Born near Six Mile in Pickens County, Alfred Mann was the son of Aaron Daniel and Lawena Tompkins Mann. He attended the University of South Carolina on a war scholarship receiving both an A.B. and an LL.B. He was admitted to the Bar in 1914 and began practice in Union.
In 1917, he moved to Greenville. He married Nina Griffin of Pickens County and they had a daughter and five sons. Two of his sons practiced law in the firm of Mann and Mann.
He was elected twice, without opposition, as Mayor of Greenville, between 1929 and 1933. He served as an Alderman from 1925 through 1929, as President of the South Carolina Municipal Association from 1930–1932 and the Greenville Chamber of Commerce from 1935–1938. He also served for many years as a Trustee of the Greenville Women’s College and the Community Chest. He was deeply religious and was very active in the Earle Street Baptist Church.
He developed a large practice by scrupulous integrity, thorough, conscientious work. His arguments to juries and judges were based on logic and reason. To him, the practice of law was a mission seeking the goal of truth.
In 1961, Mr. Mann was inducted a first time into Memory Hold The Door.