Clement Vann (abt. 1746 - abt. 1832)

Born about 5 Mar 1746 in North Carolina

Ancestors

Died about 1832 at about age 85 in Spring Place, Murray County, Georgia, United States

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Biography

Clement Vann was a white man, probably born in North Carolina about 1745. He was the son of Edward Vann and his wife, Mary Barnes. Edward and Mary left Bertie, North Carolina in 1757 with their family and acquired land in South Carolina in 1758. When Edward acquired the patent in South Carolina for 200 acres, the condition to receive the land was that the patentee could receive 50 acres for each member of his family. The four individuals needed to qualify to patent 200 acres would have been: Edward, his wife, and sons Clement age 12, and Avery Vann, age about 10. ^{[1] [2]}

According to a deposition Clement made in 1829, he said that he had been in the Cherokee nation for about 50 years. ^[3] He first appears in the Cherokee Nation in the journals of the Moravian missionaries. He was the second husband of a woman named "Wah-li," the widow of Joseph Vann. He may have been a brother to Joseph Vann. Clement and Wah-li are believed to have married about 1782. They had no children together. As second husband of "Mother Vann" he was step-father to her son, Cherokee Chief James Vann (c1766-1809).^[4] Clement was baptized by the Moravians in 1819, but he apparently was a backslider. In 1829 they wrote that he had come to services drunk and was "causing disturbances." ^[5] In January 1832 the Moravians noted that Clement and his wife had been encouraged to move West by government agents, but that Clement had declared that they would never move. ^[6] Although Mother Vann is mentioned as late as 1835, Clement is not mentioned after this entry, so it is assumed that he died about 1832.

Uncertain Origins

A previous version of this profile claimed he was son of Edward Vann and Charity Unknown. That Edward Vann to had a 1770 will which named his children; NO son Clement (nor wife Charity).

Research Notes

Many 20th century publications include erroneous information about the Vanns. An article about the Vanns written by genealogist Penelope Allen in 1936 (attached) seems to be the source of much of this misinformation. Following are corrections to some of the errors in her article (sources are noted in the profiles of the individuals):

The origin of the Vann family is unknown.

They were not a noble family and did not have a coat of arms.

The first documented Vanns settled in Virginia in the 1600's and moved south through North and South Carolina.

The first of the Vanns to come to the Cherokee Nation was John Vann who arrived about 1746

John Vann was followed by Joseph Vann, probably a nephew of John.

Joseph Vann married a Cherokee woman called Wah-li about 1765.

Joseph and Wah-li were the parents of three children James, Jennie, and Nancy.

Joseph died about 1780.

Clement Vann possibly Joseph's younger brother (or half-brother) arrived in the Cherokee Nation about 1780.

Clement married the widowed Wah-li. They had no children.

Wah-li died before 1835 in the Cherokee Nation (East). She was not removed to Indian Territory, she did not live to be 130 years old.

James Vann was murdered by an unknown assailant in 1809.

His burial location is unknown. Attempts to locate it have been unsuccessful.

His grave marker is not on his grave.

James Vann had at least nine wives, all Cherokee

James Vann and his last wife, Peggy Scott, had no children

James Vann and Nancy Brown were the parents of the son known as "Rich Joe" Vann

"Rich Joe" built the plantation home known as "Diamond Hill." Construction began in 1819, ten years after his father's death.

Avery Vann was recorded by the Moravian missionaries as the brother of Clement Vann

The Clement Vann listed on the 1909 Miller Roll as of Prior Creek, Oklahoma was the son of Joseph Vann and Carrie Sixkiller, grandson of David Vann and Martha McNair, great-grandson of Avery Vann and Peggy McSwain. ^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ The Moravian Journals identify him as the brother of Avery: "August 12,1807. A son of Mr. Avery Vann, a brother of Clement Vann, attended the afternoon school session." McClinton, Rowena, ed. The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 2007. August 12, 1807. p. 206.
2. ↑ 1758/Apr/04 Laid out unto Edw’d Vann, a track of land containing 200 acres, situate in Granville County bound by Savannah River on the SW of John Vann’s plantation on the SE. (Edward's land was later identified in a patent of his neighbor, William MacGregor).
3. ↑ Letters Received 1824-1880, Office of Indian Affairs (RG75)
4. ↑ Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Vol. 5 p. 2324.
5. ↑ Crews and Starbuck, "Moravians," Vol. 8, p. 4001.
6. ↑ Crews and Starbuck, "Moravians," Vol. 9, p. 4586
7. ↑ "United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls, 1848-1970," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS42-9HL6-9?cc=2796818&wc=46ZC-K2J%3A1601252306 : 9 August 2019), Miller roll, 1909 > image 79 of 87; North Carolina State Archives Division of Archives and History, Raleigh.

See also:

• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tnmcmin2/TheRogersConnectionMythorFact.html
• http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/h/i/c/James-R-Hicks-VA/GENE1-0002.html