Chief Opechancanough Mangopeesomon Powhatan ¹

   Other names for Opechancanough were Chief Opechancanough Mangopeesomon of the Powhatan, Confederacy, Opechankeno, Opechanko and Don Luis de Valasco.

  General Notes:

?Facts and Events
NameOpchanacanough of the Pamunkey
Alt NameChief Opechancanough Mangopeesomon of the Powhatan, Confederacy
Baptismal NameDon Luis de Valasco
Alt NameOpechankeno
Alt NameOpechanko
Alt Name[10]Opechancanough means "at the waterfall" in English
Alt Name[7]Opekankanough
GenderMale
Alt Birth?1545Cinquoateck, Virginia, USA
Residence[9]Youghtanund, Virginia, USA
his seat of power
Birth[1]abt 1554
Marriageabt 1600
to
Marriage1618Jamestown, Virginia, USA
(near Jamestown)
to Nonoma "Cleopatra"
Death[2][1]1646
While a prisoner, Opechancanough was killed by a soldier, who shot him in the back while assigned to guard him.
Reference Number?
Q1446212?

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Opechancanough or Opchanacanough (1554-1646) was a tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States, and its leader from sometime after 1618 until his death in 1646. His name meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatan language. He was the famous Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother).

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Opchanacanough. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
Opechancanough or Opchanacanough (1554-1646) was a tribal chief of the Powhatan Confederacy of what is now Virginia in the United States, and its leader from sometime after 1618 until his death in 1646. His name meant "He whose Soul is White" in the Algonquian Powhatan language. He was the famous Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother). At the time of the English settlement at Jamestown which was established in May of 1607, Opechancanough was a much-feared warrior and a charismatic leader of the Powhatans. As Chief Powhatan's younger brother (or possibly half-brother), he headed a tribe situated along the Pamunkey River near the present-day town of West Point. Known to be strongly opposed to the European settlers, he captured John Smith of Jamestown along the Chickahominy River and brought him before Chief Powhatan at Werowocomoco, one the two capital villages of the Powhatans. Located along the northern shore of the present-day York River, Werowocomoco is the site where the famous incident with Powhatan's young daughter Pocahontas intervening on Smith's behalf during a ceremony is thought to have occurred, based upon Smith's account.

[edit]
? Massacres
Openchancanough was responsible for both the massacre of 1622 and the massacre of 1644.

The natives and the colonists came into increasingly irreconcilable conflicts as the land-hungry export crop, tobacco (which had been first developed by Rolfe), became the cash crop of the colony. The relationship became even more strained as ever-increasing numbers of Europeans arrived and began establishing "hundreds" and plantations along the navigable rivers.

Beginning with the Indian massacre of 1622, Chief Opechancanough abandoned diplomacy with the English settlers of the Virginia Colony as a means of settling conflicts and tried to force them to abandon the region. On the morning of Friday, March 22, 1622, approximately a third of the settlers in Virginia were killed during a series of coordinated attacks along both shores of the James River, extending from Newport News Point, near the mouth of the river, all the way to Falling Creek, near the fall line at the head of navigation. The colony eventually rebounded, however, and later hundreds of natives were killed in retaliation, many poisoned by Dr. John Potts at Jamestown. See Wikipedia article Indian Massacre of 1622

Chief Opechancanough launched one more major effort to get rid of the colonists on April 18, 1644. In 1646, forces under Royal Governor William Berkeley captured Opechancanough, at the time believed to be between 90 or 100 years old. While a prisoner, Opechancanough was killed by a soldier, who shot him in the back while assigned to guard him. He was succeeded as Weroance first by Nectowance, then by Totopotomoi, and later by his daughter, Cockacoeske, Totopotomoi's wife. Cockacoeske had a concubine relationship with Colonel John West, who was the son of the Governor of Virginia.

