The records reproduced in the microfilm publication

are from

Records of the U.S. Court of Claims

Record Group 123

EASTERN CHEROKEE APPLICATIONS OF THEU.S. COURT OF CLAIMS

1906-1909

On the 348 rolls of this microfilm publication are reproducedthe applications submitted for shares of the money that wasappropriated for the Eastern Cherokee Indians by the Congresson June 30, 1906. The Eastern Cherokee applications, August 29,1906-May 26, 1909, are part of the Guion Miller Enrollment Recordsthat are among the records of the U.S. Court of Claims. Thispublication also includes a general index to Eastern Cherokeeapplications (two vols.).

History

Before the U.S. Court of Claims was established in 1855there was no procedure by which claims arising against the U.S.Government could be enforced by suit. Consideration of claimswas provided for when the Treasury Department was established in1789; later acts of the Congress authorized the Department tosettle all claims by or against the Government. If a claim wasrejected by the Treasury Department, the claimant's only courseof action was to appeal directly to the Congress. Petitionsto that body for relief had become so numerous by the middle ofthe 19th century that the Congress was beginning to find itimpossible to make the proper and necessary investigations foractions on the claims.

The U.S. Court of Claims was established by an act ofFebruary 24, 1855, to hear claims against the United Statesincluding those referred to the court by the Congress, based onany law of the Congress, any regulation of an executive depart-ment, or any contract with the Government, whether explicit orimplied. Under this act the court served only as a factfindingagency, and its conclusions were submitted to the Congress forapproval and for the granting of awards. In 1863 the Congressenlarged the court's jurisdiction and gave it authority to renderjudgments against the Government, with the right of appeal tothe Supreme Court. An act of 1925 abolished appeals from theCourt of Claims to the Supreme Court and substituted writs ofcertiorari.

An act approved July 1, 1902 (32 Stat. 726), gave the Courtof Claims jurisdiction over any claim arising under treatystipulations that the Cherokee Tribe, or any band thereof, mighthave against the United States and over any claims that theUnited States might have against any Cherokee Tribe or band.Suit for such a claim was to be instituted within 2 years afterthe act was approved. As a result, three suits were broughtbefore the court concerning grievances arising out of the treaties:

(1) The Cherokee Nation v. The United States3 General-JurisdictionCase No. 23199; (2) The Eastern and Emigrant Cherokees v. TheUnited States* General-Jurisdiction Case No. 23212; and (3) TheEastern Cherokees v. The United States9 General-JurisdictionCase No. 23214.

On May 18, 1905, the court decided in favor of the EasternCherokees and instructed the Secretary of the Interior to identifythe persons entitled to participate in the distribution of fundsfor payment of the claims. On June 30, 1906, the Congress appro-priated more than $1 million for this purpose. The task ofcompiling a roll of eligible persons was begun by Guion Miller,special agent of the Interior Department. In a decree of April29, 1907, the court (1) vacated that part of its earlier decisionthat had given the Secretary of the Interior responsibility fordeterming the eligbility of claimants and (2) appointed Milleras a special commissioner of the Court of Claims.

The same decree also provided that the fund was to bedistributed to all Eastern and Western Cherokee Indians who werealive on May 28, 1906, who could establish the fact that at thetime of the treaties they were members of the Eastern CherokeeTribe or were descendants of such persons, and that they hadnot been affiliated with any tribe of Indians other than theEastern Cherokee or the Cherokee Nation. The decree furtherprovided that claimants should already have applications onfile with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, or should file suchapplications with the special commissioner of the Court of Claimson or before August 31, 1907, Additionally, applications forminors and persons of unsound mind were to be filed by theirparents or persons having their care and custody, and applicationsfor persons who had died after May 28, 1906, were to be filedby their children or legal representatives.

In his report of May 28, 1909, Miller stated that 45,847separate applications had been filed, representing a total ofabout 90,000 individual claimants, 30,254 of whom were enrolledas entitled to share in the fund—3,203 residing east and 27,051residing west of the Mississippi River. On June 10, 1909, thecourt confirmed and approved the roll, submitted by Miller inhis report, of Eastern Cherokees who were entitled to a shareof the fund except "so much as shall be expected (excepted)to on or before August 30, 1909." After the exceptions hadbeen filed and investigated, Miller submitted a supplementalreport and roll to the court on January 5, 1910. In this reporthe stated that about 11,750 exceptions had been made, that thenames of 610 persons (238 east and 372 west of the Mississippi)had been added to the roll, and that the names of 44 persons(5 east and 39 west of the Mississippi) had been stricken fromthe roll because clerical errors in enrollment had been dis-covered. Thus the final figure on the total number of personsentitled to share in the fund was 30,820, of which 3,436 persons

resided east and 27,384 resided west of the Mississippi River.On March 15, 1910, the court finally decreed that the rolls beapproved and that, after certain deductions for expenditures,payments were to be made equally among the Eastern Cherokeeswho were enrolled. The court also authorized the Secretary ofthe Treasury to issue a warrant in favor of each person.

