Collections of Records of Cherokees and Creeks

Cherokees

• 1835 Henderson Roll; 1906 Guin Miller Rolls, 1851 Chapman Rolls which include Cass, Chatham, Cherokee, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Gilmer, Gordon, Gwinnett, Lumpkin, Murray, Union and Walker Counties; 1910 Cherokee Judgment Roll Fund, 1910 Cherokee Roll East of the Mississippi, 1909 Cherokee Enrollees to be strick from the Roll.
• Cherokee Oaths of 1833; Cherokees Who Took The Oath to Remain Georgia
• 1835 New Echota Residents (Cherokees) Who Requested a Militia Unit to Keep Order Among the Cherokees
• General Index to Eastern Cherokee Applications A to K
• 1835 Forsyth County Census 1832 Supreme Court Case of Samuel A. Worcester, Plaintiff in Error
• Cherokee Phoenix Newspapers, Echota, 1828
• Cherokee Genealogies Traced - Alphabetical by Surname

Creeks

• Creek Census of 1833 - Lower and Upper Creeks
• McGillivray, Alexander, King of Creek Nation
• Native Americans Database of Names (various tribes) -

The above collections are available to members of Georgia Pioneers.

Proving that you are of Cherokee Descent

For those persons who are disappointed that in the DNA results so far as being kin to Cherokee Indians (or any other tribe), first of all (1) each company takes different samples and (2) it is doubtful that they visited the tribes and acquired samples from the 5 Civilized Tribes. Also, proving lineage is exceedingly difficult. The Creeks started keeping a Roll (of members) in 1818 herokees, when they were removed from Georgia. The Cherokees, centralized in NC, TN and GA appeared on an 1830 Census, however, with "Indian" names. From 1832 on, there are several rolls which can be examined. Further, around 1903, the US Government decided to give title to Oklahoma lands to anyone having at least 1/32nd Cherokee blood and implemented a program called "the Dawes Rolls." To prove blood-kinship, applicant had to submit documentation. There were over 32,000 applications. A very large percentage of these applications were rejected. Applicants had to connect to a Cherokee listed on one of its rolls, not hearsay, or family tales. As far as white people marrying Indians, this practice was frowned upon by European women brought into the colonies. Certain of the Indian traders married Indians in the early days, however, and were not allowed to resided amongst the settlers. When the Indians were driven west, these white men either stayed behind or journeyed west.

The Difficult Meanderings of Native Indians

Native Americans were frequently having war with other tribes. Some of the smaller tribes (or losers) were swallowed up and lost in identify. They were frequently on the move. Records were not kept of births, deaths, etc. They did not marry white women, but sometimes captured them as slaves. There are a few published journals on the Gutenburg.org website written by slaves. The story told of life among the Indians during the 18th century was that after the capture the tribes were always on the move or having war with other tribes. White families had no chance of retrieving their women. Benjamin Hawkins, a Creek agent in Georgia during its colonization, kept his own journals. Thus, the materials to be examined are those kept by Indian Agents (if one can find such items) who wrote in English and sometimes clarified the English version of an Indian name. These agents were in Charleston, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia where all of the records survive. I strongly recommend reading the deeds and affidavits (colonial writing) to gain a historical knowledge of the times and discover more information. Interestingly, there are affidavits (given by co-pirates) in Charleston concerniing the capture of the pirate, Captain William Kidd! Samuel Eveleigh of Charleston widely traded with the new Georgia Colony, and there is information to be gathered about his adventures. The wealth of information found in early deeds and minutes of the court provide a bounty of undisclosed iinformation.

Find the Old Family Homeplace

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