The Dawes Roll

This project is an atempt to identify those on the Dawes Roll within Geni.

Dawes Rolls
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Dawes Rolls (or Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes, or Dawes Commission of Final Rolls) were created by the Dawes Commission. The Commission, authorized by United States Congress in 1893, was required to negotiate with the Five Civilized Tribes to convince them to agree to an allotment plan and dissolution of the reservation system. One of the consequences was the creation of rolls of the members of the five tribes (Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole). The rolls were needed to assign the allotments and to provide an equitable division of all monies obtained. These rolls became known as the Dawes Rolls. The Dawes Commission was quickly flooded by applicants from all over the country trying to get on the rolls.

The Commission went to the individual tribes to obtain the membership lists but the first attempts were inadequate. Finally Congress passed the Curtis Act in 1898 which had a provision that a new roll would be taken and supersede all previous rolls.

Tribal citizens were enrolled under several categories:

• Citizen by Blood
• New Born Citizen by Blood
• Minor Citizens by Blood
• Citizen by Marriage
• Freedmen (former black slaves of Indians)
• New Born Freedmen
• Minor Freedmen
• Delaware Indians (those adopted by the Cherokee tribe were enrolled as a separate group within the Cherokee)

More than 250,000 people applied for membership, and the Dawes Commission enrolled just over 100,000. An act of Congress on April 26, 1906, closed the rolls on March 5, 1907. An additional 312 persons were enrolled under an act approved August 1, 1914.

The rolls are, for the most part, considered complete. Some Indians did not apply because of their displeasure with the allotment process and others applied but were rejected because of the residency requirements. Also, many non Indians of white ancestry applied to the Dawes Commission trying to pass themselves off as Indian but were later rejected. The reason they applied to the Dawes Rolls was because they wanted allotments. Notable among those who resisted enrollment were Muscogee Chitto Harjo (Crazy Snake), and Cherokee Redbird Smith. Both Harjo and Smith were eventually coerced into enrolling, but some full-bloods hiding in the Cookson Hills never did enroll. Although some Indians chose not to enroll, many of these Indians were later enrolled by force whether they wanted to participate or not. Some of these people were arrested and forced to enroll, while other were enrolled on their behalf by people in their communities. Generally, though, to prove membership in any of the Five Civilized Tribes you must prove descent from a person listed as a citizen on the final rolls. Courts have upheld this rule even when it has been proven that a brother or sister of an ancestor was listed on the rolls but not the direct ancestor himself/herself.

The Rolls remain important today as several tribes use descent from Dawes Roll members as a requirement for tribal membership and the federal government uses them in determining status for Certificate of Degree of Indian Blood.

ROLL INFORMATION

Ref; http://www.rlvalleman.com/dawes/rollsnlinks.htm

1832 Creek Census ~ By a treaty of March 24, 1832, the Creek Indians ceded to the United States all of their land east of the Mississippi River. Heads of families were entitled to tracts of land, which, if possible, were to include their improvements. In 1833 Benjamin S. Parsons and Thomas J. Abbott prepared a census of Creek Indian heads of families, which gave their names and the number of males, females, and slaves in each family. The entries were arranged by town and numbered; these numbers were used for identification in later records.

1924 Baker Roll ~ 1924 History Cherokee Indians
This was supposed to be the final roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The land was to be allotted and all were to become regular citizens of the United States. Fortunately the Eastern Band of Cherokee avoided the termination procedures, unlike their brothers of the western nation. The Baker Roll "Revised" is the current membership roll of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina.

1954 Proposed UTE Rolls ~ Last Name, First Name, Roll #, Sex, Age and Date Of Birth ~ Full Blood Roll and the Mixed Blood Roll of the Ute Tribe of Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah. These are the PROPOSED rolls, and do not signify that the individuals listed upon it actually received any distribution under Title 25, Chapter 14, Subchapter 28, U.S. Code.

1971 Creek Census ~ 1971 Census of the western Creek's who were on roll with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation as of 1971 and applied to receive Per Capita money as a settlement with the government. The Census is not all-inclusive of everyone on roll, it only lists those who applied for the entitlement. The number of applicant's exceeds 50,000.

Campbell's Abstract of Creek and Creek Freedmen ~ These records presented are the first effort at cross-indexing, the purpose being to locate the different members of any particular family. The indexing has been made with great care, and we have not been content with indexing under the name as spelled on the card, but have, in many instances, indexed under two, three and even four different spellings. An examination of the card itself will show the necessity for this. The same names have on these records been spelled many different ways, in fact, in many cases the same name appearing twice on the same card will be spelled differently, and we have sought by this index to cover all such discrepancies, and in cases where doubt may exist, we have indexed so as to cover both ends of the doubt. Where different members of families spell their names differently, we have likewise covered both ways of spelling.

Chapman Roll ~ 1851 History Cherokee Indians Prepared by Albert Chapman as a listing of those Cherokee actually receiving payment based on the Siler Census.

Cooper Roll ~ 1855 History Choctaw Indians Census Roll of Choctaw Families residing East of the Mississippi River and in the States of Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama made by Douglas H. Cooper, US Agent for Choctaws, in conformity with Order of Commissioner of Indian Affairs dated May the 23rd, 1855.

