John Henry Manny

John Henry Manny (1825–1856) was the inventor of the Manny Reaper, one of various makes of reaper used to harvest grain in the 19th century. Cyrus McCormick III, in his Century of the Reaper, called Manny "the most brilliant and successful of all Cyrus McCormick's competitors," a field of many brilliant people.

Early life John Henry Manny was born November 28, 1825, in Amsterdam, New York. His father was Pells Manny and mother was Sarah Swart. Siblings included Josiah Manny, Eliza Manny, Rebecca Ann Manny, and Gabriel Manny. He moved to Waddams Township in Stephenson County, Illinois, in the early 1850s. The Mannys visited George Esterly (1809–1893) who was manufacturing some of the first mechanical grain harvesting machines in Heart Prairie, near modern-day Janesville Wisconsin a short distance to the north. Manny helped in the shop to produce one and brought it back with him.

Manny married Mary Dorr in 1853, and by the fall of 1853 moved to Rockford, Illinois. There he could have more reapers manufactured by the firm Blinn & Emerson, and have them transported on the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad line. In 1854 he formed J.H. Manny & Company with investors Wait and Sylvester Talcott. In the summer of 1854 Jess Blinn and Ralph Emerson (1831–1914) joined the company. McCormick demanded that Manny stop producing reapers, and pay McCormick US$400,000. The trial, originally scheduled for Chicago, Illinois in September 1855, had prominent lawyers on both sides. McCormick hired former US Attorney General Reverdy Johnson and New York patent attorney Edward Nicholl Dickerson.

Manny hired Edwin M. Stanton who hired local Illinois lawyer Abraham Lincoln. However, the trial was moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. Although Manny won the case, with an opinion by Supreme Court Judge John McLean, Lincoln ended up not contributing to the defense. After later being elected president, Lincoln chose Stanton as his Secretary of War. See Abraham Lincoln's patent.

Death John H. Manny died in 1856 of a stomach illness and the manufacturing of his machine was then carried on by the Talcott brothers and Ralph Emerson until 1860, when Mr. Emerson bought out his partners and associated himself with William A. Talcott. Following the death of Manny the firm was known as Talcott, Emerson, & Co.

After Manny's death on January 31, 1856, McCormick appealed the case to the United States Supreme Court. McCormick lost again.

The firm meanwhile had continued to manufacture reapers as Talcott, Emerson & Company. In 1860 Emerson bought out the other partners, and then the name was changed back to Talcott, Emerson & Company about 1874.

Manny's widow married Robert Hall Tinker in 1870 and lived in the house now called Tinker Swiss Cottage.

John Henry Manny is sometimes confused with John Pels Manny, a cousin.