In certifying the eligibility of the Cherokees, Miller usedearlier census lists and rolls that had been made of the Cherokeesby Hester, Chapman, Drennen, and others between 1835 and 1884.Copies of some of these rolls and the indexes to them are filedwith the Miller records(filmed as M685). Other enrollmentrecords used by Miller are among the classified subject filesof the Bureau and are designated as "33931-11-053 Cherokee Nation."

Records

The applications contain sworn evidences of identity andwere filed with the Interior Department's Office of IndianAffairs until April 29, 1907 (the last application was No. 22268),after which the applications were filed directly with the court.The application required each claimant to state fully his or herEnglish and Indian names, residence, age, place of birth, nameof husband or wife, name of tribe, and names of children. Itfurther required the English and Indian names of the claimant'sparents and grandparents, place of their birth, place of theirresidence in 1851 if they were living at that time, dates oftheir death, and a statement as to whether any of them hadever before been enrolled as Indians for annuities or otherbenefits and, if so, with what tribe. Each claimant was alsoto furnish the names of all brothers and sisters, with theirages and residences, and the names and residences of all unclesand aunts. Applications were required to be made under oathand to be supported by affidavits of two witnesses who werewell acquainted with the applicant. With each applicationis a card showing final action taken and the reasons therefore.Filed with many of the applications are inquiries concerning thestatus of the cases, requests for further evidence, protestsabout unfavorable actions, form letters that had been sent bythe special commissioner to the applicants as notices of rejec-tion of their applications and returned by the Post OfficeDepartment as unclaimed, affidavits and statements of witnesses,powers of attorney, and last wills and testaments. The applica-tions are arranged by the number assigned at the time the applica-tion was received. There are some gaps in the applicationnumbers; these are explained on insert sheets at the appropriateplaces on the film. The index is arranged alphabetically byname (either English or Indian) of claimant.

Many of the files contain a cross-reference card to otherapplications. This cross-reference card often refers to the EXfile, the report on exceptions filed by Miller on January 5, 1910.

Related Records

The records reproduced in this microfilm publication arepart of the records in the custody of the National Archives andRecords Service (NARS) designated as Records of the U.S. Court ofClaims, Record Group (RG) 123. Among related records in thisrecord group are additional records relating to Miller's enroll-ment of the Eastern Cherokees. These include receipts for Treasurywarrants and miscellaneous correspondence, 1906-11. The originalof these records is in RG 123; a copy is in RG 75.

Some related records in Records of the Bureau of IndianAffairs, RG 75, have been reproduced as NARS Microfilm PublicationT496, Census Roll, 1835^ of the Cherokee Indians East of theMississippi and Index to the Roll. Also in RG 75 are the classi-fied subject files of the Bureau.

Records Relating to Enrollment of Eastern Cherokees byGuion Miller,, Id08-103 M685, contains the general index to EasternCherokee applications, 2 volumes; the report submitted by GuionMiller, May 28, 1909, 10 volumes; the roll of Eastern Cherokees,May 28, 1909; the report on exceptions filed, January 5, 1910;the supplemental roll of Eastern Cherokees, January 5, 1910;transcripts of testimony, February, 1908-March 1909, 10 volumes;various indexes and rolls of Eastern Cherokee Indians, 1851, 1854,and 1884; and miscellaneous notes and drafts.

Additional records relating to the enrollment of EasternCherokee Indians are in Records of the Office of the Secretaryof the Interior, Record Group 48.

These records were prepared for filming by Jestine Turnerand William D. Grover, who also prepared these introductoryremarks.

CONTENTS

Roll

23456789101112131415161718192021222324*25262728293031323334353637383940

Description

Roll of Eastern Cherokees

General Index to EasternCherokee ApplicationsVolumes 1 and 2

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

1-4546-136137-224225-331332-420421-514515-596597-681682-778779-859860-964965-10821083-11751176-12671268-13621363-14551456-15451546-16421643-17351736-18201821-19101911-20012002-21132114-22292230-23392340-24322433-25342535-26372638-27432744-28412842-29472948-30493050-31473148-32503251-33423343-34423443-35403541-36473648-37473748-3847

Roll

414243444546474849505152535455565758596061626364656667686970717273747576777879808182838485868788

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do,do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

