David Vann

Who was David Vann?

David Vann was a sub-Chief who was elected Treasurer of the Cherokee Nation in 1839, 1843, 1847 and 1851.

He was the second son of Avery Vann and his wife Margaret McSwain and the brother of Joseph Teaultlo Vann. He was the nephew of the Cherokee chief James Vann and the first cousin of Joseph Vann.

David Vann and his first wife Jennie Chambers had two children. He and his second wife Martha McNair, daughter of David McNair and Delilah Vann McNair, had seven children.

Vann was a member of the Treaty party that supported negotiation with the United States for voluntary emigration of the Cherokee people to the West, in order to secure their rights. Its leaders signed the Treaty of New Echota in 1835, leading to the Cherokee removal in 1838-1839.

During the American Civil War, Vann was killed by Pin Indians in 1863.