AMERICAN INDIAN RESEARCH ------------------------ As of the 1980 Federal census there were 25 pages (80 tribes to a page) of listed "tribes" to be coded and those not listed had a special code number. The more well known tribes were: Apache, Navajo, Hopi, Cheorkee, Sioux, Iroquois, Crow, Cippewa and many others. The tribes that are less known include the Attu, Atka, Hoh, Makah, Sanak, etc. Some tribes have more and better records than others. Our way of doing genealogy does not always fit the Indian way. They may take into their home an orphan, the homeless of any age, a widow or other stray and call them "brother, sister, aunt" etc... and there may be no blood relationship at all. It was also an accepted practice to use the moather's family name and she could be listed as head of household. An Indian name genrally does not tell you if the person is male or female. Sometimes in the census/index records you will find a number iwth thename. This number could be a "roll" number and is very important. Keep it. Many indians were missed completely on the census rolls when taken because of distance, lack of communication and undestanding of the language and customs. Others did not want to admit to being Indian andsome just refused to report. Also, as with all people, names were written as then sounded to the person taking the census. ( Pal could be listed as Powell). Many Indians had only one name which did not help to keep the records correct. There were many with given and surnames so different from what the record taker was accustomed to that they did not always undersand them or know how to record them. In 1835 the US Government classified as "Indian" anyone with 1/4 degree of Indian blood. The Cherokee nation was lucky in that there was a census taken in 1835 before they were moved in what is know as "The Trail of Tears" to Arkansas and Oklahoma. But in thre three years between 1835 and 1838 no records seem to have been kept of those Cherokee Indians who were born, who died along the way, who never left their homes, or who initially reached the new terriroty. Originally the Indian was to be included in the Vital Statistic Records of each state when taht state began keeping records but because Indians were spread out in large area, complete registering was not done for many years. There are many tribal offices for different tribes as well as Bureau of Indian Affairs offices for different areas. These have information that may prove helpful but they do not do genealogical research. See the following message for source records... Superintendent of Documents, US Govt Printing Ofc, Washington DC 20402 US Dept Interior, BIA, Washington DC 20402 Eastern Bank of Cherokee Indians, Box 455, Cherokee, No CArolina 28719 Publication Svc, Haskell Indian Jr College, LAwrence Kansas 66044 Bureau of Ind Affairs, Muskogee Area Ofc, Muskogee Okla 74401 US Dept Interior, BIA, 316 N. 26th St, Billings Montana 59101 The places above can provide maps, books, and pamphlets. You may also want to look at these Federal Archive Films --- #7 RA3 index & final rolls 5 civilized Tribes - 1907 T-496 1835 Cherokee Nation east of Mississippi M-595 Calif & Nev Indian Census M-653 1860 Fedl Census, Roll 52 & 54 contain Indian lands in Arkansas M-123 1890 Fedl Census, roll 76 is Indian Territory T-1082 1900 Fed census is listed as soundex for Indian Territory T-623 1900 Fed census rols 1843-1854 are the rolls for the Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Peoria, Quapaw, Seneca, Wyandotte, Seminole, Modoc, Ottawa & Shawnee nations. There are also special state censuses listing Indian population by tribes or reservations. There are the DAWES rolls of 1893 for the 5 civilized tribes and the final rolls of 1907 of the Cherokee T-273 Census of Creek Indians 1832 7RA-02 Choctaw census of 1896 and index T-985 The Old Settlers Roll of 1895 M-685 Guion Miller report and others. -------------------------------------------------------- Books of interest would be: "Those Who Cried" by James W. Tyner (on those Cherokees listed in the 1835 US Census). "Supplement to the 1880 rolls of the Cherokee Nation-Indian Territory" "Cherokee Advocate" semi-annual publication by the Cherokee Nationa, PO Box 948, Tahlequah OK 74464. "Our Native Americans - Their Records of Genealogical Value" E. Kirkham "Indians of the US Series B #2 - Genealogy Dept LDS. DESCENDANTS OF POCAHONTAS ------------------------- Pocahontas bc 1595 d 1617 m 1614 John Rolfe, issue one son - Thomas. Thomas Rolfe b 1615 d ? m ? Jane Poythress, issue one dau - Jane. Jane Rolfe b ? d 1676, m 1675 Col Robert Bolling, issue one son - John. Col John Bolling of "Cobbs" b 1676, d 1729, m ? Mary Kennon, issue 6. the six children were John Bolling, Jane Randolph, Mary Fleming, Elizabeth Gay, Martha Eldridge, and Anne Murray. Of these six, the following families descended: