Historical Photos of Early, Iowa

Abraham Lincoln Manly Family - (back) Ralph Manly (graduated 1909) Clel Manly (Graduated 1906) (front) A. L. Manly, Beulah Manly Rutledge (graduaged 1918) Edith Manly

A. L. Manly family were founding members of the Pleasant Hill Church. Loraine Manly Perry and her family loved in Early for several years. Bruce Perry has many fond childhood memories of visiting John and Beulah Rutledge in their wonderful old home.

Abraham Lincoln Manly - Family History

Abraham Lincoln Manly (1860-1948), a Sac County farmer in the early 1900's, was the fourth of eight children born to William and Ann king Manly. In 1883, he married Edith Emily Bingham in Morgan County, Ohio. She was the daughter of Ezra and Isabelle Winner Bingham. Ezra was a Civil War Veteran. After the wedding, the Manlys moved to Sac County to take advantage of the wonderful farmland and affordable prices and set up a farmstead in Clinton Township, south of Early. A. L. and Edith were the parents of three sons: Dalton (who died at age 4 of diphtheria), Howard (Clel), and Ralph and one foster daughter Beulah Manly Rutledge The Manly family was very active in the Pleasant Hill Church, and later in the Sac City Methodist Church. Because of his love of singing and booming voice, he acted as a song leader in the Pleasant Hill Church. In 1921, A. L. and Edith retired from farming and moved to 909 Early Street, Sac City.

Clel (1887-1951) was a farmer south of Early for many years. A 1906 graduate of Early schools, he married Shenandoah native Mabel Alice Williams (1893-1935) in 1914. After leaving the farm, they lived in Early for several years. They then moved to Sac City in 1934 after Mabel suffered a stroke. They were parents of Elva Manly Hooker-Murray (b. 1916), Willard (1918-2002), Florence Loraine Manly Perry (b. 1920), and Betty Jean Manly Andrews (b. 1923). Clel worked at numerous jobs during the depression era, and was active in the Methodist church until the time of his death.

The lure of jobs caused Elva, Willard and Betty to relocate to southern California. Elva and Robert Hooker had two sons: Robert and Thomas. Elva currently resides in Sac City. Willard and Muriel (Meiners) had two sons: Merrill Scott and Richard Clel. Betty and William Andrews had one daughter, Cheryl Jo (Bunny). Betty and long-time friend Tom Flaherty live in Riverside, California.

F. Loraine remained in Iowa. After working for the telephone company and in several retail outlets in Sac City, she entered Cadet Nurse Corps training at Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. Following graduation, she returned to Sac City to work in the recently-established Loring Hospital, located in the "house on the hill" north of the current hospital. She married Hubert Perry in 1952 and the couple moved into the Manly family home at 909 Early Street in Sac City. They have one son, Bruce who teaches voice at Drake University and maintains an active schedule as singer and pianist. All three continue to reside in Sac City.

Ralph Edward (1891-1968) graduated from Early schools in 1909 and married Edith Parrott (1891-1960). The couple had three children Dorothy Pauline Manly Ferrin (1914-1997), Frances Vivian Manly Schreiner (1915-2005) and Ronald Ralph Manly (1919-?) After leaving the Parrott farm north of Early, Ralph and Edith moved to Early and all their children graduated from Early Schools. They later moved to Storm Lake, where Ralph was a justice of the peace.

Beulah Manly Rutledge (1900-1995) married John in 1920. When first married, they lived in Canada, then moved to York, Nebraska, and finally returned to Early, Iowa. He was vice president of the Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company and raised and raced Standard Bred Horses. They had four children: Robert Scott (b. 1921), Edith Carolyn Rutledge Woodke (b. 1923), John Perry Rutledge (b. 1930) and Kathryn Mae Rutledge Carlson (b. 1937).

House in middle of the left photo above (between trees) was owned by Louise Hazen in the1930s and 1940s. The house on it's North (right) was the Hopkins house and on the South (left) - Frank Hoppner who lived to be 99+. Frank died in 1948. His daughter Carrie lived with him until his death, then moved to California. She was a great painter.
Information submitted by Ralph Hazen, Early High School class of 1950.