Choptank Indians. Apparently a tribe consisting of 3 sub-tribes the Ababco, Hutsawap, and Tequassimo formerly living on Choptank River in Maryland. In 1741 they were given a reserve near Secretary Creek, on the south side of Choptank River, in Dorchester County, on the Eastern shore, where a few of mixed Indian and Negro blood still remained in 1837. See: Bozman, Maryland, i, 115, 1837.
Ababco Indians. An eastern Algonquian tribe or subtribe. Although mentioned in the original records of 1741 in connection with the Hutsawaps and Tequassiinoes as a distinct tribe, they were probably only a division of the Choptank. This name is not mentioned in John Smith’s narrative of his exploration of Chesapeake bay. The band lived on Choptank River, Maryland, and in 1741 the Colonial government confirmed them in the possession of their lands on the south side of that stream, in Dorchester County, near Secretary Creek. By 1837 the entire tribe to which they belonged had dwindled to a few individuals … Read more
Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Hutsawap. One of the divisions or sub-tribes of the Choptank, formerly in Dorchester co., Md. Bozman, Maryland, i, 115, 1837.