Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 10.djvu/256

 VANCE

VAN'CE

" Limlenwald." Columbia county, N.Y., and was nominated for President by a "Barnburner" convention lield at Utica, N.Y., in June, 1848, wliich nomination was confirmed by the Free- Soil national con%-ention of Buffalo, Aug. 9. 1848. He received 29l,'262 popular votes against 1,360,101 for Zachary Taylor, but bis candidacy caused the defeat of Gen. Lewis Cass, who was opposed to the Wilmot proviso. Van Buren supported Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan in 1852 and 18.56, and although opposed to President Lincoln, he gave the administration his hearty support during the civil war. He is the author of: In- qniry into the Origin and Course of Political Rjrties in the United States (1867). He died in Kinderhoolv. N.Y.. July 24. 1862.

VANCE, Joseph, governor of Ohio, was born in Washington county, Pa., March 21, 1781; of Scotch-Irish descent. He removed with his parents to Kentucky in 1788, and thence to Urbana, Ohio. In 1802 he was married to Mary Lemen of Urbana. He was made captain of a rifle company in 1809; was engaged in Indian warfare prior to 1812, during which year he and his brother piloted Hull's army tlirough the dense forests of Fort Meigs; was a representative in the state legislature, 1812-14, 1815-16 and 1819-20. He subsequently engaged in mercantile business in Urbana and Fort Meigs (Perrysburg); laid out the town of Findlay; was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1820, and a Demo- cratic representative from Ohio in the 17th-23d congresses, 1821-35. He was governor of Ohio, 1836-38; was defeated for re-election, 1838, by Wilson Shannon; was re-elected to the 28th and 20th congresses, 184:3-47, serving as chairman of the committee on claims; was a delegate to the Whig national convention at Philadelphia, Pa., in 1848, and to the state constitutional conven- tion of 18.50, where he suffered a stroke of paral- ysis. He died on his farm near Urbana, Ohio, Aug. 24. 18.52.

VANCE, Robert Brank, soldier and represen- tative, was born in Buncombe county, N.C.; son of David Vance, and grandson of David Vance, who removed from Winchester, Va., to North Carolina; settled on the French Broad river, and took part in the battle of King's Mountain. Oct. 7, 1780. R^jbert B. Vance attended the common schofjls; became a farmer, and served as clerk of the court of pleas and quarter sessions, 1848-56. He was elected captain of a company raised for the Confederate States army in 1861; was twice elected colonel of the 29th North Carolina regi- ment, serving with the regiment in Tennessee from Nov. 17, 1862, and therefore took no part in the defense of his native state when invaded by Burnside. Upon the death of Gen. James E. Ilains, while leading a charge at the first battle of

Stone's River, Dec. 31, 1862, Colonel Vance as- sumed command of the brigade, and was pro- moted brigadier-general in 1863. He was cap- tured and imprisoned until paroled by President Lincoln, when he was sent North to obtain cloth- ing and money for the relief of suffering Confed- erate prisoners. He was a representative from North Carolina in the 43d-48th congresses. 1873- 85, and in the latter year was appointed U.S. commissioner of patents. He died in Asheville, N.C., Nov. 28. 1899.

VANCE, Zebulon Baird, .senator, was born in Buncombe county, N.C., May 13. 1830; son of David Vance. He was named for Zebulon Baird, a Scotchman, who immigrated to New Jersey, removing thence to North Carolina previous to 1790, and taking with him the first wagon seen in Buncombe county. Zebulon B. Vance attended Washington college, Tenn., and the University of Nortii Carolina, 1851-52; was admitted to the bar in 1852, and began practice in Asheville. He served as solicitor for Buncombe county, 1852; was a member of the state legislature, 1854; was a representative from North Carolina in the 35th congress, having been elected to complete the un- expired term of Thomas L. Clingman, elected U.S. senator; and was re-elected to the 36th con- gress, serving from Dec. 7, 1858, to March 3, 1861. He raised a company in the 14th North Carolina regiment in May, 1861; was appointed captain; was promoted colonel of the 26th North Carolina regiment in August, and served throughout the Peninsular campaign. He was governor of North Carolina, 1862-66, and during his administration, through the i)urchase of a foreign steamship fitted out as a blockade runner, he provided both the state troops and the Confederate government with clothing, arms and general supplies. In consequence of his position as governor after the occupation of the state by the U.S. troops, he was arrested in May, 1865, taken to Washington, D.C., and was soon after released on parole. He was pardoned by President Johnson in April, 1867. He was a member of the Democratic national convention of 1868; re-elected to the U.S. senate in November, 1870, but was refused ad- mission, resigning in January, 1872, and in the same year was the defeated Democratic nominee for senator, although congress had removed his political disabilities. He practised his profession in Charlotte. N.C.. until his re-election as gov- ernor of the state in 1876. and was elected U.S. senator without opposition in 1878. and again in 1884 and 1890. serving from March 18, 1879, until his death. He introduced the sub-treasury bill in the 51st congress, and at the time of his death was a member of the committees on privileges and elections, finance, national banks, the Uni- versity of the United States, and woman sufTrage.