Henry S. Manley (1892-1967)

Book excerpt: THIS BOOK MAKES CLEAR HENRY S. MANLEY'S STATURE AS A SIGNIFICANT FIGURE REGARDING NEW YORK STATE AND, MORE BROADLY, UNITED STATES, LEGAL AND NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY AND SCHOLARSHIP. Henry S. Manley made legal history, was a skilled chronicler of history, and lived a life that reflected many facets of his far-ranging interests and capabilities. In Henry S. Manley (1892 - 1967) His Life and Writings: Early Pilot, Constitutional Lawyer, Innovative Farmer and Native American History Specialist the editors, HSM's direct descendants, present a substantial portion of his published and unpublished works in the fields of law, history, aviation, farming and genealogy replete with photographs and the editors' own explanatory notes. A highlight of this book is a complete reprint of HSM's seminal and long out-of-print 1932 book The Treaty of Fort Stanwix, 1784 as well as several of his articles on Native American history. Here, too, are some of his equally important legal articles, including "Nebbia Plus Fifteen", about the strategy he employed in successfully arguing the landmark Nebbia v New York case before the U.S. Supreme Court (decision handed down March 1934); and his wry and much admired "Mr. Justice Per Curiam", originally appearing under the title "Nonpareil Among Judges". Published for the first time, are HSM's evocative, and in one instance, somewhat harrowing, accounts of his experiences as a U.S. Army Air Corps pilot-trainee and, later, an instructor of pilots in Texas and Illinois during World War I. Available to the general public for the first time is his well-researched and sometimes humorous Manley Family, New England and New York, 1650-1950. Included in the book is the 1926 correspondence between Benjamin N. Cardozo, one of America's greatest judges, and HSM in which the former stated, "I have found your briefs very helpful and suggestive. You say things in an original way. A mind has been at work, and not a hand with scissors and paste pot." Readers are likely to agree with the cogency of that statement when they delve into HSM's writing.