Skip to content

Local figure

Zebulon B. Vance

Vance entered the University of North Carolina early in 1851 and spent the rest of that year at Chapel Hill studying law under Judge William H. Battle and Samuel F. Phillips, taking his license in December 1851. He left for Asheville in 1852 and was later governor of North Carolina and a United States senator.

Source: NCpedia: Vance, Zebulon Baird (Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History)

Also found in catalogs as Zebulon Baird Vance.

1830–1894 as the Library of Congress records it · Library of Congress authority record ↗

16 indexed works are connected with this person, and the index includes 2 works by Zebulon B. Vance.

Zebulon B. Vance, 1870
Zebulon B. Vance, 1870

Indexed works

Works in the index that concern this person directly, or were written by them. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it; background reading with wider context sits further down.

By Zebulon B. Vance

The life and character of Hon. David L. Swain

Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894 · 1878 · Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina

Zebulon Baird Vance on the life and character of David L. Swain, the North Carolina governor who died in 1868. The address appeared in the University Magazine at Chapel Hill for May 1878 and was issued separately by the Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies of the University of North Carolina.

UNC

Letter: Zebulon Baird Vance to Harriett N. Espy, May 20, 1851

Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894 · 1851

Zebulon B. Vance, then a student at the university in Chapel Hill and later governor, wrote Harriett N. Espy on 20 May 1851 after she had politely turned down the love he declared to her. He closes by asking for his letters back. The two married two years later.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

About Zebulon B. Vance

Miscellaneous Postcard Collection

Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. Office of Archives and History. Division of Archives and Records · 1900

Postcards gathered from many sources, 1900s to 2005, arranged in five series: single cards, addressed cards, postcard packets, oversize cards and miscellany. Places and subjects span North Carolina and beyond, from Alamance Battleground to the Appalachian Mountains, and Chapel Hill and Hillsborough scenes are among them.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Letter: George A. Williams to his family, April 5, 1864

Williams, George A. · 1864

George A. Williams of the 7th North Carolina Infantry wrote his parents and children on 5 April 1864 that he was safely back in camp and the men were faring well. He reports days of cold, rain and snow and hopes for a move to Camp Holmes. Governor Vance, W. W. Holden, food, health and talk of peace also come up.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Letter: David Lowery Swain to Governor Charles Manly, August 15, 1862

Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868 · 1862

Letter of 15 August 1862 from David L. Swain at Chapel Hill to Charles Manly about plans for the inauguration of the newly elected governor, Zebulon Vance. Two images. Swain, president of the university, had been governor himself, as had Manly, who served from 1849 to 1851.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the NC Digital Collections record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Letter: David Lowery Swain to Zebulon B. Vance, August 15, 1862

Swain, David L. (David Lowry), 1801-1868 · 1862

David L. Swain wrote Zebulon B. Vance on 15 August 1862 as Vance prepared for his inauguration, offering advice on the governor's office. Swain, himself a former governor, was then president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Vance had commanded the 26th North Carolina Infantry.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the DPLA record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

NC Digital Collections record courtesy of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Leonidas Polk Denmark Family Papers

Denmark, Leonidas Polk · 1861

Papers of the Denmark family, 1861 to 1966, gathered by Leonidas Polk Denmark (1892 to 1964), grandson of the farm leader Colonel Leonidas Lafayette Polk (1837 to 1892). They cover Polk's agricultural journalism, the Farmers' Alliance and Populist politics, the Civil War, World War I and the 1918 influenza. Hillsborough appears among the places.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Civil War Collection

Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina · 1860

Statewide Civil War collection of the State Archives of North Carolina, dated 1860 to 1965. It gathers pardon petitions, bounty payrolls, quartermaster vouchers and supply papers, disabled veterans' claims and letters about artificial limbs, regimental and unit papers, muster rolls, diaries, reminiscences, clippings and sheet music. Orange County is one of the many North Carolina counties represented.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Show 5 more about Zebulon B. Vance

Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908) Papers

Spencer, Cornelia Phillips, 1825-1908 · 1857

Letters and papers of Cornelia Phillips Spencer, the Chapel Hill writer and historian and daughter of professor James Phillips, 1857 to 1905. Most of the correspondence, from 1859 to 1895, concerns the university and life in the village, with letters exchanged with Swain, Kemp P. Battle and George T. Winston, successive heads of the university, and with Mrs. Swain and W. C. Kerr. State Archives of North Carolina, PC.7.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

John H. Wheeler (1806-1882) Diaries and Papers

Wheeler, John H. · 1854

Diaries and papers of John Hill Wheeler of Hertford County, historian, legislator, state treasurer from 1843 to 1845 and minister to Nicaragua from 1854 to 1857. The diaries, a broken run from 1854 to 1882, follow his social and political life in Washington, D.C. University commencements at Chapel Hill and his work on North Carolina history also come up. State Archives of North Carolina, MfP.51.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Robert F. Hoke (1837-1912) Papers

Hoke, Robert F. (Robert Frederick) · 1852

Papers of Robert F. Hoke, 1852 to 1967. Hoke was a Confederate general and ran ironworks in Lincoln, Orange and Mitchell counties. Items include an 1852 letter to him at school in Kentucky, copies of letters on the death of Col. Isaac E. Avery in 1863, reports of troop movements in 1865 and his printed farewell to his division. The Chapel Hill Iron Mountain Railroad also appears. State Archives of North Carolina, PC.64.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Worth family papers,

Worth (Family) · 1844

Worth family papers, about 694 items beginning in 1844: letters, business papers and other material on family affairs, opposition to secession, North Carolina politics, fertilizer and textile businesses, Zebulon B. Vance, and federal patronage early in Woodrow Wilson's administration. Correspondents and subjects include Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Edwin A. Alderman, George T. Winston, Josephus Daniels and Robert Bingham of the Bingham School, with UNC students among them.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

Cornelia Phillips Spencer papers, 1833-1975 (bulk 1839-1942).

