State Web Site

Military Service: Army

War(s) Served:  Civil War

Born in Williamsburg, Virginia, WILLIAM HODGES MANN attended BrownsburgAcademy and became Deputy Clerk of Nottoway County, Virginia. He left his position to serve in the Confederate Army, but returned to his clerkship after being injured at the Battle of Seven Pines. He was later elected the first County Judge of NottowayCounty, serving from 1870 to 1892, and was a member of the Virginia Senate during most of its sessions from 1899 to 1910. As a state Senator, he authored the "Mann Act," which closed about 800 saloons in county districts where there was no police protection. Elected governor in 1909, he favored Prohibition, but a bill providing for statewide prohibition was narrowly defeated in the Virginia Senate during his administration. After leaving office, he became president of the Citizens' Bank at Blackstone and President of the Bank of Crewe.

Sources:

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 4. Westport, CT: Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols

The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 14. New York: James T. White & Company.

Commonwealth of Virginia (enter search keyword = Governors)