Cherokee Indians

Guion Miller Rolls

The Guion Miller Roll accepted applications to determine membership in the Eastern Cherokee Nation. This source documents families not removed to Indian Territory in 1838. It is an excellent resource for mixed-blood families. As with all my blogs about the Cherokee, this by default usually also means Scots-Irish ancestry.

Between 1906 and 1909, some 45,940 applications were submitted from throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Guion Miller Rolls lists an estimated 90,000 individual applicants each of whom had to trace lineage to someone in the 1835 Henderson Roll, prior to the removal. Most applications were rejected based on a lack of evidence. Unless clearly fraudulent, the rejected applications still preserve the genealogy back to the 1835 time period. They also provide insight into mixed-blood families long separated from the tribe.

Indexes to the Guion Miller Rolls can be found on the National Archives website: www.archives.gov/research/arc/native-americans-guion-miller.html ; “Access Genealogy”: www.accessgenealogy.com/native/guion.php ; and on “Fold3”: http://www.fold3.com/title_81/guion_miller_roll/ The applications are widely available on microfilm.

The Guion Miller Rolls is as a guide posts as to who may have considered themselves Cherokee. Remember, even if the government didn’t consider a claim valid, DNA may prove otherwise! Then again, there were fraudulent claims of people who were only seeking government money.

Two mistakes people make when using these rolls is: 1.) They are only for Cherokee families. This is incorrect as many mixed-bloods applied, who were not Cherokee. Other, then unorganized native groups applied because there was no place else for them to apply; 2.) If an ancestor was part of a denied claim that there is no native heritage. This is also incorrect as the denied claims not only include fraudulent claims, but also ones which could not be sufficiently documented. That was the reason for rejection, not fraud.

Concerning those who were fraudulent, an excellent blog on “Thoughts from Polly’s Granddaughter” provide some thought provoking insights on the Guion Miller Roll: www.pollysgranddaughter.com/2011/06/fortune-hunters-guion-miller-roll-and.html I would also like to direct you to my two part blogs “What Does Cherokee Mean?” which appeared on 27-28 August 2012.

The Scots-Irish and Cherokee Connection (Part 3)

19 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

My third blog will focus on early Cherokee land and agency records. These are extracted on various websites, published or in manscript form on microfilm. These are good sources for mixed-blood research.

There is no one resource on early Cherokee land records covering the entire nation prior to removal. One example of land records is David Keith Hampton’s Cherokee Reservees (1979), which provides details of land given to the Cherokees in Hamilton County, Tennessee. This book gives the names of the applicants who settled their claims with the U.S. Government in 1817.

Following the treaty of 1817, the U.S. Secretary of War deeded land to each of the Cherokee chiefs who had signed the treaty. Each tract was either in newly ceded lands or in older lands ceded through earlier treaties, and each chief was given 640 acres (one square mile) of land. Robert Armstrong was the surveyor of this land in Alabama, North Carolina and Tennessee. The surveyor’s records for land in Georgia have not survived. Each survey and the accompanying plat have been published in James L. Douthat’s Robert Armstrong’s Survey Book of Cherokee Lands: Lands Granted from Treaty of 27 February 1819 (1993).

The Cherokee Agency in Tennessee was in operation until 1835. The agency records have been transcribed in Marybelle W. Chase’s Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee, 1801-1835 (1990). The records contain much genealogical information, such as lists of widows and orphans. It also has an 1819 listing of those who had originally enrolled for emigration but misunderstood the treaty and wanted to remain.

When families, who had received their reserves, decided to move and sell their land, the transactions would be recorded in the local county land books. At that point they moved to Indian Territory or westward along with other Americans. This helped spread Cherokee rooted families across North America.

The Scots-Irish and Cherokee Connection (Part 2)

18 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

In this second Cherokee blog I will focus on the censuses known as rolls. These rolls include removal records (both voluntary and forced), muster rolls, rations and censuses. Most can be found online or published:

Cherokee Emigration Rolls (1817-1838): Cherokee who voluntarily removed westward.

Census of Cherokee (1835): Known as the Henderson Roll. A census of Cherokee living in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, and is the main source for documenting Cherokee who were forcibly removed.

Ration Books (1836-38): Ration books from camps located in New Echota, Georgia and Camp Clanwaugh (near Chattanooga, Tennessee) prior to the removal process.

