EASTERN CHEROKEE BOUNTY LAND APPLICATIONS

Extracts of Eastern Cherokee Applications, By Earl Gillian, Jr.

U. S. COURT OF CLAIMS: RECORDS RELATING TO THE ENROLLMENT OF EASTERN CHEROKEE.

The Guion Miller Roll is the most important source of Cherokee genealogical research of any of the rolls, because the application required extensive information to be supplied by the applicant. The treaties of 1835, 1836 and 1845 between the United States and the Cherokee Tribe created a fund to be awarded to Cherokees (or their heirs) who lived in the East during that time. Guion Miller was appointed by the U.S. Court of Claims to determine eligibility. While the majority of the affect group was residing Indian Territory at the time of Miller's Commission, many Eastern Cherokees remained in North Carolina. Miller submitted his report and roll in 1909, following up with two supplementary reports the next year. These rolls are more commonly known as the "Guion Miller Rolls" or "Eastern Cherokee Applications." This title is somewhat misleading, leading the researcher to believe that the records pertain only to the Eastern Cherokee Tribe of North Carolina.

The records consist of

Between 27 Aug 1906 and 18 May 1909 there were 45,940 applications filed from the United States, Canada, Mexico and-- Syria! It listed an estimated 90,000 individual applicants. A typical application includes the applicant's English name, Indian name, residence, date and place of birth, marriage status, and name of husband or wife. The applicant also gave the names of his or her siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, grand-parents, and great-grand-parents as well as their dates of birth and death. In order for an application to be accepted on this roll, the applicant had to prove descent from a person who was shown on the 1835 roll of Eastern Cherokees (also known as The Henderson Roll), which listed the citizenship of the tribe at that time.

The Eastern Cherokee Applications contain information on non-Cherokee parents and grandparents of the applicant. This is what provided the link showing that James Starling Goble was the son of Cornelius Goble, Jr. Do not overlook the Miller Roll applications and records as a valuable source for genealogy information.


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