From Proud Heritage, Volume III by DCPA. This 352 page hardcover book is available online.
George Manner was born in Germany on February 16, 1828, and migrated to the United States in 1840. He remained in New York for twenty years and served in the Civil War from there.
He had studied music in both Germany and New York. This background led him to establish a commercial piano manufacturing facility in Dallas. It was the first such facility in Texas. Additionally, George installed the first pipe organ in Dallas.
He was also a well-known figure as a musical composer and piano teacher. Some parts of his pianos are still in use and his original musical compositions are housed at Old City Park in downtown Dallas.
George’s son, Arthur J, Manner was born February 16,1870, and died January 21, 1946. He was employed as an engineer with Dallas Power and Light for 39 years. He worked there in the “good old days” when he carried a pair of pliers to keep an electrocuted co-worker from choking on his tongue.
Arthur’s wife, Susie Rudolph, was born September 4, 1873, and died August 18, 1952. She was a founding member of Oak Lawn Methodist Church. She was also an early and proud member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Susie’s mother, Virginia White, was born November 11, 1840, and died December 23, 1920. Her mother came to Dallas in 1890 and is buried at the Pioneer Cemetery in downtown Dallas.
Susie’s father, Lieutenant Thaddeus Rudolph, also served in the Civil War as a member of the 5th Partisan Texas Rangers. He was born January 1838, and died November 11, 1874.
Another of her ancestors was Jean Martin, a Huguenot immigrant, who came to Jamestown, Virginia on September 20, 1800 from London aboard the ship “Peter And Anthony.” Her oldest son, Frank Manner, served in France during World War I and was a lifelong resident of Dallas. Her other son, Harold, was born April 15,1907, and died June 20, 1987. Both sons attended North Dallas High School.
Both Frank and Harold were lifelong Dallas area businessmen. Frank worked as an accountant and Harold as a district sales manager for a national paper company.
Harold’s son, Robert E. Manner, is a fifth generation Texan and following an Air Force tour flying in jet bombers during the “Cold War,” practiced law in Dallas for 28 years until his retirement in 1991.
By Robert Manner
