Zebulon Baird

Zebulon Baird (1764–1824) was an American merchant and politician who served in the North Carolina Senate.

Biography Baird was born in either Scotland or colonial New Jersey in 1764. Baird became a wealthy slave owner and farmer in Buncombe County, North Carolina. The store was located near what is now "Pack Square in downtown Asheville. They often made trips to towns along the North Carolina coast, carrying with them furs, meat, flour, molasses, and other goods, and trading for merchandise which they could then sell in their general store." He served as a member of the North Carolina Senate, representing Buncombe County, elected first in 1809, also in 1818, 1820, and 1822. One of his major legislative pushes was funding for the construction of what is now called the Old Buncombe Road through the Saluda Gap.

Baird died "suddenly, of an apoplectic fit" at age 58 near Asheville, North Carolina.

Baird was married to Hannah Lay Erwin. Their daughter, Mira Margaret Baird, married the wealthy landowner David Vance Jr., who was the son of David Vance. He had another daughter, Anna Baird, who married the wealthy merchant Bacchus J. Smith from Burnsville.

Baird was the grandfather of the politicians Zebulon Vance and Robert B. Vance. One of his grandsons built Buncombe County's Zebulon H. Baird House, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.