Manuel was an African American man. Manuel and his wife Frank were enslaved by John Lear and his wife Anna. When the Lears died in 1695, Thomas Pollock took over the management of their estate and with it, assumed ownership of Manuel and Frank, along with several other enslaved people. Thomas Pollock entrusted Manuel and Frank with the responsibility of maintaining Lear's former plantation, sometimes called Scuppernong, on Salmon Creek in Bertie Precinct.

Court records of the time suggest that Manuel and Frank often operated the property independently or with no white supervision for at least part of the year. Manuel was known to own a firearm and court records also describe the couple's extensive work on the property.

In 1697 Dorothy Steele, William Lee, and several others visited Scuppernong while they were on the run. Manuel sold them corn and tobacco. Manuel and Frank remained enslaved by Thomas Pollock and by 1709 they had four children.