The Wallace Roll of Cherokee Freedmen in Indian Territory was created due to the citizenship of many ex-slaves (freedmen) being disputed by the Cherokee Tribe. To the freedmen, the ability to establish their status was important, not only for the sharing of the Cherokee lands, but also the payments and annuities the Cherokee Tribe was to receive in the future. A series of investigations were conducted by John W. Wallace, 1889-1890; Leo E. Bennett, 1891-92; Marcus D. Shelby, 1893; James G. Dickson, 1895-96; William Clifton, William Thompson, and Robert H. Kern, 1896-97. These investigations resulted in the Cherokee Freedmen Rolls known as the Wallace Roll, and the Kern-Clifton Roll.
A schedule of names of Cherokee freedmen created by Special Agent John W. Wallace. Individuals on the schedule were entitled to share with the Shawnee and Delaware in the per capita distribution of $75,000, appropriated by Congress in October 1888, and issued under the supervision of his office. Because of discrepancies, additional supplements were added. In 1896-1897 the Kern-Clifton Roll was created to fill in the omissions of the Wallace Roll. Genealogists not finding their Cherokee ancestor in the Wallace Roll, should search the Kern-Clifton Roll to insure that this ancestor was not one of those originally omitted by Wallace.
Many names appear more than one time in a district, and some appear in all districts.
The following search enables you to search our Wallace Rolls.
Cherokee Freedmen
The Cherokee Freedmen were African Americans, both enslaved and free, who were associated with the Cherokee Nation during the 19th century. The term primarily refers to the descendants of enslaved people who were owned by the Cherokee. But it also refers to those of mixed African and Cherokee ancestry, who were freed after the Civil War.
