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Collection: VANCE, ZEBULON BAIRD— HARRIETT N. P.C.1 2 5 5 l.^.T 1 2 5 5 • 2
ESPY VANCE, Letters
1851-1878
Physical Description: Letters, 285 items; typed copies, 780 pages.
Acquisition: Received August 2, 1965. Presented by Mrs. Edward
L. Cannon,
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Raleigh, executrix of estate of
Mrs. Mary Hendren {Mrs. Z. B., Jr.) Vance; Mrs. J. W. Pillow,
c/o Mrs. Richard Ordway,
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, Metarie, Louisiana;
Mrs. R. G. Cobb, c/o Mrs. Richard Ordway.
4
Description: The correspondence of Zebulon Baird Vance and his
first wife, Harriett Newell Espy Vance (1832-1878) of Quaker
Meadows, N. C. , covering the period from Vance's first letter
to Miss Espy in 1851 to a month after her death in 1878.
The 285 letters fall into four series: love letters (121)
exchanged by Vance and Harriett Espy from March 15, 1851 >_J±o - — —T
the eve of their marriage on August 2, 1853; letters (77) from
Harriett Vance to her husband and from him to her, written
between 1854 and 1878; letters (36) to both of them from family
and friends; and messages of condolence (51) to Governor Vance
after Harriett's death on November 3, 1878.
The Vance’s two and a half year courtship was conducted
almost entirely by mail and nearly the whole correspondence
has survived. The 75 letters from Vance and the 46 from
Harriett, while primarily love letters, contain many glimpses
into the society of antebellum North Carolina, particularly
that of Chapel Hill and the western counties. Vance describes
his daily routine first as a student at the University of
North Carolina and later as a young lawyer in Asheville.
Harriett Espy tells of her daily concerns, at Quaker Meadows,
the Burke County plantation where she lives with her aunt and
uncle, Captain Charles McDowell. These early letters have
been published in Elizabeth Roberts Cannon (ed.), My Beloved
Zebulon (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1971).
Often separated during their married life,. the Vances
continued to write regularly to each other. These letters,
though always affectionate, deal mainly with family affairs
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