Extracted from History of the Western Reserve, Volume 3
By Harriet Taylor Upton and Harry Gardner Cutler
Lewis Publishing Company, 1910

Orville T. Manley, M. D. -- One of the successful and popular physicians and surgeons of Portage county is Dr. Manley, who is engaged in the practice of his profession in his native town of Garrettsville, where he retains a clientele of representative order. Dr. Manley was born in Garrettsville November 20, 1874, and is a son of Morton and Emma (Hopkins) Manley. The Doctor is a scion of one of the oldest and most honored pioneer families of Portage county, with whose annals the name has been identified since the opening decade of the nineteenth century, and even the data of this necessarily brief sketch will afford an idea of the prominent position the family has held in connection with the civic, professional and industrial affairs of the county.

Morton Manley was born at Garrettsville, and passed his entire life in Portage county, where he was a representative farmer and a citizen honored in all the relations of life. He died October 13, 1907. He was a son of Dr. Orville Manley, who was also born and reared at Garrettsville, and who became one of the leading physicians and surgeons of this part of Portage county, where he was engaged in the practice of his profession for a period of about twenty years. He retained his residence in his native town until his death. His father, Roswell Manley, was of the second generation of the family in Portage county, and was born at Garrettsville; he was here reared and educated, and in the course of time he became one of the representative farmers and influential citizens of Franklin township, which continued to be his home until his death. He was a son of Martin Manley, who was a native of Connecticut, and who was one of the sterling pioneers of the Western Reserve, as he took up his residence in Portage county in 1810, settling on the site of the present village of Garrettsville and securing a large tract of land which he reclaimed into a productive farm. He was a prominent figure in the early annals of this county, and did much to shape its early governmental politics and to further its development along civic and industrial lines.

From the foregoing data it will be seen that Dr. Orville T. Manley is of the fifth generation of the family in Portage county, and that he is engaged in the same profession as was his grandfather, whose patronymic he bears. As a citizen and a member of the medical profession he is honoring the name he bears. His mother, Emma (Hopkins) Manley, was born at Parkman, Geauga county, Ohio, and is a daughter of Titus B. Hopkins, who was born in Nelson township, Portage county, Ohio, and who became a successful merchant in the Western Reserve, having been engaged in business at various points, principally in Portage and Geauga counties. He was a tailor by trade, and in his earlier life followed that vocation. His father was a native of Connecticut, and was one of the early settlers in Portage county.

Morton Manley died at the age of fiftyseven years, and his widow is still living, maintaining her home in Garrettsville. She is a devout church member, as was also her husband. Of their three children, Dr. Orville was the oldest, and besides him the only one surviving is Dr. R. M., practising in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dr. Orville T. Manley received his early education in the public schools of Garrettsville, where he graduated from the high school, after which he matriculated in Hiram College, graduating with the class of 1898. He then entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the city of Cleveland, where he completed the prescribed technical course and graduated in 1900, with the degree of M. D. After graduation he passed one year as interne in St. Alexis Hospital, in Cleveland, where he gained valuable clinical experience. In 1901 he opened an office in his native town of Garrettsville, where he has amply demonstrated his professional ability and built up a large and representative practice. He is a member of the Ohio State Medical Society and the Portage County Medical Society. He is affiliated with the Masonic fraternity.

In 1898 Dr. Manley was united in marriage with Flora Woodruff, of Mesopotomia. and they have two children, Roger H. and Orville T., Jr. Dr. and Mrs. Manley are actively identified with the representative social affairs and life of Garrettsville, where they are held in the highest esteem.