Cherokee Muster Rolls (1838): This muster roll was a forced removal record, accompanying the Henderson Roll.

Mullay Roll (1848): Eastern Cherokee who remained in North Carolina. It set aside money for emigration to Indian Territory.

Drennen Roll (1851): Also called the Immigrant Roll, it lists Eastern Cherokee who settled in Indian Territory after 1835, removing later on their own.

Siler Roll (1851): Eastern Cherokee living in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Chapman Roll (1852): Eastern Cherokee roll listed per capita payment made to those named on the Siler Roll.

Tompkins Roll (1867): Cherokees residing in Indian Territory listed by district.

Swetland Roll (1869): Eastern Cherokee in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Hester Roll (1883): Eastern Cherokee who resided in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and elsewhere.

Dawes Commission (1896, 1898-1914): The final roll of the Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory. Indexed on Ancestry: www.ancestry.com

Guion Miller Roll (1909): Applications for determining the final roll for the Eastern Cherokee. This is one of the most important sources for documenting mixed-blood families who did not remove. The index is at the National Archives website: www.archives.gov/research/arc/native-americans-guion-miller.html

The next blog will focus on the early Cherokee land and agency records.

The Scots-Irish and Cherokee Connection (Part 1)

17 Oct By Dwight Leave a Comment

From the 1770s, a strong connection existed between the Cherokees and the Scots-Irish. As waves of Scots-Irish settled on the frontier, they lived, traded, fought and married the Cherokee. Millions of North Americans have Cherokee heritage because many mixed-bloods “passed for white” or blended into African American families.

By the time of removal in 1838, the Cherokee had thoroughly adopted white ways. They became Christians, developed an alphabet, printed a newspaper, held slaves, lived in towns, owned farms, and discarded the clan system. This created records.

Due to the interest in the tribe, there is a wealth of published genealogical material and how-to books. Three major works include: Myra Vanderpool Gormley’s Cherokee Connections (1995, 2002); Tony Mack McClure, Cherokee Proud: A Guide for Tracing and Honoring Your Cherokee Ancestors (2^nd ed. 1999); and Tom Mooney, Exploring Your Cherokee Ancestry: A Basic Genealogical Research Guide (1990). An excellent general work for the pre-removal period is Rachal Mills Lennon’s Tracing Ancestors Among the Five Civilized Tribes (2002).

Geography is the key to researching mixed-blood Cherokee genealogy. By terms of the Treaty of New Echota (1835) they relinquished their lands in the modern-day counties:

Alabama: Blount, Cherokee, DeKalb, Etowah, Jackson, Marshall

Georgia: Cass, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Cobb, Dade, Dawson, Fannin, Floyd, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Lumpkin, Murray, Paulding, Pickins, Polk, Towns, Union, Walker, Whitfield

North Carolina: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon,Swain

Tennessee: Bradley, Hamilton, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Polk

A remaining mixed-blood family often was recorded in the U.S. Census as white, black, mulatto or Indian. There are particular surnames associated with the pre-removal period. The surname may be your first clue to mixed-blood heritage. Another clue are terms “Black Dutch” and “Black Irish.” These were used by families to hide their ethnicity.

Also refer to my previous blog on August 27-28, 2012 “What Does “Cherokee” Mean?” which brings this topic into the modern arena. The next blogs will focus on Cherokee records.

What Does “Cherokee” Mean? (Part 2)

28 Aug By Dwight Leave a Comment

The Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma has placed an extensive list online of organizations they consider fabricated and fraudulent; including state recognized tribes. While some tribes are fabricated; others mixed-bloods cannot produce a historical paper trail. A fascinating non-recognized tribe is the Chickamauga Cherokee Nation (White River Band and Sac River Band) with a strong Scots-Irish connection. Their pedigrees are valid, having had a genealogist trace them, and are on microfilm at the Family History Library: www.familysearch.org The Chickamauga Cherokee claim to be the tribe from the tri-state area around Chattanooga, Tennessee which moved westward decades prior to general removal and settled in what is today Arkansas and Missouri. They assimilated so thoroughly it wasn’t until they tried to gather the paper trail many white families learned of their Cherokee heritage. Pedigrees and histories were submitted, but they were denied state and federal recognition. However it left a massive compilation of genealogies.

