Vance Plantation

"David Vance Jr. was Zebulon Vance's father. He owned the property that is now the Vance Birthplace from 1813-1844.
Zebulon Vance had four sons, but only one of them--David Mitchell Vance--had children: Ruth Vance Pillow and Harriet Espy Vance Cobb."

#OTD "January 14,1844, Mira Baird Vance became a widow when her husband, David Vance Jr., died suddenly. As a woman, Mira could not legally take up her husband’s business loans, so his debts were called in. In need of cash to cover these debts, Mira sought permission from the State of NC to sell her husband’s property. The estate auction, held in August of 1844, included land, livestock, tools—and 12 enslaved men, women, and children. Mira purchased Leah and four children, Ann, and Venus, the woman who cared for Mira’s children. Jim, a blacksmith, was sold for $860—roughly $25,000 today. May and two additional unnamed children were purchased for $857, while Abe was sold for $337.

We do not know the relationships between these men, women, and children. Were brothers separated from sisters? Mothers from children? Husbands from wives? Close friends from the only community they had known? We do know that everything changed for the 12 people who ascended the auction block that day.-- Image Detail is from a record of the David Vance estate sale in 1844. State Archives of North Carolina."

Source: The Vance Birthplace NC Historic Site In Weaverville, NC -FB page