Zebulon Vance Long was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, on March 11, 1877. Long was a longtime attorney in Statesville who served as a legislator, Statesville city attorney, Iredell county attorney, and as solicitor of the 15th judicial district from about 1923 to 1935. Long additionally worked worked in the office of Senator Furnifold Simmons about the time of World War I. He died in Statesville on December 24, 1950.