James C. Mann (1834-1897) was born in Elmira, New York, and died in Denver, Colorado. As a child he moved with his family to Beloit, Wisconsin, where he became a banker. He was married three times: to Mary E. Mann (b. Stern) in Rock Island, Illinois, in 1856; to Amelia M. Mann (b. Scott) in Cook County, Illinois, in 1879; and to Frances J. "Nettie" Mann (b. Bean) in Denver, Colorado, in 1882. Mann was a Civil War veteran, serving in the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry. In 1865 he was assigned to the Freedmen's Bureau in Wilmington, North Carolina, and he mustered out as a major in 1866. He then became a probate judge and clerk of the district court in Wilmington. When his judicial term expired, he moved to San Francisco, California, to work for the United States Mint. In 1880 he moved to Colorado where he worked as the deputy treasurer of Gunnison County until his marriage in 1882, whereupon he relocated to Denver. There he worked as a clerk and bookkeeper for his son-in-law, Joseph L. Brown, a hides and wool dealer, and pursued his interests in painting and music. In 1887 Mann and his wife Nettie donated funds to Mary Baker Eddy along with several other Denver-based Christian Scientists, and later that year he wrote to Eddy to order three of her published pamphlets. Mann's wife Nettie became a member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, and was a practitioner listed in The Christian Science Journal. Mann was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the Free and Accepted Masons.

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