 Manning's father, Richard Irvine Manning III and his great-grandfather, Richard Irvine Manning I had previously served as Governors of South Carolina, but Wyndham Meredith Manning lost three gubernatorial elections and never achieved his dream of following in their footsteps.Manning was born in 1890 on a farm near Wedgefield in Sumter County, South Carolina.He was one of thirteen children of Richard Irvine Manning III and Leila B. Meredith.