Dawes Rolls 1889-1906 ~ Amended 1914 ~ By an Act of Congress, March 3, 1893, a commission was appointed to negotiate with the Five Tribes for the extinguishments of their tribal title to lands by allotment, and division of the same among the members of the tribes. This commission to the Five Civilized Tribes became known as the Dawes Commission, after Senator Henry L. Dawes, who was largely responsible for the legislation that brought it into being. their main task was to make an equitable division of nearly twenty million acres of land among more that 100,000 Indians. Several years of negotiation and pressure on the Indians were required to secure their assent to this proposal. Surveys and allotments were made to permit each Indian or Freedman to include their improvements in the allotment. ~ Dawes is a list of those members of the Five Civilized Tribes who were removed to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the 1800's.

In most cases the ages indicated on the rolls are the age of individuals around 1902. Those listed as "newborns" and "minors" were born after the initial enrollment began in 1898, but before March of 1907

~ IF YOUR ANCESTOR WAS NOT LIVING IN INDIAN TERRITORY DURING 1896-1914 THEY WILL NOT BE LISTED ON DAWES!!

~ Only those Indians who RECEIVED LAND under the provisions of the Dawes Act are listed. It also lists those Freedmen who received land allotments as provided for in the Dawes Act.

~ Database fields include:

• Tribe. The tribe of the person.
• Type. The type of card. This is either a "By Blood", "Doubtful", "Minor, "Newborn", or "Rejected" card.
• "MCR" refers to a Mississippi Choctaw Rejected card. "P" means the person is listed as a parent on the Dawes cards.

  Last, First, and Middle Names. 

  Age and Sex. 

Card. This is the Dawes cards number, not the roll number.
Roll. This is the Dawes roll number.
Misc. Sometimes the Post Office or Residence. You need to see the actual card to determine which. ~ applied number of people 328,400 Dawes Rolls Applications Same as above but with all 328,000 applicants The letters stand for the type of application as follows
A - Adopted

AD - Adopted Delaware

B or BB - by blood

C - Canceled (This is only found on some of the Chickasaw Applications)

D - Doubtful or denied

F - Freedman (slaves)

FD - Freedman, doubtful or denied

FM - Freedman, minor

FRR - Freedman, rejected

IW - Intermarried White

W - White

MCR - Mississippi Choctaw Rejected

NR - Not Registered, Non Resident

O - Owner*

OS - Old Series** Old Settler

P - Parent

R - rejected

Index Dawes Final Roll Note: Adult ages for the Dawes Roll are as of 1 September 1902, ages for minor cards are as of 4 March 1906.

Guion-Miller Roll ~ includes the names of all persons applying for compensation arising from the judgment of the United States Court of Claims on May 28, 1906, for the Eastern Cherokee tribe. While numerous individuals applied, not all the claims were allowed. The information included on the index is the application number, the name of the applicant, and the State or Territory in which the individual resided at the time the application was filed. The name being there does not mean the person was admitted

Kern Clifton Roll ~ 1897 History Cherokee Freedmen Census of the Freedmen and their descendants of the Cherokee Nation taken by the Commission appointed in the case of Moses Whitmire, Trustee of the Freedmen of the Cherokee Nation versus the Cherokee Nation and the United States in the Court of Claims at Washington, DC;

The Kern Clifton Roll came about due to the Cherokee Nation disputing the number of freedmen included in the Wallace Roll... yet the Kern Clifton Roll actually increased the number of people eligible for payment.

McKennon Roll ~ 1889 History Choctaw Indians Proposed Legislation for the Full-blood and identified Choctaws of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama: Memorial Evidence and Brief published I believe in 1913.

Old Settler Roll ~ 1851 History Cherokee Indians A listing of Cherokee, still living in 1851, who were already residing in Oklahoma when the main body of the Cherokee arrived in the winter of 1839, as a result of the Treaty of New Echota.

Approximately one third of the Cherokee people at that time were Old Settlers and two thirds were new arrivals.

Reservation Roll ~ 1817 History Cherokee Indians A listing of those applying for a 640 acre tract in the East in lieu of removing to Arkansas. This was only good during their lifetime and then the property reverted back to the state.

Siler Roll ~ 1852 History Cherokee Indians A listing of those Eastern Cherokee entitled to a per capita payment pursuant to an act of Congress in 1850.

Trail of Tears Roll ~ 1835 History Cherokee Indians This is actually a report from the Secretary of War, in compliance with resolutions of the Senate, statements showing the persons employed, the funds furnished, and the improvements valued under the Cherokee Treaty of December 1835.

Wallace Roll ~ 1890 History Cherokee Freedmen Of Cherokee Freedmen in Indian Territory 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.

Resources

• Index to the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory (Dawes)
• How to Search the Dawes Roll online at the National Archives (Final Rolls, does not include rejected): http://www.archives.gov/research/native-americans/dawes/intro.html
• ARC Main Page: http://www.archives.gov/research/search/
• Searching Cherokee Ancestry: http://nativeheritageproject.com/2014/08/31/tracing-cherokee-ancest...
• Wikimedia's partial index of Cherokee census cards: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:National_Archives_and_Rec...
• Univ of Oklahoma Search the Dawes Roll: http://www.okhistory.org/research/dawes