Native American Heritage

Baker Roll, 1924–1929 (Eastern Cherokee)

Historical Overview

On June 4, 1924, Congress passed an act (43 Stat. 376) authorizing the federal government to take the Eastern Band of Cherokee’s lands into trust and to allot these lands to eligible tribal members. Section 2 of the act charged the Secretary of the Interior with preparing an Eastern Cherokee membership roll that would be used in the allotment process.

The Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission was established to create the membership roll. The Commission consisted of A. W. Simington (special allotting agent), James E. Henderson (superintendent of the Cherokee Agency), Gertrude L. Dalton (assistant clerk), Gladys M. Fowler (assistant clerk and court reporter), and Fred A. Baker (examiner of inheritance).

The Commission made a tentative list of Eastern Cherokee members based on multiple previous rolls:

1835 Census of Cherokees Living East of the Mississippi River
- Also known as the Henderson Roll
1851 Chapman Roll
1884 Hester Roll
1907 Council Roll
1908 Churchill Roll
1909 Eastern Cherokee Roll
- Also known as the Guion Miller Roll

The Henderson Roll, the Chapman Roll, and the Hester Roll are part of the series “Eastern Cherokee Census Rolls, 1835–1884” (National Archives Identifier: 2110769). This series is digitized in the National Archives Catalog.

The 1907 Council Roll is in the series “Council Roll of Eastern Band of Cherokee, 1907–1907” (National Archives Identifier: 2123972).

The 1908 Churchill Roll is in the series “Rolls of Eastern Band of Cherokee, 1908–1908” (National Archives Identifier: 2123980).

The Guion Miller Roll is part of the series “Guion Miller Report and Exhibits, 1908–1910” (National Archives Identifier: 300329). This series is digitized on multiple websites. Please see Guion Miller Roll: How to Access the Records for more information.

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Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission's reasons for rejecting Annie Idonia Aylett's Baker Roll application, No. 144 (National Archives Identifier: 2123998)

View in National Archives Catalog

However, others who claimed Cherokee ancestry also sought inclusion on the roll. The Commission asked these individuals to complete standardized application forms and, in some cases, to submit additional evidence to support their claims. According to Baker’s final report, 3,833 applications were filed, which involved 11,979 individuals.

Of these applications, 1,924 were uncontested, 1,229 were contested cases that were approved, and 687 were apparently not accepted. Reasons for rejecting applications included:

Applicant’s ancestors had not been enrolled as members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Applicant or applicant’s parents were not in the state of North Carolina on October 23, 1874
Applicant or applicant’s parents were not enrolled in 1868, or since that year
Lack of evidence of applicant’s affiliation and association with the Eastern Band of Cherokee
Applicant was not recognized as a member by the tribe
Lack of evidence of applicant’s contribution to the purchase of the Qualla Boundary or other tribal lands
Applicant was a member of the Western Cherokees
Any previous rights of the applicant were lost through non-affiliation with the Eastern Band
Applicant’s parents (one being white) were married since June 7, 1897, apart from community

Baker and the Enrolling Commission eventually enrolled 3,146 individuals as Eastern Cherokee members. On December 1, 1928, Baker submitted his “final” roll to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, who in turn submitted his own report and related records to the Secretary of the Interior.

On March 4, 1931, Congress amended the act of June 4, 1924. The amendment halted the allotment of Eastern Cherokee lands and declared the Baker Roll to be a final roll for membership purposes only (46 Stat. 1518).

For additional background information about the Baker Roll, please see the M2104 descriptive pamphlet.

Records Overview

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Sample Page from the Baker Roll (National Archives Identifier: 2124048)

View in National Archives Catalog

The Baker Roll includes the following information about enrolled Eastern Cherokee members:

Name
Enrollment number
Relationship to head of family
Sex
Age in 1926
Date of birth
Degree of Cherokee blood
Degree of other Indian blood (if relevant)
1908 Churchill Roll number (if relevant)
1884 Hester Roll number (if relevant)

A remarks column indicates if a member’s application was contested or appealed, if they died during the enrollment process, if they were married to a white person, and other information.

Applications for inclusion on the Baker Roll can include the following information:

Applicant's name (including maiden name, if relevant), age, residence, and degree of Indian blood
Name of ancestor from whom the applicant claimed descent and their relationship to the ancestor
Evidence for Cherokee lineage (including roll numbers, if applicable)
Father’s name, degree of Indian blood (if relevant), and residence

Mother’s maiden name, degree of Indian blood (if relevant), and residence
Spouse’s name and degree of Indian blood (if relevant)
Children’s names, degrees of Indian blood, ages, and residences (if relevant)
Paternal grandparents’ names
Maternal grandparents’ names

In addition to the standardized forms that applicants submitted, many application files also include affidavits of witnesses, notices of hearings, receipts of notices, notices of decisions, appeals, and correspondence. Not all application files include each of these documents.

How to Access the Records

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Sample page from Luther Baker's Baker Roll application, No. 157 (National Archives Identifier: 2123998)

View in National Archives Catalog

The Baker Roll and related records, including applications, are microfilmed as Microfilm Publication M2104, The 1928 Baker Roll and Records of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1924–1929.

Specifically, M2104 includes the following series of textual records:

“Rolls of Eastern Band of Cherokee, 1928–1928” (National Archives Identifier: 2124048)
“Applications and Related Records Concerning the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1925–1928” (National Archives Identifier: 2123998)
“Correspondence of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1925–1928” (National Archives Identifier: 2124006)
“Numerical Indexes to Enrollment Records Concerning the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1929–1929” (National Archives Identifier: 2123993)
“Alphabetical Index to Names Appearing in Testimony of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1929–1929” (National Archives Identifier: 2124024)
“Transcripts of Testimony of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1927–1928” (National Archives Identifier: 2124030)
“Decisions of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1926–1928” (National Archives Identifier: 2124046)
“Report Concerning the Findings of the Eastern Cherokee Enrolling Commission, 1930–1930” (National Archives Identifier: 2124068)

M2104 is digitized and available online through Ancestry.com (database titled “U.S., Cherokee Baker Roll and Records, 1924–1929”). This database is searchable by name, date, place, and keyword.

The M2104 descriptive pamphlet includes a name index to the Baker Roll applications.

Related Records

Microfilm Publications

Eastern Cherokee Enumeration: Selected Microfilmed Records
M1773, Eastern Cherokee Census Rolls, 1835–1884 (National Archives Identifier: 2110769)
- For more information about these records, see "Eastern Cherokee Census Rolls, 1835–1884" (History Hub blog post).
Guion Miller Roll, 1906–1911

Textual Records

The following records are in Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and are located at the National Archives in Washington, DC (Archives 1). For questions related to these records, please contact the Archives 1 Reference Branch at archives1reference@nara.gov.

“Correspondence, Reports, and Related Records Concerning Eastern Cherokee Enrollment, 1907–1916” (National Archives Identifier: 2123964)
“Copybook of Special Agent Charles L. Davis Relating to the Enrollment of Eastern Cherokee, 1910–1911” (National Archives Identifier: 2123991)
“Central Classified Files, 1907–1939” (National Archives Identifier: 300324)
- See File 93679-1924-311 Cherokee School [14 parts].
“Oversized Records, ca. 1859–1934” (National Archives Identifier: 2123822)
- This series includes multiple files relating to the 1908 Churchill Roll.
- For descriptions of these files, see National Archives Identifiers: 5678943, 5678946, 5678947, and 5678955.