38483950405841584229432844274556466247724880498550905190529053955493559256915790.589059906090'619062906392648265816684678868896992709272037303-7404-7505-7605-7705-7805-7905-8007-8116-8217-8317-8417-8517-8618-

-3949-4057-4157-4228•4327-4426•4555•4661-4771-4879•4984•5089•5189• 5289-5394•5492•5591-5690• 5789•5889-5989•6089-6189-6289-6391-6481•6580-6683-6787•6888-6991-7091•7202-7302•7403•7504-7604•7704•7804•7904•8006•8115•8216•8316•8416-8516•8617•8720

Roll

8990919293949596979899100101102103104105106107108109110111112113114115116117118119120121122123124125126127128129130131132133134135136137

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

8721-88188819-89188919-90199020-91199120-92199220-93179318-94169417-95159516-96159616-97159716-98159816-99009901-1000010001-1010010101-1020010201-1030010301-1040010401-1050010501-1060010601-1070010701-1080010801-1090010901-1100011001-1110011101-1120011201-1130011301-1140011401-1150011501-1160011601-1170011701-1180611807-1190011901-1200012001-1210012101-1220012201-1235012351-1250012501-1265012651-1280012801-1295012951-1310013101-1325013251-1340013401-1355013551-1370013701-1385013851-1400014001-1415014151-14300

Roll

138139140141142143144145146147148149150151152153154155156157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

14301-14451-14601-14751-14901-15051-15201-15351-15501-15651-15801-15951-16101-16251-16401-16551-16701-16851-17001-17151-17301-17451-17601-17751-17901-18051-18201-18351-18501-18651-18801-18951-19101-19251-19401-19551-19701-19851-20001-20151-20301-20451-20601-20751-20901-21051-21201-21351-

144501460014750149001505015200153501550015650158001595016100162501640016550167001685017000171501730017450176001775017900180501820018350185001865018800189501910019250194001955019700198502000020150%20300

• 2045020600•20750•20900•21050• 21200•21350•21500

Roll

186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205206207208209210211212213214215216217218219220221222223224225226227228229230231232

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

21501-21651-21801-21951-22101-22251-22401-22551-22701-22851-23001-23151-23301-23451-23601-23751-23901-24051-24201-24351-24501-24651-24801-24951-25101-25251-25401-25551-25701-25851-26001-26151-26301-26451-26601-26751-26901-27051-27201-27351-27501-27651-2780127951281012825128401

21650-21800-21950-22100-22250-22400-22550-22700-22850-23000-23150-23300-23450-23600-23750-23900-24050-24200-24350-24500-24650-24800-24950-25100-25250-25400-25550-25700-25850-26000-26150-26300-26450-26600-26750-26900-27050-27200-27350-27500-27650-27800-27950-28100-28250-28400-28550

Roll

233234235236237238239240241242243244245246247248249250251252253254255256257258259260261262263264265266267268269270271272273274275276277278279

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

28551-28701-28851-29001-29151-29301-29451-29601-29751-29901-30051-30201-30351-30501-30651-30801-30951-31101-31251-31401-31551-31701-31851-32001-32151-32301-32451-32601-32751-32901-33051-33201-33351-33501-33651-33801-33951-34101-34251-34401-34551-34701-34851-35001-35151-35301-35451-

•28700•28850•29000•29150•29300• 29450•29600•29750•29900•30050•30200•303503050030650308003095031100312503140031550317003185032000321503230032450326003275032900330503320033350335003365033800339503410034250344003455034700348503500035150353003545035600

10

Roll

280281282283284285286287288289290291292293294295296297298299300301302303304305306307308309310311312313314315316317318319320321322323324325326

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

35601-35751-35901-36051-36201-36351-36501-36651-36801-36951-37101-37251-37401-37551-37701-37851-38001-38151-38301-38451-38601-38751-38901-39051-39201-39351-39501-39651-39801-39951-40101-40251-40401-40551-40701-40851-41001-41151-41301-41451-41601-41751-41901-42051-42201-42351-42501-

357503590036050362003635036500366503680036950371003725037400.3755037700378503800038150383003845038600387503890039050392003935039500396503980039950401004025040400405504070040850410004115041300414504160041750•419004205042200•423504250042650

11

Roll

327328329330331332333334335336337338339340341342343344345346347348

Description

Applicationsdo.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.do.

ApplicationNumbers

42651-42801-42951-43101-43251-43401-43551-43701-43851-44001-44151-44301-44451-44601-44751-44901-45051-45201-45351-45501-45651-45751-

42800429504310043250434004355043700438504400044150443004445044600•447504490045050452004535045500456504575045857

GSA DC-01102917

12