Abbot, Alfriend, Allen, Ambler, Archer, Austin, Bannister, Baskerville, Bentley, Berkeley, Bernard, Berry, Bland, Bolling, Bolton, Bott, Botts, Bradford, Branch, Brown, Buchanan, Buford, Burton, Byrd, Cabell, Carr, Cary, Catlett, Chalmers, Clarke, Cobbs, Coleman, Covington, Cross, Dandridge, Davies, Deane, Dixon, Doswell, Douglass, Duval, Eggleston, Elam, Eldridge, Ellett, Ferguson, Fitzgerald, Fleming, Flood, Fox, Friend, Garrett, Gay, Gifford, Glover, Goode, Gordon, Grattan, Graves, Grayson, Green, Gregg, Griffin, Hackley, Hamilton, Hamlin, Hardaway, Harris, Harrison, Hereford, Houston, Hubard, Irving, James, Jeffrey, Jones, Kincaid, Knox, Lea, Lewis, Logan, McRae, MAcon, Markham, Maury, MAy, Meade, Megginson, Meredith, Mewburn, Michaux, Morris, Morrison, Murray, Page, Paulett, Perkins, Pleasants, Powell, Randolph, Rawlins, Robertson, Robinson, Roper, Ruffin, Russell, Scott, Shield, Skein, Skipwith, Southall, Stanard, STockdell, STrange, Tazewell, Thornton, Throckmorton, Tucker, Vaughn, Walke, Wallace, Watkins, Watson, Webber, Weisiger, West, White, Whittle, Wiley, Willard, Williams, Winston, Woodlief, Woodridge, Yates, and Yuilee. If you would like more information or you have a connection, write to the Pocahontas Trails Genealogical Society, 3628 Cherokee Lane, Modesto CA 95356 or Don Doram, VP, 18620 Rhine Place, Cerritos, CA 90701. In order to belong to the society you must prove descent from Pocahontas. ...aren't you sorry you missed the Calif Gen Soc gen fair?? INDIAN NEWSLETTER ----------------- "The Journal of American Indian FAmily Research" bills itself as the only major publication devoted entirely to native AMerican family research. It contains original records, hints on how to solve Indian research problems, Indian family information, queries, book reviews, at least 60 pages of useful information, published quarterly. For more info contact them as HISTREE, 23011 Moulton Parkway C-8, Laguna Hills CA 92653. **** ************************************************************************* *** This information has been provided by ROOTS-BBS (415)-584-0697. *** *** For more public domain genealogical software, data, and queries, *** *** set your modem to 8/N/1 300 or 1200 and call ROOTS-BBS! *** ************************************************************************* This information is posted on Dynasty BBS with the permission of Brian Mavrogeorge, the System Operator of Roots Bulletin Board CHEROKEE TRIBE, NATIVE AMERICAN RESEARCH ---------------------------------------- While tracing Cherokee ancestry is difficult it is not impossible. Several census have been taken and tribal records have also been kept. There were records of the Eastern Cherokees and of the Western Cherokees. These records are representative of those existing for other tribes which came under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. These records are located in the Fort Worth Federal Record Center, the National Archives and the Oklahoma Historical Society in Oklahoma City. In 1838, several hundred Cherokees escaped into the mountains of North Carolina and became known as the Eastern Band of Cherokees. At about the same time, many elected to take advantage of Article 12 of the 1835 treaty which allowed those desirous to stay in the east if they met certain criteria. Their records include a register of Cherokees who wished to remain in the East (1817-1819, 2 volumes); emigration registers of Indians who wished to migrate (1817-1838, 18 volumes) applications for reservations in 1819 and the Henderson index of 1835 which consisted of 1959 persons of the Cherokee Nation in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama which was submitted to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in 1836 by Major Currey who was in charge of the Census. This census is on file in the National Archives. In 1848, the Mullay roll was made by John C. Mullay of the Eastern Band located in North Carolina only. This role included 1557 Cherokees. This was followed by an annuity roll in 1851 taken by John Drennen and the Emigrant Roll (an enumeration of Eastern Cherokee who moved west after 1835 and were residing in Indian Territory by 1851. In 1851, David W. Silar was appointed to take a census of the Cherokees east of the Mississippi to determine who could be eligible to participate in a per capita payment based on the 1835 traty. Silar submitted his census list which contained 1959 individuals by state and county in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama. In 1851 and 1852 the per capita payments were made by Alfred Chapman based on Silar's census to 2134 individuals. This roll played an important part in Guion Miller's preparation of his roll completed in 1910. Anyone who could trace their ancestry to an individual on the Chapman Roll was included on Miller's roll. S. H. Swetland was appointed to take a census in 1868. He was to use the Mullay Roll of 1848 as the basis for his census. This census was completed in 1868 and gives the families in the Eastern Cherokee band. In 1882, Joseph G. Hester was appointed to take the 5th census of the Eastern Band. Copies of the previous census were made available to him and he was required to account for all persons on the previous rolls by either including them on the new roll, noting their deaths on the old rolls or describing their whereabouts as unknown either to Hester or any of the Indians. This completed roll was submitted to the Secretary of Interior in 1884. It contained 2956 persons residing in North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Virginia, Illinois, Kansas, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey, and California. Those living west of the Mississippi and listed by Hester were descendants of members of the Eastern Band and had no affiliation with the Cherokee Nation in the west. There have been other census taken from time to time that included the some of the