Cherokee Sources/Resources

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Some other Cherokee free-space pages on WikiTree:

• Native Americans: Cherokee
• Finding a Cherokee Ancestor
• Finding a Cherokee Freedman Ancestor
• Cherokee Genealogy Before 1800
• Dawes Rolls

Contents 1 Censuses and Rolls 2 Other Cherokee records 3 First-hand accounts 4 Genealogy Books 5 Other resources 6 Reliable web sites

Censuses and Rolls

The Cherokee are enumerated on numerous rolls and censuses from 1817 through 1929. Original records are at the National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 1793-1999. Some original documents are digitized, transcripts of others are digitized. Some are only available on pay sites.

1. 1817 Reservation Rolls - list of those requesting a 640-acre 'reservation' of land in the ceded eastern territory. Digitized at Fold3($), Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee, beginning at reservations, transcript available in book format: Baker, Jack D. transcriber. Cherokee Emigration Rolls 1817-1835. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1977. Original Records: National Archives and Records Administration, Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs 1793-1999.
2. 1817-1835 Cherokee Emigration Rolls, lists of those who signed up to move West, muster rolls of some detachments. Head of household named. Not digitized. Transcribed at: Baker, Jack D. transcriber. Cherokee Emigration Rolls 1817-1835. Baker Publishing Co., Oklahoma City, OK. 1977.
3. 1835 census roll of Cherokee East of the Mississippi (sometimes called the "Henderson Roll" or the "Trail of Tears Roll"). Head of household named. Typewritten transcript digitized at: 1835 Images of original at original
4. 1848 Mullay Roll - census of 1517 Cherokee remaining in North Carolina. Digitized transcript at: Mullay Transcribed at: Blankenship Bob, transcriber. Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1, Eastern Cherokee Rolls. Self-published. Cherokee, N.C. 1992.
5. 1851 Old Settler Roll - every name payroll of Cherokee who came to Indian Territory before 1835. Digitized at FamilySearch Old_Settler
6. 1851 Drennan Roll of Emigrant Cherokee - every name census of Cherokee who came to Indian Territory between 1835 and 1850. Digitized at Ancestry.com($)
7. 1851 Siler Roll - Eastern Cherokee eligible for a per capita payment per 1850 act of Congress. Every name roll. Transcripted at Siler also transcribed at: Blankenship Bob, transcriber. Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1, Eastern Cherokee Rolls. Self-published. Cherokee, N.C. 1992.
8. 1852 Chapman Roll - record of those who received payment based on Siler census with additions. Digitized at FamilySearch at Chapman and ancestry.com ($)
9. 1867 Tompkins Roll - first roll to include Freedmen, digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
10. 1869 Swetland Roll - every name list of people on the Mullay roll and their descendants alive in 1869. Transcribed at: Blankenship Bob, transcriber. Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1, Eastern Cherokee Rolls. Self-published. Cherokee, N.C. 1992.
11. 1880 Cherokee Census - digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
12. 1883 Hester Roll - Roll of Eastern Band Indians, cross-referenced to Chapman roll. Digitized at FamilySearch, but must be viewed at FHL. Digitized at Ancestry.com ($) Transcribed at: Blankenship Bob, transcriber. Cherokee Roots, Vol. 1, Eastern Cherokee Rolls. Self-published. Cherokee, N.C. 1992.
13. 1890 Cherokee Census - digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
14. 1890-1896 Wallace Roll, list of Cherokee Freedmen, searchable index at Access Genealogy Wallace, digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
15. 1893 Cherokee Census - digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
16. 1896 Cherokee Census - digitized at Ancestry.com ($)
17. 1896-1905 Dawes Rolls - searchable index at OHS, applications and supporting documents digitized at Ancestry.com($) and Fold3($). For additional information and links, see below
18. The 1907 Guion Miller/Eastern Cherokee Roll, is a list of applicants for a share of a four million dollar settlement for Cherokee people affected by Removal which was approved by Congress in 1906. Although some 90,000 people were named in the applications, only about 30,000 were actually Cherokee so it’s very common to find a rejected application. Some rejected applicants genuinely believed they had a Cherokee ancestor, but many applied under the direction of unscrupulous attorneys who often filled out the applications or provided false supporting affidavits for their clients. You must look at the actual application to see if the person was approved or rejected. All enrolled Cherokee and Cherokee descendants were eligible, except for the “Old Settlers” and their descendants. There was no residency requirement, but applicants had to prove they or their ancestors were listed on the 1851 Drennan Roll, the 1852 Chapman Roll, and/or the 1835 Cherokee census. Searchable index of applicants at archives. Applications and supporting documents are digitized at FamilySearch (need application number to locate on film) at applications and are also digitized at Fold3 ($). All contain extensive genealogical information.
19. 1908 Churchill Roll - certification of members of Eastern Band, includes rejected people. Digitized at FamilySearch Churchill
20. "1924 Baker Roll." The final Roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina." This is the base roll for the Eastern Band. Digitized at FamilySearch, begins at image 92 Baker ; applications and supporting documents digitized at Ancestry.com ($)

