Two step process to search Dawes Final Rolls using Google Books and “search-within-the-book” approach.
Step 1: The first step is to identify the Dawes Roll Card number for the particular person of interest. In this example we will find the card number using a freely available on-line Google book and we will “search-within-the-book”. If you don’t already know the person’s Tribe name, no worries, we can also find that as well.
Step 2: Once you have identified the tribe name and card number you can can select the approriate Enrollment reel from our listing then flip to the appropriate page to see the detailed information.
In our example we will search for Eli Jacob who was in the Choctaw Tribe and obtain documents related to his son Henry Jacob.
Step 1 “search-within-the-book”: Launch the Google book which will be used for our “search-within-the-book” approach by using this link => The Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory
Once the Google Book is open there is a “search inside” option. This is where you enter the person’s name.
This particular book lists the names with last-name then a comma and then first-name. As such enter Jacob, Eli in the “search inside” box and press enter.
Google will return several possible results. Ours happens to be on page 14.
This page provides the Card number necessary for step 2 along with other helpful information including the person’s age and Roll number.
This shows that Eli Jacob’s information can be found on card 843 and/or roll 2173. If you click on the page number (14 in this case) you can then view the page in full detail.
At this point we don’t know his tribe but we can go back a few pages and find that page 14 is in the section for Choctaw Tribe.
Recap: We acquired two critical pieces of information. Eli Jacob was in the Choctaw Tribe and his card number is 843.
Step 2 Enrollment Document:
We now go back to our site and find the appropriate link the enrollment reel for Choctaw by blood with a card number of 843.
http://www.ancestrypaths.com/five-civilized-tribes/
Once on that page, scroll down to the Applications for Enrollment of the Commission to the Five Civilized Tribes,1898-1914 and look for the Choctaw by Blood reel that would contain card number 843.
Reel 0005 Choctaw by Blood 537-857 <= look for this Enrollment Reel
Reel number 0005 contains Choctaw by Blood cards ranging from number 537 to number 857 so our card can be found in that book and will be quite far toward the end.
Last step: Click on Reel 0005 which will open up the book and and flip toward the end to find Eli Jacob on card number 843. Because the book is quite long, you can click on the lower section of the book to advance to a page further into the book. Information for Eli Jacob and his son Henry start on page 1,920 out of 2,107.
Brickwall tip: If you cannot locate your person in the Goggle book listed above you can try a similar “search-within-the-book” approach using an alternative book at this link => Index to the Final Rolls of Citizens and Freedmen of the Five Civilized Tribes in Indian Territory
This alternative book is not my primary recommendation because it only gives you roll number and not card number so you need an additional step to determine which Enrollment Reel to use. Even with that shortfall, it is nice to have a second source, so if you are stuck I recommend searching in both books.