The Siler Roll can be utilized for tracing Cherokee families who remained east of the Mississippi River after the Trail of Tears. Compiled in 1851 by David W. Siler, a special agent of the Office of Indian Affairs, the roll was created under an Act of Congress passed in 1850 to identify Eastern Cherokees eligible to receive a per-capita payment promised under the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. Although the treaty led to the forced removal of most Cherokees to Indian Territory, several thousand remained in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Washington, DC.
The Siler Roll was intended to be the definitive census of Eastern Cherokees eligible for the 1850 per-capita payment. Almost immediately after it was completed, however, Cherokee leaders and many citizens complained that David W. Siler had failed to enumerate numerous eligible Eastern Cherokees, particularly in western North Carolina and Georgia. The complaints were serious enough that the federal government did not simply use the Siler Roll as the final authority. Instead, it appointed Alfred Chapman to investigate the omissions and prepare a new roll for the actual distribution of funds. That roll is called the Chapman Roll.
Family Number searches requires a location, as the family number was duplicated for each location. Both Family Number and Roll Numbers search by exact match.
What this Roll Contains
The Siler Roll lists those Eastern Cherokees who were approved to receive the per-capita payment. The roll generally includes:
- Names of heads of households and family members
- Residence by community, county and state
- Siler enrollment numbers
- Family groupings
- Ages
- Relationship to head of household
- Blood Quantum: If blank assume full-blood Cherokee, otherwise mixed and white were used.
- Notes
The roll covered Cherokees living in:
- Alabama: DeKalb, Jackson, and Marshall counties
- Georgia: Cherokee, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Gwinnett, Lumpkin, Murray, Union, and Walker counties
- North Carolina: Cherokee, Haywood, and Macon counties
- Tennessee: Bradley, Hamilton, McMinn, Monroe, and Polk counties
- Washington D.C.
At the time, most were members of what would later become the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, although some were unaffiliated descendants living outside tribal communities.
Genealogical Importance
For genealogists, the Siler Roll serves as a critical link between the 1848 Mullay Roll and the 1851 Chapman Roll. Individuals omitted from the Siler Roll but later proven eligible were added by the 1854 Act of Congress Roll, which supplemented rather than replaced the original enumeration.
Limitations
Researchers should remember that:
- Names may appear under English or Cherokee forms.
- Spouses were usually not included in the household if they were not Cherokee.
- Not every Cherokee living in the East was enrolled. Many eligible persons were missed by this enumeration, especially in North Carolina and Georgia.
- Absence from the roll does not automatically prove a person was not Cherokee.