• Dawes Resources Additional information concerning the Dawes Final Rolls of the Five Civilized Tribes may be found on the following WikiTree pages:
  • Dawes Final Rolls page on WikiTree
  • Dawes Act page on WikiTree
  • Dawes Census Card page on WikiTree
  • Allotment records are digitized at FamilySearch at Oklahoma Applications for Allotment Five Civilized Tribes Maps which show the allotments can be found at Cadastral Atlas of the Cherokee Nation, 1909 Cherokee Nation Indian Territory Map Muskogee, Okla.: Indian Territory Map Co, 1909 Map. Drafted 1889: John Olburg

Other Cherokee records

• 1838 and 1842 Claims - Claims filed by Cherokee people while they were in Removal camps and after they arrived in Indian Territory for property losses due to Removal are indexed and digitized at claims

• Records of the Cherokee Agency in Tennessee 1801-1835. Digitized at Fold3 ($), extracts transcribed in book form by Maybelle Chase, Taylor Library and Museum, Colcord, OK

• Chase, Maybelle W., compiler. 1842 Cherokee Claims, multiple volumes, privately published.[https://totclaims.com/

• Stricklin, Dawn, compiler. Cherokee Claims. National Archives and Records Administration Special File 154, Vol. 1 M574, Roll 32. Heritage Books, Westminster, MD. 2007

First-hand accounts

• Indian Pioneer Papers oral history collection spans from 1861 to 1936. It includes typescripts of interviews conducted during the 1930s by government workers with thousands of Oklahomans regarding the settlement of Oklahoma and Indian territories, as well as the condition and conduct of life there. Consisting of approximately 80,000 entries, the index to this collection may be accessed via personal name, place name, or subject. digitized at

• Doris Duke Collection, Western History Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Norman, Oklahoma American Indian Oral History online provides access to typescripts of interviews (1967 -1972) conducted with hundreds of Indians in Oklahoma regarding the histories and cultures of their respective nations and tribes. Related are accounts of Indian ceremonies, customs, social conditions, philosophies, and standards of living. Members of every tribe resident in Oklahoma were interviewed.

• Anderson, Brown, Rogers, eds., The Payne-Butrick Papers. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 2010.

• King, Duane H., ed. The Memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake. Museum of the Cherokee Indian Press, Cherokee, N.C. 2007

• Klinck and Talman, eds. Journal of Major John Norton. The Champlain Society, Toronto, ON. 1970

The following are not specifically genealogical in nature, but include contemporaneous, first-hand accounts of interaction with Cherokee people:

• Records of the Moravian Missionaries, originals (in German) at the Moravian Archives.

• English Translations:
• Crews & Starbuck, eds. Records of the Moravians Among the Cherokees. Cherokee Heritage Press, Tahlequah, OK. Ten volumes

• McClinton, Rowena, ed. The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE. 2007. Two volumes (contains some entries not included by Crews and Starbuck)

• Other missionary records:
• The Brainerd Journal, Joyce and Paul Phillips, eds. University of Nebraska Press, 1998.

Genealogy Books

All of the following have some errors, names should be compared with other documentary sources.

• Baker, Jack D. and Hampton, David K., Old Cherokee Families, Notes of Dr. Emmett Starr. Gateway Press, Baltimore, MD. 1988.

• Bell, George Morrison. Genealogy of "Old & New Cherokee Indian Families." privately published, Bartlesville, OK. 1972

• Hampton, David K. Cherokee Mixed-Bloods. Arc Press of Cane Hill, Lincoln, Arkansas. 2005

• Shadburn, Don. Cherokee Planters in Georgia 1832-1838. Cumming, GA. 1990.

• Shadburn, Don. Unhallowed Instrusion. Cumming, GA. 1993.

• Shadburn, Don & Strange, John. Upon Our Ruins, Cottonpatch Press, Cumming, GA. 2012.

• Starr, Emmet. History of the Cherokee Indians. Oklahoma Yesterday Publications edition, Tulsa, OK. 1979. Digitized edition at Starr This is the first compilation of Cherokee genealogy, gathered in Indian Territory between 1890-1920.

Other resources

• Allen, Penelope Johnson. Leaves from the Family Tree. Southern Historical Press. Easley, S.C. 1982 Genealogy articles on Tennessee families, including some mixed-blood Cherokee

• Blackburn, King, Morton. Cherokee Nation: A History of Survival, Self-determination, and Identity. Cherokee Nation, 2018. General history of Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma.

• Finger, John. The Eastern Band of Cherokees 1819-1900. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, TN. 1984 - very helpful in understanding the North Carolina Cherokee who remained after Removal

• Tyner, James and Alice. Our People and Where They Rest. privately published, Norman, OK, 1971. 13 volumes, digitized at FamilySearch, detailed records and maps of Cherokee burial sites in Oklahoma

• Warren, Mary B. & Weeks, Eve, ed. Whites Among the Cherokees. Heritage Papers, Athens GA 1987 transcripts of original documents from 1830's Georgia

Reliable web sites

• https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Starting_Native_American_Research
• https://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans
• https://www.cherokee.org/all-services/tribal-registration/
• https://ebci.com/enrollment/
• https://www.ukb-nsn.gov/membership
• https://www.cherokeeheritage.org/cherokeeheritagegenealogy-html/cherokee-family-research/
• Trail of Tears: https://www.nps.gov/trte/index.htm
• http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/cherokee-tribe.htm Access Genealogy Cherokee Tribe
• Gilcrease Museum Archives: https://collections.gilcrease.org/search/site/cherokee?f%5B0%5D=bundle%3Acollection&f%5B1%5D=bundle%3Aarticle&f%5B2%5D=im_field_department%3A688