He was born on Reems Creek, near Asheville, North Carolina, in 1793; attended the common schools and Newton Academy, Asheville, N.C.; studied medicine at the medical school of Dr. Charles Harris in Cabarrus County, North Carolina; commenced the practice of medicine in Asheville, N.C., in ; held several local offices; elected to the Eighteenth Congress (March 4, 1823-March 3, 1825); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the Nineteenth Congress and for election in 1826 to the Twentieth Congress; was mortally wounded by Hon. Samuel Price Carson, the successful candidate, who challenged him to a duel, fought at Saluda Gap, North Carolina, because of a derogatory remark made during the campaign of 1826, to the effect that the latter’s father had turned Tory during the Revolutionary War; died the following day near Saluda Gap, N.C., 1827; interment in the family burial ground on Reems Creek, near Asheville, N.C. Uncle of Robert Brank Vance (1828-1899) and Zebulon Baird Vance.