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Crawford County, Arkansas
James Christopher Columbus ROGERS, et. al.
VS.
The Cherokee Citizenship Commission
Case Number 168
********************************************************************************* IN THE UNITED STATES COURT IN THE INDIAN TERRITORY
NORTHERN DISTRICT AT MUSKOGEE
JAMES C. C. ROGERS ET AL
VS
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Muskogee, Oklahoma
#168 REPORT OF SPECIAL MASTER
THE CHEROKEE NATION
I, N. A. Gibson, Special Master here in, show to the Court that under the general order heretofore made, I have examined the proof and pleadings in this cause, and that I find as follows:
I. That this cause was filed on September 8, 1896, before the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, the claimants making application for admission to the Cherokee Nation of Indians as citizens by blood. That on November 7, 1896, the cause was tried by the said Commission, and the Application denied, no reasons being given for the decision. That on January 7, 1897, the parties appealed to this court.
II
That this application was made by James C. C. Rogers and wife, Martha J. Meadors Rogers, and their children Howe L., Rose., Lillie M., John C., William E., Charles W., Daisy B., Mary M. and Pink A. Rogers, the son and grandchildren of John Rogers, deceased. That a number of these children of J. C. C. Rogers appear hereafter with the names of their own children, thus making their names appear twice in this list of claimants, Rose A. Rousey, nee Rogers, and her husband George W. Rousey and their children Myrtle and May Rousey, this claimant being one of the children of J. C. C. Rogers; Andrew Stone, a grandson of John Rogers, and his children Arthur, Arvill, Dallas, Elbert A. and Sadie E. Stone; John W. Rogers, a grandson of John Rogers, and his wife Adrella and their children Ralph, Audery(?) and Homer Rogers; Martha J. Meadors, granddaughter of John Rogers, and her husband Willis V. Meadors, and their children Charles, Carrie, John P. and Roscoe Meadors; Sarah C. Harp, a granddaughter of John Rogers, and her children Eme1ine, Robert W., Dora Mae, Nora E., Henry F., Cora N., Thomas E., Mackie E., Wardie C., and Margie B. Harp; William E. Lawson, a grandson of John Rogers, his wife Lelah J. and their children John W., Rose A., Mary L., Jake and Robert L. Lawson; Jacob W. Meadors, the husband of Eliza Meadors, deceased, who was a granddaughter of John Rogers, and their children Mary and Bonnie Meadors. Alfred Rogers, a grandson of John Rogers, and his children Jessie Lee, Cassie M., Stella R., William A., Charles E. and Zelma N. Rogers; Niada B. Moses, a (great) granddaughter of John Rogers, her husband Levi Moses and their children Jesse C. and William V. Moses; Joseph C. Daily, a great-grandson of John Rogers, his wife Armelia J. Daily and their children Jesse W., Mary R., Leona and Ola N. Daily; John B. F. Daily, a great-grandson of John Rogers, his wife Amanda M. Daily and their children Ralph E. and James W. Daily; Sarah E. Rogers, the wife of John C. Rogers deceased, a son of John Rogers, and her children Benton B., James C. C., Jr., Mary C. and Lodynn E. Rogers; Joseph E. Chastain, a great-grandson of John Rogers, his wife Katie and their children William E and William J. Chastain; Howard L. Wallace, the husband of Mary F. Wallace deceased, who was a great granddaughter of John Rogers, and their children Florence E., Maud A., Viola A., and Ollie B. Wallace; Chas. Matthews, a grandson of John Rogers) his wife Maria E., and their children William E. and Chas. D. Matthews; William E. Rogers, a grandson of John Rogers, his wife Hannah and their children Savilla M., Julia A., James M., Charles M., and Dora M. Rogers; Amanda C. Daily, a granddaughter of John Rogers, her husband William M. Daily and their children Joseph C., Madison H., John B. F., Niada B. and Andrew J. Daily; Lucinda E. Gage, the great-grand-daughter of John Rogers, her husband William T. and their children Jesse W. and Walter W. Gage; William H. Chastain, a grandson of John Rogers, his wife Belinda P. Chastain and their children William J., Nancy E., Joseph E., Lucinda E. and John E. Chastain; Mary E.. Creekmore, a granddaughter of John Rogers, and her children W. T. A., Evert H., Martha A., William R., Jessie S. and David E Creekmore; Robert Abel, the husband of Elizabeth Abel, deceased, who was the granddaughter of John Rogers and his children Walter L., Edward B., Mary M. Leonard, Charlie, Clara and Emsy Abel; Benjamin F. Chastain, a grandson of, John Rogers, and his wife Julie A. and their children Nancy M., Martha J., George W., William E. Amanda C., Robert F., Mary D., Norma 0. and James B. Chastain, and their granddaughter Roma Fite; Thomas Stone, a grandson of John Rogers, and his children John, Oscar, Denver, Guy, and Erastus Stone; Mary E. Meadors, a granddaughter of John Roger£, her husband John P. Meadors and their children Euphemia and Roland Meadors; Nancy P. Meadors, a granddaughter of John Rogers, her husband Reuben J. and their children Drusilla, Jessie, Andrew J. and William H. Meadors; LaFayette G. Chastain, his wife Margaret and their children Benjamin L., Laura 0., Mary E., Joseph C., Willie D. and Charlie L. Chastain; Madison H. Daily, a great-grandson of John Rogers, his wife Dora E. and their children Almer F. and Amanda H. Daily; Nancy E. Rhodes, a great granddaughter of John Rogers, her husband Isaac N. and their children Lizzie, Carrie E., Jessie N., and Ollie Belle Rhodes; Lillie M. Hassett, a granddaughter of John Rogers, her husband Abe and their children Emmet and Jewel Hassett; James H. Rogers, a son of James Rogers and a grandson of John Rogers, his wife Martha L. Rogers and their children Robert B., Samuel C., John C., Franklin L. and James 0. Rogers, all of whom live in the Indian Territory, except the last named family, who are residents of the State of Alabama.
