and service, especially in the light of research now available for some of his descendants, one might conclude that Ludwig set a standard for military service and church affiliation which influenced those in his lineage for many generations.
The Origin of the Mansker Name
After Ludwig Mäintzger’s arrival, he adopted or was given the surname “Minsker,” a name easier to pronounce in English. Those of his family who remained in Pennsylvania continued using that name; however, those who migrated down into Arkansas, changed the spelling to “Mansker.” A likely etymology of this name is found on the Mansker website cited above. The editor makes this statement: “Although the actual origin of the family name is lost in the mists of time, it appears that the original spelling was Meinzer, Menzer or Mentzer, and the name seems to have meant, ‘One Who Comes from Mainz,’ or a ‘man from Mainz.’ Mainz is a city on the Rhine near Wiesbaden, down river from the Karlsruhe area.” This etymology, of course, ties in with the supposed place of origin for Ludwig Mäintzger.
Tom Mansker’s Confederate Military Service
As a lad of seventeen, having seen his father and two brothers enlist on both sides of the Civil War, Tom Mansker enlisted into the 7th Missouri Cavalry of the Confederate States of America. According to his pension papers, he enlisted in June of 1864 and served for one year, surrendering in June of 1865, following the April 9th, 1865, surrender of the Confederate Forces at Appomattox Court House, in Virginia. Tom was assigned to Captain Nathan Horn’s Company, Lieutenant Colonel C. H. Nichol’s Regiment of Colonel Sidney D. Jackman’s Brigade (Jackman’s Regiment, Missouri Mounted Infantry) of Brigadier General Joseph Orville Shelby’s Division under General Sterling Price. His unit is often referred to in connection with the brigades in John S. Marmaduke’s mounted division under Brigadier General Shelby’s command. He served with companion soldiers James A. Allen and James Lewis, who later corroborated his military service when Tom Mansker filed his pension papers on May 8th, 1922, which were allowed on August 31st, 1922.
Carl Fisher wrote about the recruitment conditions in Arkansas and Missouri when Tom Mansker reached fighting age. “According to the official records, Jackman swept through that part of Arkansas recruiting anyone who could ride for his regiment. Recruits were assigned to an officer, and the only paper work was the official communication between commands and what could be written down in personal journals. . . .Company letters and regiment numbers didn’t matter and were seldom used in Price’s Army. . .and proof of service was the word of the other troopers in your outfit. Such was record keeping in the last, futile months of the Civil War on the losing side.” (E-mail Correspondence, September 19, 2002)
During the first few months of his service, Tom Mansker’s unit fought in Arkansas; but the primary campaign was Sterling Price’s last Missouri Raid, waged between August and December of 1864, which was characterized by skirmishes with Kansas troops. In reality, Tom’s unit was not strictly cavalry, but rather mounted infantry, which has been described in these words: “Most mounted infantry companies carried all the equipment of an infantryman. The infantry would ride into a battle where they would dismount, fight, remount, move, and fight some more. Their goal was to provide a rapid response force that could provide longer range and more firepower than the standard cavalry unit.” The part of Missouri where the conflicts occurred was primarily pro-Confederate, and the southern women who had been left behind were zealous in providing aid and encouragement to the Confederate troops who moved through their areas. Confederate patriotism ran high, and a tune called “Shelby’s Mule,” in honor of the heroic efforts of Brigadier General Shelby, was sung often and rivaled “Dixie” in popularity. The first of five verses and a chorus are included here:
Shelby’s Mule
“The Union folks away up north were one time much afraid,
‘Bout something coming from the South, they said it was a raid.
Now I will tell you what it was, if you will just keep cool—
It had long ears, and a long slick tail, and was called Jo Shelby’s Mule.
Shout Boys; make a noise; the Yankees are afraid
That something’s up and hell’s to pay when Shelby’s on a raid.”
General Price’s raid on Missouri caused considerable panic to the Federal citizens and Union Armies, as his cavalry force numbered over 12,000 men who were moving toward and threatening the state’s largest city, St. Louis. Enroute, Price changed his mind and headed toward Kansas City, capturing the towns of Sedalia, Glasgow, and Paris on the way. His troops were victorious in many of their engagements, but ultimately retreated. Carl Fisher has provided the following information about the characteristics of Tom Mansker’s unit and their engagements: “The official record contains a lot about Jackman and his hard-fighting regiment. Price set out with his army to move on St. Louis but changed his mind after learning about how well the area was manned by Union personnel. They then fought their way straight across the state toward Kansas City. But the Union folks were ready there, too, and the rebels were rebuffed in a fierce fight at Blue River. Price was forced to call it a day and retreat south. More than once during the retreat, Jackman’s Cavalry was left to fight as a rear guard to buy time for the main army to escape. It is little wonder to me that almost all of our relatives who fought for the south and survived went on to become ministers of the gospel.”
