John Manning attended Princeton University and obtained a degree from South Carolina College, where he was a member of the Euphradian Society.

During the American Civil War, while serving again in the South Carolina Senate from 1861 to 1865, Manning was also a colonel on the staff of P.G.T.

[2] In an elite planter society that prided itself on its social grace, Manning was noted for his appealing appearance and demeanor, which possessed one observer to ask, "Who that has ever met him can be indifferent to the charms of manner and of personal appearance, which render the ex-Governor of the state so attractive?

[6] John Manning and his wife, Susan, had Millford Plantation built in 1839 near Pinewood, South Carolina.

[7] He is interred in the churchyard at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia, South Carolina.