Zebulon Baird Vance was born on May 13, 1830, in Buncombe County, North Carolina. Vance was a Confederate veteran, attorney, and politician. He served as U.S. Representative (1858 to 1861), governor of North Carolina (1862 to 1865 and 1877 to 1879), and U.S. Senator (1879 to 1894). He died in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1894.