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Enrolling as Cherokee Freedmen: Social Networks of Rejected Applicants

Caroline Starr

At the start of the war, Caroline Starr (Freedmen applicant) was enslaved by Zeke Starr (Cherokee). She was taken out of the Cherokee Nation during the war, and she attested that she had returned around November 15, 1866, supported by the affidavits of three witnesses. However, a letter from E. W. Buffington, testifying for the Nation, stated that Caroline, who belonged to a relative of his, did not return to the Nation until the fall of 1867.

Because Caroline’s name was not on the 1880 Cherokee roll, or any other roll, she was ultimately denied enrollment. Caroline wrote two letters on May 9 and 10, 1904, requesting a rehearing to contest this decision. These letters alleged that she had secured the testimony of a “white lady” who could give evidence of her return to the Cherokee Nation in 1866. However, this was considered too indefinite by the commission and ultimately not accepted as evidence.

Caroline also applied for her son, John (Johnie) Wesley McClure, who was born in 1886 or 1887. John’s father, Jesse McClure, was not a Cherokee citizen, and had been dead for several years. Because John’s name was not on the 1880 roll, or any other roll, he was also denied enrollment.

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