William Holt Manness was a native of Edwin, North Carolina, though spent much of his life in Jacksonville, Florida. He was the son of a Methodist minister, and moved throughout North Carolina as his father served different churches. Manness was a 1938 graduate of Elon College and was given the honor of Alumni of the Year in 1968. During his time at Elon he stayed in North Dormitory, which was torn down in the 1950’s. After graduating from Elon, Manness became an attorney, as well as an author, writing a total of five books. Manness died in 2011 at the age of 94.