The key to studying the Chickamauga Cherokee is in knowing core families of the Sac River Band in Arkansas are centered in Baxter, Benton, Fulton, Independence, Jackson, Johnson, Lawrence, Madison, Newton, Pope, Searcy, Sharp, Stone and Woodruff counties. The core White River Band of families in Missouri are centered in Barry, Dade, Greene, Hickory, Howell, McDonald, Lawrence, Ozark, Polk, St. Clair, Stone and Taney counties.

State recognized tribes include the following:

Alabama: Cher-O-Creek Intratribal Indians: www.aiac.alabama.gov/tribes_Cherocreek.aspx Cherokee Tribe of Northeast Alabama: www.aiac.alabama.gov/tribes_NortheastCherokee.aspx Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama: www.echotacherokeetribe.homestead.com United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation: www.ucan-online.org

Georgia: The Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Council: www.cherokeeofgeorgia.us Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokee: www.georgiatribeofeasterncherokee.com

South Carolina: Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation of South Carolina: www.paialowereasterncherokeenationssc.com

For unrecognized tribes, consult: www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_unrecognized-tribes-in-the_United_States Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean fraudulent, and they may have genealogies. Approach all unrecognized tribes with background and education as to the validity of their research.

s.c. — Lower Eastern Cherokee Nation of South Carolina

What Does “Cherokee” Mean? (Part 1)

27 Aug By Dwight Leave a Comment

The connection between the early Scots-Irish and the Cherokee Nation are well documented. Yes, we often to go records generated about Cherokee families, to learn about the Scots-Irish part of the family. However, once you have begun research, what exactly is meant by “Cherokee” can become somewhat muddled. This blog doesn’t seek to answer that question, but it does seek to let you know there’s a wide variety of records generated for both “recognized” and “unrecognized” Cherokee tribes. Maybe more appropriately, legally “acknowledged” and “unacknowledged” tribes

There are three federally recognized tribes: the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (Tahlequah, OK): www.cherokee.org the Eastern Band Cherokee Indians (Cherokee, NC): www.nc-cherokee.com and the United Keetoowah Band of Oklahoma (Tahlequah, OK): www.ukb-nsn.govThere are also smaller tribes of mixed-bloods who have obtained state but not federal recognition. In addition, numerous tribes have submitted genealogies in support of either state or federal claims for recognition but the applications of these tribes have been rejected or still pending. For this reason, it is important to understand which tribes are state or federally recognized based upon their genealogies and which are not.

Applying for state and federal recognition is a long and complicated legal process that takes years, and sometimes decades. When an organization is not legally seen as a tribe or has a pending petition, it generally means that the compiled history and submitted genealogies of the tribe do not meet either a state or a federal standard. It does not mean the tribe is not Cherokee, nor does it mean that their genealogies are invalid. Whether a tribe is approved or unapproved it still has some Scots-Irish connections. However, some organizations are indeed fraudulent and you need to be aware of this possibility as it affects genealogical research.

In Part 2 of this topic, I will discuss different Cherokee tribes and opinions regarding them.

The Scots-Irish and Native American Connection

16 Apr By Dwight Leave a Comment

If you have early roots in the American southeast, you already know there is a strong Scots-Irish connection with the various tribes. I’m speaking mainly of the Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Muscogee (Creek). This includes both black and white families prior to 1840.

Intermixture also occurred with the Scots, Welsh, Germans and English. Regardless, what you need to be aware of is if you have strange terms such as “Shanty Irish” or “Black Dutch” passed down in your family, this is usually the first clue to a mixed-blood heritage.

Actually, I hear “Black Dutch” all the time and people are very confused about that. Basically, terms such as this were given as explanations for mixed-blood heritage in an era where the color of skin affected civil rights such as land ownership, bearing arms, marriage, and slavery itself. Depending on who one marries, the children of a “Black Dutch” could “pass for white” solving these sticky issues. In this case “Black Dutch” was usually code for Cherokee or Chickasaw.

I would like to share three of my favorite books. The first is for background, Theda Perdue, Mixed Blood Indians: Racial Construction in the Early South (Athens, Georgia: The University of Georgia Press, 2003). The next two are genealogical: Rachal Mills Lennon, Tracing Ancestors Amopng the Five Civilized Tribes: Southeastern Indians Prior to Removal (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2002); and Tony Mack McClure, Cherokee Proud: A Guide for Tracing and Honoring Your Cherokee Ancestors, 2^nd ed.(Somerville, Tennessee: Chunannee Books, 2009).

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