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North Carolina's Governors
Zebulon Baird Vance (1830-1894) was the most popular political leader that the state has produced. Born in Buncombe County, he studied at the University of North Carolina early in 1851. For the rest of the year he pursued the study of law under Judge William H. Battle and Samuel F. Phillips. Vance equated the Democratic Party with sectionalism which he believed dangerous. Determined to oppose it, he cast his allegiance with the declining Whig Party. He was elected to the U.S. House in 1858 and served until 1861, during which time he strongly advocated maintenance of the Union. The firing on Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call to arms forced a choice, and he cast his lot with his state and region. He was elected colonel of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment in August 1861. The Conservative Party picked him to head the winning gubernatorial ticket in 1862 against Democrat William Johnston. Vance supported the Confederacy and made every effort to keep North Carolina loyal. He quarreled frequently with President Jefferson Davis. On the home front, he had to deal with problems caused by the war: scarcity of goods and clothing, high prices, currency depreciation, and sinking morale. William W. Holden challenged him in the election of 1864, but Vance won reelection easily. As Gen. William T. Sherman moved his Union troops closer to Raleigh, the governor left the Capitol on April 12, 1865. On May 13, Vance was arrested at his home in Statesville and imprisoned in Washington. No charges were ever levied and he was held until July 6. After the war, Vance moved his law practice to Charlotte. By 1876 the Conservative Party had become the Democratic Party with Zeb Vance at its head. He ran for governor successfully in 1876 in a campaign against Thomas Settle. In 1879, with two years remaining, Vance left the governor's office for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He died in office in 1894 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville.
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