William Telemachus McManus (November 28, 1780January 18, 1835) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was the son of Hugh McManus (1747–1826) and Mary McManus (1751–1834). He attended

Lansingburgh Academy The Lansingburgh Academy was a seminary in Lansingburgh, New York. The seminary was in existence from the late 18th century to 1900, when the building that housed it was leased to the Lansingburgh School District. The building was sold to the sch ...

. Then he studied law with John Bird, was admitted to the bar, and commenced practice in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...

. He married Catharina Coons, and they had four children, among them Jane (McManus) Cazneau (1807–1878). He was

Surrogate A surrogate is a substitute or deputy for another person in a specific role and may refer to: Relationships * Surrogacy, an arrangement where a woman agrees to carry and give birth to a child for another person who will become its parent at bi ...

of Rensselaer County from 1815 to 1818, and District Attorney from 1818 to 1821. McManus was elected as an Adams man to the

19th United States Congress The 19th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1825, ...

, holding office from March 4, 1825, to March 3, 1827. Afterwards he resumed the practice of law. In 1832, McManus ventured into

land speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline in value.) Many s ...

, and was one of the founders of the Galveston Bay and Texas Land Company. The next year, he set out with his son Robert, his daughter Jane and a company of German settlers for

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, which was then still part of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The scheme failed when the German settlers refused to go beyond Matagorda, and McManus returned with his daughter to Brunswick, NY, in 1834, and died there soon after. His son Robert remained in Texas and became a wealthy planter.

Sources

''The New York Civil List''
compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 71, 380 and 417; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
''CAZNEAU, Jane Mary Eliza McManus Storms''
in ''Notable American Women'' by Edward T. James & Janet Wilson James (1971; pages 315ff) {{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, William 1780 births 1835 deaths Politicians from Troy, New York Rensselaer County district attorneys New York (state) state court judges National Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 19th-century American politicians 19th-century American judges