Vance Birthplace (US)
This pioneer farmstead, tucked in the Reems Creek Valley, features the birthplace of Zebulon Baird Vance. Vance's political career as Civil War officer, North Carolina governor, and U.S. senator is traced at the homestead.
The five-room log house--reconstructed around original chimneys--and its outbuildings are furnished to evoke the period from 1795- 1840. Also included is the history of Vance's famous mountain family.
One of the dominant personalities of the South for nearly half a century, Zeb Vance served in public office for 30 years. Though he was a lawyer whose keen humor, intellect, and eloquent manner of speaking made him successful, his real interest was always politics. Characterized by a quality that tied him to the common people of the mountain coves, Zeb Vance was first elected to public office at the age of 24. He served in the N.C. House of Commons (legislative assembly of the day) and the U.S. House of Representatives and was elected governor three times.
Vance was a Confederate military officer in the American Civil War, the 37th and 43rd Governor of North Carolina, and U.S. Senator. A prodigious writer, Vance became one of the most influential Southern leaders of the Civil War and postbellum periods.