General Shelby gave us another look into the activities and bravery of Jackman’s Brigade in this report to his superiors: “I arrived in time to receive General Price’s order to support General Marmaduke immediately. I dismounted my entire command, except Lieutenant-Colonel Nichols’ regiment, of Jackman’s Brigade, and crossed Little Blue by wading. Finding General Marmaduke hard pressed and greatly outnumbered, I threw forward Thompson’s brigade swiftly on the left, Jackman’s supporting, and the fight opened fast and furious. The enemy held a strong position behind hastily constructed works of logs and earth, stone fences, and deep hollows and ravines. My division fought splendidly. From stand to stand the Federals were driven, and soon began to waver and retreat. After great difficulty and hard work, my artillery got over the stream and opened a heavy fire from a beautiful position. Sending the cavalry regiment of Lieutenant-Colonel Nichols upon their left flank, which made a brilliant and desperate charge, and pressing forward immediately in front, the enemy was driven clearly from the field; and now taking the advance, I pushed him in a stubborn running fight beyond Independence. . . .” (From an official report written by Brig. Gen. Joseph O. Shelby during Price’s Missouri Raid, while fighting in the Kansas City area, as provided by Carl Fisher)
Where the Manskers Lived and When
During the 1830s, the Manskers moved from Tennessee into Arkansas. By 1834, Thomas Mansker’s father and mother (John R. Mansker and Nancy Ann Holland) were married in Lawrence County, Arkansas, one of the first counties to be settled in the state. By at least 1836, they had moved into Johnson County, Arkansas, where Tom was born on the 4th of June 1847. While Thomas was growing up, the family lived near Clarksville and then later in the adjacent county of Pope. When Thomas was thirteen (1860), his family was enumerated in Allen Township of Pope County. When he was 17, and at the point of enlistment, all the males of his family were already active in military service except for his youngest brother George Irwin, then only 15. The Stewarts may have been in Arkansas around the same time period, but we have yet to find definitive proof. We do know they were in Arkansas by about 1842. They, too, settled in the Clarksville area. Following Tom Mansker’s Confederate military service, it was in Johnson County on the 13th of March 1870, that he married Martha Jane Stewart, daughter of David M. Stewart and Mariah Frances Overby. Martha Jane Stewart was likely related to her father-in-law’s first wife, Nancy Ann Stewart, who was a descendant of the Overton County, Tennessee, Stewarts. She was David and Mariah’s eldest child, born on the 6th of December 1846 and the sister of Benjamin Felix Stewart. Following their marriage, Thomas and Martha Jane Mansker farmed in Piney Township, Johnson County, near Clarksville. By March of 1877, the birthplace of their daughter Nancy Maria Mansker, placed the family in Little Rock, Pulaski, Arkansas, but by the 1880 census, they were back in Johnson County again, enumerated in Perry Township. Living next door to them was Martha’s mother, the widowed Mrs. Mariah Frances (Overby) Stewart.
Between 1885 and 1890, the Manskers moved out of Arkansas altogether, into Oklahoma Territory, first to Eufaula in McIntosh County for a stay of a few years, and then into Oklahoma Indian Territory, Lincoln County. They came into Indian Territory near the time (probably after September 1891 as they were not original land owners) that the area opened up to White settlement and located on their claim one mile east of Prague. As of the 1900 census, this family was enumerated in South Creek Township, Lincoln County, near Prague. William David Stewart, Martha Jane’s nephew; was living nearby, and across the county line in Keokuk Falls, Dent Township, Pottawatomie County, was the family of Benjamin Felix Stewart, Martha’s brother, and living with Benjamin was Mariah Overby Stewart, her mother. Tom was a farmer at that time, and they owned their own home. Sometime between 1900 and 1910, David Thomas Mansker received his call and appointment to the ministry, a calling he pursued to the end of his life. We find that occupation declared on the 1910 census, in the 3rd Ward of Tecumseh City, Pottawatomie County, where they moved to next, in order for David to be with the members over whom he had been given stewardship. This town lay 37 miles southwest of Prague. He may also have been serving as a lay minister as early as 1885, or about the time they moved to Oklahoma, as, at his death, he was cited as being one of the old time Baptist ministers who had served for about 40 years.
