Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection open for research.

Use Restrictions

No physical characteristics affect use of this material.

Preferred Citation

William J. Mann, Jr. "Free Enterprise Sixty Years Ago", 1956 (SC 0135), Thomas Balch Library, Leesburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

Provenance Unknown

Alternative Form Available

None

Accruals

Formerly catalogued as VREF 975.5 MAN. Volumes 1 and 2 courtesy of Special Collections University of Virginia Library.

Processing Information

Laura Christiansen, 27 August 2018

Historical Information

William Jackson Mann, Jr. (1888-1958) was the son of William and Sally Bruce Smith Mann of Upperville, Fauquier County  , VA. He married Maria Louisa   Shackleford Fontaine (1887- 1960), daughter of Richard and Kate Fontaine of Hanover County  , VA, in September 1913. They had three children: William B. Mann (1918-2005), Louise F. Mann (1920-1969), and Charles M. Mann (1926-1991). As an electrical engineer, William J. Mann, Jr. worked for the Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company in Swissvale, PA before relocating to Baltimore, MD in 1920. There he worked for several electrical equipment manufacturing companies.

In the 1950s, Mann began to write short biographical stories about his childhood in the area around Upperville for his grandchildren. He eventually self-published a three volume memoir entitled Free Enterprise Sixty Years Ago: Stories for My Grandchildren. He presented his memoir to his grandchildren as a Christmas gift in 1956.

Scope and Content

Free Enterprise Sixty Years Ago consists of William Jackson Mann, Jr.'s recollections of his boyhood in Upperville, VA from the 1890s to 1910s. Topics include childhood memories such as gathering firewood to heat the family home with his grandfather, trips to collect chestnuts, as well as camping and fishing on Goose Creek and the Shenandoah River. Also collected are memories of people, places, and businesses in Fauquier and Loudoun counties . Businesses described include mills, wheelwrights, blacksmiths, dairy farms, and country stores.

The three volumes of Mann's memoirs were originally collected as typescript in small loose-leaf binders. Volumes 1 and 2 in this collection are photocopies of original typescripts held by the University of Virginia's Special Collections [CT275.M453A3 1956, v. 1 & 2]. Volume 3 is an original typescript created by Mann numbered "90/129". Page sizes in the typescript vary.

Arrangement

Folder

Related Material

Shorts, A. G., Jr. 2000. Upperville days: photographs and stories from Virginia Hunt Country. V 975.5275 SHO; McArtor, Robert C., and Susan McArtor Bellinger. 2005. McArtor and Poston family diaries: Upperville, Purcellville, Paris, Alexandria and Washington, D.C. V REF 929.2 MCARTOR

Adjunct Descriptive Data

Bibliography

Ancestry Library Edition, United States census, 1910, 1920, 1930, 1940, http://www.ancestrylibrary.com

Find A Grave. Find A Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi.

Mann, William J. 1956. Free Enterprise Sixty Years Ago: Stories for My Grandchildren. [Virginia]: [W.J. Mann, Jr.].

Other Finding Aid

None

Technical Requirements

None