Chesapeake Indian History

Chesapeake. (Algonquian: K'che-sepiack, country on a great giver. Tooker). Little more is known in regard to the name than that it designated also a small Powhatan tribe residing in Princess Anne or Norfolk county, Va., in 1608, and also their principal village, situated, according to Jefferson (Notes, 138,1809 ), on Linnhaven river, in Princess Anne county, a small stream, according to his map, flowing north into Chesapeake bay. Smith says they were seated on the river now called Elizabeth, which falls into Chesapeake bay below Norfolk. Linnhaven, on Jefferson's map, is distinct from and is located east, of Elizabeth river. White's map (Hariot, Narr., Quaritch repr., 1893), drawn in 1585, locates them under the name Ehesepiooc, apparently on the stream indicated by Jefferson. In 1607 they were estimated at 100 warriors, equivalent to perhaps 350 inhabitants; by 1669 they had entirely disappeared as a distinct people.
     On the application of the name Chesapeake see Tooker, Algonquian Series, III, 1901.

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Index of Tribes or Nations

Source: Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, Frederick Webb Hodge, 1906

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