Vance, John W.

Born: 1782-XX-XX

Died: 1847-XX-XX Vermilion County, Illinois

Flourished: Vermilion County, Illinois

Vance served in the War of 1812 as a private in the Second Regiment of Ohio Militia. In 1824, he moved from Ohio to Vermilion County, Illinois, where he leased the government-owned saline lands and began the operation of the salt works. A Whig, Vance was elected into the Illinois Senate for three consecutive terms, serving from 1832 to 1838. During his first term, he helped prepare the act to create Champaign County. Because of his involvement, he was known as the "Father of Champaign County". Vance represented Vermilion County at the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1847.

Gravestone, Gods Acre Cemetery, Catlin, IL; National Archives and Records Administration. Index to the Compiled Military Service Records for the Volunteer Soldiers Who Served During the War of 1812 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration), M602, 234 rolls; Lottie E. Jones, History of Vermilion County, Illinois (Chicago: Pioneer, 1911), 1:46; A Standard History of Champaign County Illinois (Chicago: Lewis, 1918), 1:137; Theodore C. Pease, ed., Illinois Election Returns, 1818-1848, vol. 18 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923), 254, 267, 308, 461.