Charles Manly
Pittsboro, Chatham County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Charles Manly. Governor, 1849-51. Whig Party leader. His law office, relocated & restored, stands 70 yds. N.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Charles Manly served as North Carolina's governor from 1849 to 1851 and was a prominent Whig Party leader in an era of debate over public education, railroads, and internal improvements. A Chatham County lawyer by training, he was the last Whig to hold the state's highest office. His restored law office stands nearby.
Why it matters
Manly's tenure came at the close of the Whig ascendancy, just as the sectional crisis over slavery was beginning to reshape Southern politics.
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