Member of the 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for actions taken during the Battle of Stones River in 1862. Wilson Vance Intermediate School in Findlay was named in honor of Vance. Lied about his age to enlist. After the war he graduated from Harvard Law but instead turned to journalism and was an editor of several newspapers and magazines. Was the grandson of Wilson Vance one of the founders of Findlay in the 1820s. Father of noted author Louis Joseph Vance. Buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
(b. 1845 d. 1911: US Army, Medal of Honor winner)