William Hodges Mann was born 30 July 1843 in Williamsburg, Virginia, to John Mann (d. 1843) and Mary Hunter Bowers Mann. He moved with his family to Rockbridge County, Virginia, in 1852, and attended Brownsburg Academy. In 1857, he moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where he apprenticed as a court clerk while studying law. When the Civil War began, Mann enlisted in the 12th Virginia Infantry until disabled by an injury. He worked for the Confederate government and as clerk of the circuit court of Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After the war ended, Mann began practicing law in Nottoway County, Virginia. He was elected judge and served from 1870 to 1891. Mann represented Nottoway, Brunswick, and Lunenburg Counties in the Virginia State Senate from 1899 to 1908. A prohibitionist, Mann authored the "Mann Bill" which closed saloons in 70 out of 100 Virginia counties. Mann narrowly won the Democratic primary for governor and then easily won election for governor in 1909. Serving as governor from 1910 to 1914, Mann was the last Confederate veteran to hold the position as governor of Virginia. During his administration, Mann nearly succeeded in gaining statewide prohibition, but his bill failed to pass the Senate. Mann too sought to further advances in agriculture by establishing a United Agricultural Board, as well as a Convict Lime Board to build facilities to grind limestone with the use of convict labor. Important events occurred during his governorship in the area of capital punishment with the executions of Virginia Christian, the first female executed in Virginia, and Claude & Floyd Allen whose murder of Commonwealth's Attorney William Foster in a Carroll County Courthouse made national news. After his term, Mann moved to Petersburg, where he practiced law with his son. Mann also became president of the Citizens' Bank at Blackstone and the Bank of Crewe. He married first married Sallie Fitzgerald (d. 1882) in 1870, and they had no children. He married second Etta Donnan (ca. 1862-1960) October 1885, and they had two children, one of whom survived to adulthood. Mann died in Petersburg 12 December 1927, and was buried in Blandford Cemetery.
From the guide to the Executive Papers of Governor William Hodges Mann, 1910-1914, (The Library of Virginia)
