Cherokee National Orphan Asylum
by William D. Welge, Research Division Director
Bill Welge here with a bit of important genealogical information for those looking for Cherokee ancestors. On microfilm roll CHN – 66 will be several folders regarding the Cherokee National Orphan Asylum. Occasionally the files will include the names of those individuals who are residents at the home. For instance there is a list of 48 females with their names, age, some with date of birth, what district in the Cherokee Nation they were born, their guardian and the guardian’s Post Office address. This is of particular importance because it is in between the Cherokee 1890 census and the United States census of 1900. The youngest resident is 9 years old and the oldest is 19 years old.
More to come……
February 4th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Dear Sir:
My great grandfather, Henry Cloud (not sure of middle name), was at the Cherokee Orphan Asylum at Salina around this time. His parents died when he was a child and he was placed there. he was born in 1874 and my impression is, but i don’t know it for a fact, that his parents died and he was admitted around the age of 10-15 years (1884 - 1890).
We have no idea who his parents were. Do some of these records, at least for older children whose parents died suddenly, include parent information?
Are any of these records digitized?
Thanks,
Jack Cloud
February 8th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
We appreciate your inquiry about your ancestor who may have attended the Cherokee Orphan Asylum. The actual records of the asylum are 99% records of day-to-day operations that will include payment of salaries, purchases of supplies and so forth. There is one 1883 per capita roll listing all students. There is a Chinkey Cloud, but the roll does not distinguish if this person is a male or female and does not provide an age.
I checked a couple of other sources which were far more productive. Your Henry Cloud did indeed attend the Cherokee Orphan Asylum. In a submitted interview dated February 3, 1937 for the Works Progress Administration (WPA) oral interviews of Indians and pioneers, your ancestor, Henry L. Cloud wrote a two page summary of his life. His parents were Sam and Lucy Cloud and he was born 12 miles west of Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation November 5th, 1874. He did not know the names of his grandparents. Henry was ¾ quarters Cherokee.
A second source was found in the biographical files of the OHS. In the one page typewritten sketch, your ancestor was a minister of the gospel and, as I suspected the same Henry Cloud who was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Oklahoma. All of the data found can be copied and sent to you for a nominal fee.
There will likely be other resources that can be found to provide much more information about Reverend Cloud.
Sincerely,
William D. Welge, CA
Director
Research Division