Irregularities in the legal status of the Cherokees on the Mullay Roll of 1848,  led to the decision to take another census in 1851. This census was to include all Cherokees residing in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama and was to be taken by David W. Siler. Johnson Rogers accused Siler and his interpreter, George W. Hayes, of being in collusion with William Thomas; they were supposedly adding names of ineligibles to the rolls while ignoring the names of others who deserved inclusion. Siler's roll, submitted in October, listed 1,961 eligible Cherokees as well as information on many more on whom the Indian Office would decide. The final number adjudged eligible was 2,133.

The Chapman Roll of 1852, prepared by Albert Chapman, is a listing of those Cherokee actually receiving payment based on the Silar census of 1851.