Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Vance, Joseph

VANCE, Joseph, governor of Ohio, b. in Washington county, Pa., 21 March, 1786; d. near Urbana, Ohio, 24. Aug., 1852. When he was a child his father removed to Kentucky, and thence went to Urbana. The son became a successful merchant in that place, and afterward engaged extensively in farming and stock-raising. He was a member of the State constitutional convention of 1820, served in the legislature 1812-'16, and was elected to congress as a Democrat in 1822, and re-elected for five successive terms, serving till March, 1835. He was governor in 1836-'8. In 1842 he was re-elected to congress as a Whig, and served through two terms, during one of them as chairman of the committee on claims. In 1848 he was a delegate to the Whig national convention.