Ohio native Robert Manley first appeared in the Iowa State Bystander when he was a pastor in Racine, Wisconsin in 1902. In 1904 he served AME churches in Newton and Colfax, Iowa and he and his wife Maggie were residents of Newton in the 1905 Iowa census. In 1906 Manley became pastor for the AME church in Waukegan, Illinois. He was there through 1908, but was assigned to Yankton, South Dakota by 1910.

He returned to Iowa with an assignment in Albia that lasted from 1911 into 1914. Manley was a pastor in Council Bluffs from late 1914 to late 1915. He was assigned to the church in Maywood, Illinois, but was back in Iowa serving Clarinda in southwest Iowa in 1918. He moved to Oskaloosa in 1920 and then Fairfield in 1924. Manley was back in Albia in 1925.

The conclusion of his career is unknown but it may be in Marion, Ohio. Maggie’s 1926 Iowa death certificate stated she is to be buried there, and a Rev. Robert B. Manley is in the Marion City Directory for 1927. His death date is unknown. It is presumed he is buried in the Marion, Ohio Cemetery.