Sometime between 1910 and 1920, Tom Mansker and his wife Martha Jane moved to Ontario, Malheur County, Oregon. As of January 6th, 1920, when the census was taken, they were living next door to their son Thomas Jet Mansker. In their son’s household, at that time, was their daughter-in-law Bertha and grand-daughters Hazel and Hetty, age 6 years and 2 months respectively. At this stage of their lives, Tom and Mary Jane were 72 and 73 years old, had retired, and were living in a home they owned, free of a mortgage, and were cultivating the land. In response to the census-taker’s interview, Tom declared himself a farmer, as was his son, Thomas, Jr., who lived next door. Since David, Herbert, and Thomas Stewart, nephews of Mary Jane, had been living on acreage near Ontario since about 1900, it is believed that letters sent back to Oklahoma prompted the Manskers to move to Ontario. How long the Manskers lived in Oregon is not known, as their entry into the state after 1910 is uncertain. However, before another two years had passed, Tom and Martha Jane were back in Oklahoma, this time in Paden, Okfuskee County, Oklahoma. Paden lay in a different county from where they had lived previously, but it was actually only 7 miles to the east of Prague and 43 miles northeast of Tecumseh, places where they had previously lived.
The Mansker Children
Tom and Martha Jane Mansker were the parents of 9 children, 6 daughters and 3 sons, all born in Arkansas prior to their migration to Oklahoma. Within a year of their marriage, they had their first child, a daughter named Laura Vandella Mansker, nicknamed “Della.” Martha Jane was about six months older than her husband upon her marriage, and thus was age 24 at the birth of this first child and age 38 at the birth of her last child, a boy named Thomas Jett Mansker. In between, the children came at regular, sometimes short, intervals: Nora Ella, Clemmie A., Joseph, nicknamed “Bud,” Nancy Maria, Seth F., Ida Mamie, and Linda Pearl Mansker. Tom and Martha Jane were Christians in word and deed and provided good examples for these children, at least 7 of whom eventually married and provided them with a numerous posterity.
Martha Jane—She Lived A Beautiful Christian Life
The Mansker’s move from Oregon back to Oklahoma may have been prompted by Martha Jane’s poor health, for she died near Prague, shortly after their return. At the time of her death, her daughter Della was caring for her, and it was probably she who provided the details of her mother’s last hours for her obituary printed in the Prague Record, six days later. Her obituary reads, “There, they [Martha Jane and Tom] lived and bore the trials and hardships of the early life of Oklahoma, but through those years, she was a kind and loving wife, mother, and friend. Her dear old hands were always ready to welcome and minister to those who came into her home, both young and old, for she had God sweet in her life. She was converted about the age of 27 and ever afterwards lived a beautiful devoted Christian life, her companion being a minister of the gospel of the Free Will Baptist Church. For many years, she toiled with him in the vineyard for the salvation of souls and her influence will still live on in the hearts and lives of those who knew her.”
More From Her Obituary—Martha’s Last Days and Funeral
Martha’s obituary continues: “She seemed to realize the evening of time in this world had come. She gave the scripture quotation ‘Suffer the little children to come unto me and forbid them not for such is the kingdom of heaven.’ Then she said, ‘I am of God’s little children.’ She also said to her companion, ‘I hate to leave you, but it won’t be long until we meet again.’” Then the author of her obituary observes, “We realize that life is short; it won’t be long until we will all cross over, one by one, so we should strive to live the life this dear wife, mother, and sister has lived and not weep, as those who have no hope, for she has passed beyond pain and suffering. She leaves to mourn—her husband and six children, besides a host of friends. Martha died at the home of Mrs. John Hopkins, her daughter, living near Prague, Oklahoma, on the 11th of November 1921. At her death, she was 74 years, 11 months, and 5 days. Only one other child was present at her death, Bud Mansker, who also lived near Prague. Funeral services, with Reverend McElvaney officiating, were held at Lamdin School House on November 13th, at 1:00 p.m. amidst a large crowd of relatives and friends, and she was laid to rest in the little Lamdin Cemetery.” (Obituary for Martha Jane (Stewart) Mansker, published in The Prague Record, Thursday, November 17, 1921)
Tom Mansker’s Second Marriage
Widower Tom Mansker lived without Martha for about a year and a half, and then finally courted and married the widow of Charles Ashby. Sarah (Hopkins) Ashby was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and she and her previous husband were probably acquainted with the Rev. Mansker and Martha Jane before their move to Oregon. As a young man, Tom had served in the same Confederate campaign as Sarah’s father. It is interesting to note that Charles Ashby and Martha Jane (Stewart) Mansker died during the same month and year, November 1921, within two days of each other. Tom married Sarah on the 11th of April 1923, when he was 75 years of age. They lived together for another 6 years, and it was said of her at his death, “She is still living, and surely gave him the best of care in his illness.” As she had been childless in her first marriage, Sarah Ashby Mansker must have embraced the children and grandchildren that this second marriage brought into her life. By all accounts, she was a good woman, one with a colorful past, as the following excerpt reveals.
