Issac T. Mann

From Martha Jane Becker's book:"Bramwell - The Diary of a Millionaire Coal Town".... Isaac T. Mann was one of the most colorful characters who ever lived in Historic Bramwell. Born July 23, 1863 in Fort Springs, Greenbrier County, he began working as a teller in the Greenbrier Bank in Alderson, WV. He helped organize the Bank of Bramwell and subsequently became the president of the Pocahontas Fuel Company. Once in his colorful life he was offered the position of ambassador to Spain by President Collidge in 1928. Mr. Mann controlled a chain of nine prosperous banks and was president of he Pocahontas Fuel Company for thirty-five years. He was Pocahontas Fuel Company president for 35 years. A chain of nine banks was another of his many financial interests. His 1923 fortune was estimated at $18-$25 million. The next year he began to buy Chicago real estate,businesses, apartments and hotels. Before 1929, his property worth soared to $86 million to as much as$100 million: a fortune lost to the Depression, along with his health.

It was said that Isaac T. Mann's business ethics were beyond reproach and he rose to become one of Bramwell's most prominent and respected citizens. His wife was Vernie Myers. They had two children, William and Alice. William died young and Alice married and moved to Denver, Colorado. The USS West Virginia Battleship, which was the length of two football fields and stood eight stories high, was launched on November 19, 1921 and was sponsored by Alice Alice Wright Mann ,daughter of West Virginia millionaire Isaac T. Mann.

Mann, Isaac T. of Bramwell, Mercer County, W.Va. Republican. Delegate to Republican National Convention from West Virginia in 1908 and 1916.

In 1916, the Pocahontas Fuel Company opened a driftmine operation a short distance from the mouth of Barkers Creek. The president of Pocahontas, Isaac T. Mann, had 120 dwellings built to house his employees. This coal camp grew into the town of Itmann, which was named after Isaac T. Mann.

A Commercial Ship bearing Isaac Mann's name hauled his coal across the Atlantic Ocean to European markets.

The Issac Mann three-story turreted Bramwell Mansion displays a handsome staircase, ornate woodwork and special details such as a secret wall safe and a studded, leather-walled den. The curved porch follows the horseshoe curve of the Bluestone River it overlooks. Across the Bluestone River via a footbridge Isaac Mann built a house-size "playhouse" for his children and their governess. The house today is a private residence. Issac Mann also owned homes in Florida, Washington, D.C. (now the Turkish embassy), and on the Massachusetts coast.

Interesting Fact: West Virginia (Battleship No. 48) was laid down on 12 April 1920 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Co. of Newport News, VA.; reclassified to BB-48 on 17 July 1920, launched on 17 November 1921, sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann , daughter of Issac T. Mann, a prominent West Virginian, and commissioned on 1 December l923 with Captain Thomas J. Senn in command.

On Sunday, 7 December 1941, West Virginia lay moored outboard of Tennessee (BB-43) at berth F-6 with 40 feet of water beneath her keel. Shortly before 0800, Japanese planes, flying from a six-carrier task force, commenced their well-planned attack on the Fleet at Pearl Harbor. West Virginia took five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes in her port side and two bomb hits— those bombs being 15-inch armor-piercing shells fitted with fins. The ship was sunk but later relocated and rebuilt. The West Virginia was sent to Puget Sound and remained there until 1944. The Mast of Battleship U.S.S. West Virginia now rest on the West Virginia University campus as a memorial to all those who gave their lives on the ship when it was sunk at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941. More information on this great battleship can be found @ US West Virginia - An On-Line Exhibit.BB
( West Virginia Battleship BB-48 information and text is partially from Navy History.com @: USSWest Virginia BB-48 )