Rolls Relating to Citizens of the Cherokee Nation

Exhibit E.
[Memorandum.]

Rolls relating to citizens of the Cherokee Nation prepared by the tribal authorities and others, dated November 28, 1908.

Roll of 1900.—This was a census roll prepared by the Government of the United States in the making of the Twelfth Census. It included in part citizens of the Cherokee Nation. It was not Indexed.

Cherokee Roll, 1896.—Census roll made by the Cherokee authorities. The roll is not in’ as good condition as the 1880 Cherokee roll. Its appearance from page to page Is more like that of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations—that is to nay, there are occasional defects. Names are lined out without explanation. This roll, like the roll of 1880, included children. This roll was indexed by the Dawes Commission and used in the course of the enrollment work.

1896 Shawnee Pay Roll.—This was the roll as revised by a business committee appointed by the Secretary of the Interior. The names are arranged on it in alphabetical order.

Pay roll of Delaware under act of the national council approved March 30, 1896.—This was a roll of Delaware Indians made by D. W. Lipe. It was not Indexed.

1894 Pay Roll.—This was a pay roll of Cherokees by blood which was indexed by the Dawes Commission and used in the enrollment work. Two hundred and sixty-five dollars and seventy cents per capita was paid out under this roll to the citizens by blood. This payment was known as the “strip payment.”

I find that this roll is arranged in alphabetical order by districts. I find that some names have been erased or scraped off with a knife and that In some other cases other names have been lined out.

The 1880, 1894, and 1896 rolls were used from the beginning of the work. Contrast this with the 1893 and the other rolls and the rolls last referred to— that is to say, those prior to 1894—were used on and after the adjudication of cases commenced.

1893 Roll.—This was a census roll. It was Indexed as to freedmen only.

1890 Census Roll,—This was not Indexed.

1890 Pay Roll.—Consists of four volumes. Was not indexed. Thirteen dollars and seventy cents per capita was paid out under this roll to the citizens by blood.

1886 Pay Roll.—This consists of 15 volumes made up of the stubs of certificates showing payments made under the 1886 roll. It was not indexed. Fifteen dollars and ninety-five cents per capita was paid out under this roll to the citizens by blood.

1884 Hester Roll.—This roll was prepared by Joseph G. Hester.. This roll was not prepared by the tribal authorities, and it is understood that it related merely to the band of Eastern Cherokees who never removed west of the Mississippi. The Dawes Commission never had this roll.

1883 Roll.—This was a census and pay roll, but was not Indexed. Fifteen dollars and fifty cents per capita was paid out under this roll to the citizens by blood.

1880 Roll.—This was a pay roll. It was not Indexed.

1880 Census Roll.—This roll was confirmed by section 21 of the act of June 21, 1898.

Roll made under act of December 3, 1879.—This roll was made up of receipts for payments made by D. W. Lipe for breadstuffs. It was not indexed. Sixteen dollars and fifty-five cents per capita was paid out under this roll to the citizens by blood.

Roll of 1875 or 1876.—The fact of the existence of this roll is uncertain. It was claimed by various parties that such a roll was made in accordance with the act of November or December 19, 1874, of the Cherokee Nation. Efforts were made to find the roll, but it was never possible to locate it. It was, of course, never Indexed. For information concerning this roll see the Cherokee enrollment case of William C. Smith.

It may he added that there was certainly a payment made under that act, although the record of payments may not have taken the form of a roll. It has been suggested that possibly the record was made in the form of receipts In a stub book. At any rate nothing was ever obtained showing who the persons were who received the payments. It is stated that this payment was made as a relief payment and that possibly no record was kept.

1867 Roll.—This roll has a printed title running across the top of the pages. Such title reads as follows: “Census or enumeration of tho inhabitants of Saline district, members of the Cherokee Tribe of Indians, and other persons residing in the Indian Territory.”

This roll is arranged by districts. The names are not arranged in alphabetical order. Many of the persons enrolled thereon had Indian names. The pages were ruled with columns entitled, “Age,” “Sex,” “Indian,” “White,” “Half-breeds,” “Colored.” The total number of persons in Tahlequah and Saline districts was 1,514. No index was made of this roll, but the roll was Investigated with reference to specific cases. It was received by the commission some time during the last part of 1902 or in the spring of 1903.

The recapitulation at the close of the book for said districts Is as follows:

Indians 991
Whites 10
Half-breeds 342
Colored 171

I am informed that this roll was taken and accepted by the commission as being a roll of freedmen only, and that it was not used as a basis for enrollment of Indians by blood. There were, however, some cases where this roll was investigated from the standpoint of applicants by blood.

Chapman Roll, 1852.—The roll in the possession of the commission Is a copy of a roll on which a per capita payment was made to the Cherokee Indians residing east of the Mississippi River by Albert Chapman, special agent, In compliance with the acts of September 30, 1850, and February 27, 1851.

Note.—I think this roll is referred to in an act of the National Council of the Cherokee Nation published in one of their law books issued somewhere about the year 1880. In that act provision was made for a commission on citizenship and the requirements were laid down which applicants were obliged to comply with to show their Indian blood. One of the requirements was that any person could be enrolled by the commission who could show descent from a person whose name appears upon the Chapman roll. This roll was not indexed by the Dawes commission and was not used in the preparation of the final citizenship roll.

Siler roll, 1851.—This was a census roll of the Cherokee Indians residing east of the Mississippi River. It was taken by Special Agent D. W. Siler during the year 1851.

Note.—The same remarks apply here as those made above with reference to the Chapman roll; that is to say, the tribal authorities enrolled the descendants of persons whose names appeared upon the Siler roll. This roll was not Indexed by the Dawes Commission and was not used in the making up of the final roll.

Mullay Roll, 1848.—This roll was made by Special Agent J. C. Mullay, under the act of Congress of July 29, 1848 (9 Stat., 264). It was a roll of “Eastern Cherokee Indians.”

The Mullay roll is also referred to in the act of the Cherokee Council in connection with the Slier and Chapman rolls mentioned above.

Census Roll of 1835.—This roll was a census roll of Cherokees residing In the limits of Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina, and Georgia in the year 1835. It probably was made before the removal of any portion of the tribe to Indian Territory. It was not an indexed roll.

Dockets.—In addition to the rolls there was a list of names upon the dockets of various courts and commissions both tribal and the United States.