Rev Tom Mansker and his second wife, Sarah Hopkins Ashby Mansker
Tom Mansker’s Second Wife and Her Previous Husband—Colonel Charles and Sarah (Hopkins) Ashby
“Colonel Ashby, born in 1837, had traveled widely throughout his life, having visited England, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, China, Africa and South America, and spent over three years in the Arctic. Charles’ last name was not Ashby at birth; it was Rhodes. During the Reconstruction era in the South following the Civil War, Mr. Rhodes was called upon by the government to go undercover and travel about in the Southern states, investigating people’s compliance with the conditions of the treaty. He assumed a new identity during this time and used his assumed name throughout the remainder of his life.
He married Sarah Hopkins, age 15, of Springfield, Missouri, on March 31, 1871, while engaged in his undercover work. Sarah E. Hopkins, daughter of Liles and Eliza J. (Woodard) Hopkins, was born April 18, 1855, a few miles north of Springfield, Missouri. Her family members were devout Methodist Episcopals who fought for the Confederate cause during the war. Many men in her family were Methodist ministers, including her own father who died of pneumonia during the war while serving as a chaplain under General Sterling Price.
After Sarah’s marriage to Charles, she rode horseback with him throughout the South doing undercover work. For her safety, she dressed as a man and posed as his younger brother, Harry. She was an excellent rider and was adept at using firearms. She had no children. Throughout the rest of her life, she was known endearingly as Aunt Harry by her nieces and nephews.
After Charles’ health deteriorated, the Ashbys left the grocery business [which had been providing them a living], and retired to the Hopkins family homestead southeast of town [Prague]. Charles died November 9, 1921, at 84 years of age after an extended illness. Sarah later married Rev. Tom Mansker. Tom and Sarah made their home in Paden.” (Kena Jacobs, History of Prague, Oklahoma, p. 110)
Minister Tom Mansker—As Faithful To His Church As He Was To His Family
Seven and a half years after Martha Jane’s death, the Rev. Tom Mansker died in Paden, and was buried beside Martha Jane in the Lamdin Cemetery, just outside of Prague. As he was much beloved by the people he served, he had a wonderful funeral with many fine tributes. After the funeral, Elder Epperson wrote these words about his friend and colleague: David Thomas Mansker “came nearer being loved by everybody than any man I ever knew. He had been preaching some forty years, after having come to Oklahoma in an early day. He was as faithful to his church as he was to his family. You can’t say too much for him as a man or as a minister—he was the best pastor I think I ever saw. . .To make it plain, it will take all eternity to tell about Brother Mansker. We know where to find him. Oh, I could say so much, but he will tell us all about it over there.” (“Obituary for Elder David Thomas Mansker”, published in The Free Will Baptist Gem, April 1929, p. 12)
Elder Tom Mansker’s Death and Funeral
David Thomas Mansker departed this life on the 6th of March 1929, while at his home in Paden, where Sarah had cared for him in his last illness. On his next birthday, he would have been 82 years old. At his death, he had twenty-two grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren, and friends without number. As his home could not accommodate the crowd, the funeral was held in the Free Will Baptist Church in Paden. Several preachers were in attendance, and as he was a Mason, they too had a part in the funeral. The services were conducted by Elder A. B. Epperson and others of his faith. Reverend McElvany, of Prague, a life-long friend of Tom’s, talked at the gravesite. His second wife Sarah E. Mansker was 73 years of age at his death. On the 1930 census, she was enumerated in Paden Village, with a declared real estate value of $1800. She died some four years later in Paden, on the 19th of July 1933, at the age of 78.