Creek, Shawnees and Delawares that became part of the Cherokee Nation. The Western Cherokees were pretty much kept in seperate records and rolls from the Eastern Band. As far back as 1782, a group of Cherokee who fought with the British in the Revolution petitioned the Spanish for permission to settle west of the Mississippi. This was granted and a group began settlement in 1794 in the St. Francis River valley in what is now southeastern Missouri. During 1811-1812, the Cherokees moved en masse to the Arkansas region. Under the Turkey Town treaty in 1817, these persons received title to their lands. As a result over 1100 Cherokees emigrated from the East to the West in 1818-1819. In 1828, the Cherokees ceded their lands in Arkansas for land in Oklahoma. While no record exists of the 2000 Cherokees who emigrated before 1817, the rolls for those who moved because of the treaties of 1817 and 1828 are in the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The Treaty of New Echota, 29 Dec 1835, respresented the final cession of all Cherokee lands east of the Mississippi. The forced migration of of these Cherokees is knows as the "Trail of Tears". The 1851 Old Settler Roll lists each individual by district and his/her children unless the mother was an emigrant Cherokee. In this case, the children were listed with their mother on the Drennen Roll. There were 44 family groups listed as non-residents. Guion Miller used this roll in compiling the 1910 record. There was the 1896 Payment Roll that is based on the above 1851 Old Settler Roll and listed each payees 1851 roll number, name, age, sex, and post office address. In 1879, the Cherokee National Council authorized a census and this 1880 Census was arranged in 6 schedules. Again, in 1883 and 1886, The Cherokee National Council authorized another census. In 1890, another census of the Cherokee Nation was made and it is probably the most complete of any of the census. It included Cherokees and adoped whites, Shawnees and Delawares, orphans under 16 yrs, those denied citizenship by the Cherokee authorities, those whose claims to citizenship were pending, intruders and whites living in the Cherokee Nation by permission. There are numerous other records available in the National Archives which include records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, US Army Mobile Units, Records of the Supreme Court, Records of the US District Courts, Records of the US Court of Appeals, Records of the US Court of Claims, Records of the Veterans Administration. Since the Cherokee Indians were not (generally) subject to state courts, their civil and criminal court records are normally found in the Federal Court records. The Bureau of Indian Affairs records include the Indian Removal records, the Land Division records, the Enrollment of the Easten Cherokee, the Law and Probate Division records (this has to do with the heirs of deceased Indian allottees), the Civilization Division records, the Indian Civil War Claims records, the Statistics Division records, the Finance Division records and the Miscellaneous Division records. Bureau of Indian Affairs Field Office records available for Cherokees include Cherokee Agency, East located at National Archives; Cherokee Agency, North Carolina located at FARC, Atlanta; Cherokee Agency, West located at the National Archives. In 1938, the Adjutant General's Office transferred its collection of Confederate records to the National Archives. While many of the Confederate records were destroyed before seizure by the Union Army, some records still exist. Roll 74, Compiled Records Showing Service of Military Units in Confederate Organizations contains information about the Indian Organizations. Also, compiled military service records have been reproduced on microfilm by the National Archives that include service records of Confederate soldiers. Also the Confederate States Army Casualties and also ducuments pertaining to battles in Indian Territory are in the records. The Indian Archives in the Oklahoma Historical Society, Oklahoma City, contains about 3 million manuscripts and 6 thousand bound volumes of Indian documents. This is the largest collection of Inian documents in the United States outside of the National Archives. In additon, private collections are also housed at the Oklahoma Historical Society. These include the works of several noted Indian historians. In addition, the Oklahoma Historical Society maintains an excellent collection of Oklahoma newspapers. The Oklahoma Historical Society records contains 740 bound volumes and 25 file drawers containing over 430 thousand pages pertaining to the Cherokee Nation. In doing Native American research, just remember that not all Cherokee Indian descendants are REALLY Cherokee Indians. Since many persons who were white, members of other tribes, and slaves were granted membership into the Cherokee tribe. One should check the Creek, Choctaw and Delaware records very closely also as these groups contributed MANY members to the Cherokee Tribe. **** ************************************************************************* *** This information has been provided by DYNASTY BBS (916) 685-8690 *** *** For more public domain genealogical software, data, and queries, *** *** set your modem to 8/N/1 300, 1200 or 2400 and call DYNASTY BBS! *************************************************************************