Spencer, Cornelia Phillips, 1825-1908 · 1839

Cornelia Phillips Spencer (1825-1908), the Chapel Hill writer, is the subject of papers running 1833 to 1975 with the bulk from 1839 to 1942, about 6,700 items in ten linear feet in the Southern Historical Collection at UNC, collection 683. Diaries and albums are named among the material. Topics include James and Judith Vermeule Phillips, Julia Spencer Love and James Lee Love, mothers and daughters, Reconstruction in North Carolina, and American women authors of the nineteenth century.

Why this is here: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894.

UNC

Search all 16 indexed works →

Start at OCPL

Books in OCPL’s Rebecca B. Wall Local History Collection whose titles, catalog subjects, or descriptions match this person. The Friends’ recommended starting points are labelled.

Life and Orange County connections

Dated events connected with this person, earliest first. See these 7 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Zebulon Vance studies law at Chapel Hill Vance entered the University of North Carolina early in 1851 and spent the rest of the year at Chapel Hill studying law under Judge William H. Battle and Samuel F. Phillips. He obtained his law licence in December 1851 and set up an office at Asheville early in 1852. People: William Horn Battle, Samuel Field PhillipsSearch the index · NCpedia: Vance, Zebulon Baird (Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History)
  2. Students revive the University Magazine At a student meeting Jeremiah J. Slade moved to re-establish the magazine, and the first number appeared in February 1852 with editors from both literary societies and William D. Cooke of Raleigh as publisher. It ran until June 1861, the societies agreeing in 1859 to cover its deficits. People: Zebulon B. VanceSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 632
  3. Josiah Turner Jr. of Hillsborough is elected to the Confederate Congress Turner won as an anti-administration candidate in the same year Orange gave Zebulon Vance an 885-vote majority over the peace candidate William W. Holden. In Congress his resolutions supported Graham's push for the Hampton Roads peace conference. People: Josiah Turner Jr., Zebulon B. Vance, William W. Holden, William A. GrahamLefler and Wager, Orange County, 1752-1952 (1953), p. 108
  4. Trustees strike Confederate leaders from the commencement ball The student ball managers named Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, John C. Breckinridge, Zebulon Vance and other Confederate figures as honorary managers without asking them. Fearing hostile action by Congress, the trustees ruled the choice improper. People: Robert E. (Robert Edward) Lee, Zebulon B. Vance, David L. SwainSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 755
  5. Kemp Battle's subscription drive raises $20,167 and Paul Cameron repairs the campus for the reopening After the trustees on May 5, 1875, appointed a committee to seek gifts for the revival, Kemp P. Battle canvassed Raleigh, Goldsboro, Rocky Mount and Tarboro in person and the rest of the state by letter, reporting $18,787 in six weeks and $20,167 in twelve, at a total expense of $62.66; Zebulon B. Vance and Charles W. Broadfoot collected in Charlotte and Fayetteville, and women's groups sent scientific apparatus through Cornelia Phillips Spencer. Paul C. Cameron, without contractor or pay, spent the summer at Chapel Hill directing the repairs and reported on August 31 that he had spent $10,677.76 on the buildings and $2,249.09 on gas works and apparatus. People: Kemp Plummer Battle, Paul C. Cameron, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Zebulon B. Vance, Washington Caruthers Kerr, Rufus Lenoir PattersonInternet Archive: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. 2 (1912), full text
  6. University Day is established At Kemp P. Battle's request, seconded by Zebulon B. Vance, the executive committee made October 12, the anniversary of the laying of Old East's cornerstone in 1793, a permanent holiday. At the first observance in Gerrard Hall, decorated by Cornelia Phillips Spencer and village women, Battle spoke on the charter and the cornerstone. People: Zebulon B. Vance, Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Kemp Plummer BattleSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. II (1912), p. 135
  7. The university confers an honorary doctorate of laws on Zebulon Vance The University of North Carolina awarded Vance an honorary LL.D. in 1890, listing him as a student who had entered in 1851.Search the index · UNC Libraries NC Miscellany: Honorary Degrees Awarded by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1799 to present

Places in this person’s story

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows the 2 with a known location.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange and OpenStreetMap; town and community pins mark the middle of their mapped buildings.

All places and the county map →

Named with them in the chronology

People named in the same dated entries as Zebulon B. Vance, those sharing the most entries first. Each line links one of the shared entries in the chronology, where its source is cited. A shared entry shows these people in the same event, not how well they knew each other.

Search further

The index lists works with an Orange County connection. To find everything else about Zebulon B. Vance, search these catalogs.

Books about Zebulon B. Vance

Books by Zebulon B. Vance

More catalogs that show where copies are

Photographs, papers, and newspapers

Searched with the Library of Congress heading Vance, Zebulon Baird, 1830-1894, so the results are about this person and not others with the same name. Each link opens that catalog’s own results in a new tab. The Friends have not reviewed what they return.

Found a book OCPL doesn’t own? You can often borrow it through interlibrary loan at OCPL.

Research sources

Additional research sources

Other catalogs to search and local organizations that can help.

Picture: Zebulon B. Vance, 1870. Public domain. Photograph by Mathew Benjamin Brady / Levin Corbin Handy; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. Brady-Handy Photograph Collection. hdl.loc.gov CALL NUMBER: LC-BH826- 32492 <P&P>P&P; via Wikimedia Commons

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026