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|title=The Chi-Phi Quarterly|publisher=googlebooks.com|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref>

|title=The Chi-Phi Quarterly|publisher=googlebooks.com|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref>

Vance studied law privately in Abbeville in western South Carolina. In 1879, he relocated to Bellevue, then the parish seat of Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana, where he established an extensive law practice. He won a special election in 1886 for the Louisiana State Senate, then District 21.and including Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes, to succeed John Chappell Vance, who resigned after five years in office<ref name=state senate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Senate Directory, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref> It is unclear how or if William Vance is related to this John C. Vance, but they were not brothers. John Vance was six years the senior of William Vance and was born in 1843 in Abbeville County, South Carolina, but it is unclear if William Vance had any association with Abbeville prior to 1870<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=John+C._Vance&death=1913_Minden-Louisiana|title=John C. Vance: Ancestry|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref>

Vance studied law privately in Abbeville in western South Carolina. In 1879, he relocated to Bellevue, then the parish seat of Bossier Parish in northwestern Louisiana, where he established an extensive law practice. He won a special election in 1886 for the Louisiana State Senate, then District 21.and including Bienville, Bossier, Claiborne, and Webster parishes, to succeed John Chappell Vance, who resigned after five years in office<ref name=statesenate>{{cite web|url=http://senate.la.gov/Documents/Membership/1880membership.pdf|title=Senate Directory, 1880-2024|publisher=Louisiana State Senate|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref> It is unclear how or if William Vance is related to this John C. Vance, but they were not brothers. John Vance was six years the senior of William Vance and was born in 1843 in Abbeville County, South Carolina, but it is unclear if William Vance had any association with Abbeville prior to 1870<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/?name=John+C._Vance&death=1913_Minden-Louisiana|title=John C. Vance: Ancestry|publisher=ancestry.com|accessdate=February 11, 2021}}</ref>

William Vance served in the Senate from 1886 to 1892[5] and was also during the latter part of his tenure the assistant to state Attorney General Walter Henry Rogers. In 1892, Vance assumed his terminal position as the private secretary to two-term Governor Murphy James Foster, Sr. (1849-1921).<ref name=findagrave/>

William Vance served in the Senate from 1886 to 1892[5] and was also during the latter part of his tenure the assistant to state Attorney General Walter Henry Rogers. In 1892, Vance assumed his terminal position as the private secretary to two-term Governor Murphy James Foster, Sr. (1849-1921).<ref name=findagrave/>

In 1857, a cancerous bruise which would not heal developed on Vance's leg. Despite an amputation, he died in 1900, three months before Murphy Foster left the governorship and was soon headed to the [[United States Senate]]. Vance was survived by his widow of only eight years, the former Sidney Ballard, a native of [[New Orleans]], and two young children. He is interred at Magnola Cemetery in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref name=findagrave/>

In 1857, a cancerous bruise which would not heal developed on Vance's leg. Despite an amputation, he died in 1900, three months before Murphy Foster left the governorship and was soon headed to the [[United States Senate]]. Vance was survived by his widow of only eight years, the former Sidney Ballard, a native of [[New Orleans]], and two young children. He is interred at Magnola Cemetery in [[Baton Rouge]].<ref name=findagrave/>