III
These parties base their claim to Cherokee citizenship upon the fact that John Rogers, the ancestor through whom they claim, was a Cherokee Indian by blood, who was born in the State of Georgia, and left' there in the year 1843. expecting to come to the Cherokee Nation, but learning of some internal trouble in that Nation, he located near Van Buren, Arkansas, where he remained until his death, and where the principal claimant herein was born.
The parties file in support of their application the testimony of John T. Adair, taken before the Citizenship Commission of the Cherokee Nation on March 15, 1888, at which time J. C. C. Rogers presented his application for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation to that Commission. They also presented the affidavits of John L. McCoy, Sarah Tacket, George W. Simms, John R. Meadors, E.B. Chastain, Nancy M. Chastain, John Gott, C. W. B. Meadors, J. W. Tacket, and John S. Chastain. The appellee files in defense the transcript of the proceedings before the Cherokee Commission on Citizenship, showing that these claimants made application to that Commission on October 5, 1887, which application was finally decided on March 17, 1888, the Commission deciding that the applicants were not entitled to any rights and privileges of Cherokee citizens by virtue of such blood. (See the last two lines of the decision of that Commission, attached to the answer of the Cherokee Nation herein.) They also file the copies of a number of the affidavits filed by the Claimants herein, taken before the said Citizenship Commission, to wit: J. W. Tackett, Sarah Tackett, John S. Chastain, John T. Adair, Mrs. Susan Harris, Joseph C. Chastain, E. B. Chastain, John R. Meadors, G. W. B. Meadors and George W. Simms, and the Cherokee Nation further says that John Rogers, the ancestor through whom these petitioners claim, has never been a citizen of the Cherokee Nation since the removal west, and that this matter has been full adjudicated by the said Citizenship Commission of the Cherokee Nation in the decision above referred to.
IV
That the testimony of these witnesses shows that James C. C. Rogers, the principal applicant, is the son of John Rogers, who was the son of Enoch Rogers and Katie Rogers, nee Pettit, both of whom were recognized Cherokee Indians by blood. That John Rogers came from the State of Georgia in the year 1843, to Van Buren, Arkansas, near the line of the Cherokee Nation, and lived there until his death, and that these claimants have resided in the Indian Territory, most of them in the Cherokee Nation, with the exception above noted, for the past ten years or more. That the decision of the Cherokee Commission on Citizenship cited above does not declare that the claimants are not of Cherokee blood and descent, but that they are not entitled to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation.
V
The claimants contend that under the showing made by them, that they are descended from John Rogers, who was a Cherokee Indian by blood, they are entitled to citizenship in the Cherokee Nation, while the appellee contends that under the statement that John Rogers never resided in the present Cherokee Nation, and was never enrolled as a citizen thereof after the removal west to the present location, and further in view of the fact that the application of these claimants for citizenship in the Cherokee Nation was denied by a duly authorized Commission on March 17, 1888, these claimants are now barred from being admitted to the Cherokee Nation as citizens thereof by blood.
VI
The premises considered, I find that the claimants are the descendants of John Rogers and his parents Enoch Rogers and Katie Rogers, nee Pettit, all of whom were Cherokee Indians by blood; that none of these ancestors ever resided within the present limits of the Cherokee Nation, and that they have not been enrolled as citizens thereof since the removal of the Cherokee Nation to its present location, and that none of these applicants have ever been so enrolled; and further that the claimants reside in the Cherokee Nation, and have so resided for the past 9 or 10 years, and that they are persons of Cherokee Blood. 10 June 1897, N.A. Gibson, Special Master. ************************************************************************
I post this information in the hopes of finding other family members that descend from this line... This laswuit has several factual errors. These errors being the Special Master's ruling that Enoch Rogers was a Cherokee by blood. This is not true, many records document Enoch Rogers was a white man, intermarried to Catherine Pettit. The Special Master's ruling that Catherine Pettit was a Pettit by birth is also not true. Testimony and family records document that Catherine was born a Teague. She first married Enoch Rogers, my ancestors. Catherine next married Thomas Pettit, Jr., a son of Nanny Downing. Catherine and her adult Pettit children voluntarily emigrated to the new Cherokee Nation in 1832. Federal archive records document this removal, so the Special Master's ruling that none of these people's ancestors had ever resided in the New Cherokee Nation was also in error. What I have learned in researching this is this line of Rogers tied to the Treaty of New Echota, signed in 1832, this was the treaty that provided forced emigration. This statement is also documented by the above Special Master in his ruling. The long and short of the matter is these family members were denied due to the politics of the times. A reading of any Cherokee history will document the near civil war conditions that exsisted in the New Cherokee Nation. The Special Master stated my ancestors settled in Arkansas due to "some internal trouble in the new nation" I invite any family that ties to this branch of my family to join me in questioning the whys of our lack of citizenship in the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation. Politics of 1838 should be set aside, the Old Settlers should be forgiven and their descendants should be allowed to obtain citizenship... I have a site at My Family.com where all the records pertaining to this case can be found. To visit email me for a link. Other research sites in my web ring:
Genealogy.com site with links to other sites (http://www.genealogy.com/users/j/o/h/Susan-Dailey-Johnson-OK/>
Family Tree Files (http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/j/o/h/Susan-Dailey-Johnson)
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