Words on image: Hannah and Marion Love where enslaved by Zebulon Vance, and forced to labor to support his Ashville household.

This map shows Raleigh, NC in 1928, four years after Hannah Love’s death.
The blue mark is the block on S. West Street where the Loves’ house likely stood.

Narrative source: Vance Birthplace State Historic Site.

Map Source: From the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel Hill.
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In 1860, Zebulon Vance enslaved 6 people to provide forced labor in his Asheville household, including 26-year-old Marion and his wife Hannah.

The couple traveled with the Vances to Raleigh and then to Statesville during Vance’s time as North Carolina’s confederate governor.

When the Civil War ended in 1865, Hannah remained in the Vance household in Statesville, where she chose to wait for Marion to return from Raleigh. Marion wrote that he wished to reunite with his wife and settle in the capital city.

While Harriett Vance hoped they would stay and considered hiring Marion, by 1870, Hannah and Marion had relocated to Raleigh in order to build a life on their own terms.

They raised at least ten children together and bought a house on West Street, where Hannah lived until her death in 1924.