Cherokee Rolls: Guion Miller Roll
On May 18, 1905, a U.S. Court of Claims decided that Cherokee were entitled to reparation for various treaty violations. The Secretary of the Interior was authorized to identify the descendants of Eastern Cherokees entitled to participate in the distribution of over than $1 million authorized by Congress in order to settle outstanding claims made under treaties in 1835 and 1845. To participate, one had to be alive on May 28, 1906 and prove membership in the Eastern Cherokee (as opposed to the Old Settler Cherokee) or are descendants of a member living at the time of the violated treaties.
Between May 1905 and April 1907, 48,847 applications were filed representing some 90,000 individuals. On May 28, 1909, 3,436 Cherokee east of the Mississippi and 27,284 Cherokee west of the Mississippi were certified by Mr. Guion Miller, representing the Interior Department, as being eligible to share in the fund.
Finding your ancestor on this Cherokee roll indicates that they were Cherokee, however this is not a final roll so cannot be used as proof for tribal enrollment in the Cherokee Nation, United Keetoowah Band (UKB), or the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
However, due to the nature of the roll, a great deal of genealogical information was included in the applications for this roll. You can find original images of the Guion Miller Roll applications (also called the Eastern Cherokee Applications) at Fold3. At present, this search only includes those individuals who applied and were accepted onto the roll. The rejected applications are still highly valuable genealogy resources, though.
Elements of the Guion Miller Roll:
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First Name
Last Name
Roll # – Each individual’s roll number.
App # – The application number associated with the individual. Often several members of a family would be on the same application. Click on this number to see others who were on the same application.
Section – This is divided into Eastern and Western. Those labeled as Eastern were part of the group of Cherokee which remained east in North Carolina. Those labeled as Western were part of the group of Cherokee who were forced west on the Trail of Tears.
Age
Family # – This is an All Things Cherokee generated number. This helps to links the individuals of one family who were listed together.
Relation – Head of household, wife, son, daughter, etc.
Location – The city and state, and in some cases full address, where the enrollee was living at the time of application.
Notes – Includes any notations made about the applicant.
Search
Please enter at least three characters of the persons first or last name to search the roll.