Wyndham Meredith Manning

Wyndham Meredith Manning (1890–1967) was a South Carolina politician and the scion of a political dynasty in that U.S. state. Manning served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and was appointed Superintendent of the state's prison system by then-Governor Strom Thurmond in 1947, serving in that position until his retirement in 1962. Manning's father, Richard Irvine Manning III and his great-grandfather, Richard Irvine Manning I had previously served as Governors of South Carolina, but Wyndham Meredith Manning lost three gubernatorial elections and never achieved his dream of following in their footsteps.

Manning was born in 1890 on a farm near Wedgefield in Sumter County, South Carolina. He was one of thirteen children of Richard Irvine Manning III and Leila B. Meredith. Manning entered the United States Military Academy (also known as West Point) in 1907. He graduated in 1913 and was subsequently commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. One year later, Manning resigned from the Army and became a teacher in Berkeley County. Manning's teaching career was interrupted by the U.S.-Mexican War, and he left for Texas in June, 1916 as commander of the Charleston Light Dragoon, a National Guard unit. Following his return from Texas, Manning served briefly as Commandant of Cadets at the Porter Military Academy (now the Porter-Gaud School), before leaving to serve as an artillery officer in World War I.