[edit]
?Death
Chief Opechancanough launched one more major effort to get rid of the colonists on April 18, 1644. In 1646, forces under Royal Governor William Berkeley captured Opechancanough, at the time believed to be between 90 or 100 years old. While a prisoner, Opechancanough was killed by a soldier, who shot him in the back while assigned to guard him. He was succeeded as Weroance first by Nectowance, then by Totopotomoi, and later by his daughter, Cockacoeske, Totopotomoi's wife. Cockacoeske had a concubine relationship with Colonel John West, who was the son of the Governor of Virginia.

[edit]
? Historical marker
V-12 37.335854,-77.051374 Upper Weyanoke V-12 In 1617, Opechancanough, Chief Powhatan's younger brother, gave land to the south to future governor Capt. George Yeardley. Yeardley patented it and a portion became Upper Weyanoke, a James River plantation. Archaeological investigations there revealed an almost unbroken succession of settlements from the late 17th century to the late 19th century. On the grounds is a Greek Revival dwelling completed by 1859 for Robert Douthat. During the Civil War, about 14 June 1864 a pontoon bridge was constructed at Weyanoke Point across the James River for portions of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army. Upper Weyanoke was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Charles City

?References
? 1.0 1.1 Opchanacanough, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
? Opchanacanough, in Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.
Jefferson, Thomas, and William Peden. Notes on the state of Virginia. (Chapel Hill, Virginia: University of North Carolina Press, 1955).
"In 1622, when Raleigh Crashaw was with Japazaw, the Sachem or chief of the Patomacs, Opechancanough, who had great power and influence, being the second man in the nation, and next in succession to Opichapan, and who was a bitter but secret enemy to the English, and wanted to engage his nation in a war with, sent two baskets of beads to the Patomac chief, and desired him to kill the Englishman who was with him. Japazaw replied that the English were his friends, and Opichapan his brother, and that therefore there should be no blood shed between them by his means."

Wood, Norman Barton. Lives of famous Indian chiefs, from Cofachiqui, the Indian princess, and Powhatan, down to and including Chief Joseph and Geronimo: also to answer, from the latest research, of the query, Whence came the Indian?, together with a number of thrilling interesting Indian stories and anecdotes from history. (Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1985), 46.
It was Ope-chan-ca-nough, then sachem of the Pamwnkies, who captured the indomitable Captain Smith while the later was engaged in exploring the Chickahominy river.

Floyd, N. J. Biographical genealogies of the Virginia-Kentucky Floyd families: with notes of some collateral branches. (Williams & Wilkins Co.: Baltimore , 1912).
The writer, feeling confident that the original tradition was
correct, made an exhaustive search for information on that and
many similar matters, and finally found, in the old library of the
Maryland Historical Society, an item of three lines in a fragment of
Jamestown records covering eleven years \emdash 1630 to 1641 \emdash which
furnished in a positive and indisputable form the proof sought.
During the period, covered by the fragment, matters became so
bad between the Whites and Indians, that Opechancanough
was induced to agree upon a line being established which neither
White nor Indian, excepting truce-bearers, should cross under
penalty of being shot on sight. To insure strict obedience to
the compact a law was passed at Jamestown imposing a heavy
penalty on any of the people crossing the line without a special
permit from the Governor's Council and the General Court, ^his
accounts for the item alluded to, which is given verbatim et liter-
atim. In the Council record it reads:

"Dec. 17th, 1641. \emdash Thomas Rolfe petitions Governor to let
him go see Opechankeno to whom he is allied, and Cleopatra, his
mother's sister."

The record of the General Court was evidently intended to be a
verbatim copy, though they differ somewhat in phraseology and
spelling: \emdash

"Dec. 17th, 1641. \emdash Thomas Rolph petitions Gov. to let him
go to see Opechanko, to whom he is allied, and Cleopatre, his
mother's sister."

Willis, Carrie Hunter. Legends of the Skyline Drive and the Great Valley of Virginia. (Richmond: Dietz Press, 1979), 1937.
Excerpt: "Early historians give us some accounts of the various Indians in
Virginia. Opechancanough, a warrior chief from the East, went to war
with Sherando, a member of the Iroquois tribe. Opechancanough in
crossing the mountains on a foraging expedition was once attacked by
Sherando who felt his tribe should not have to share its hunting grounds
with anyone else and resented the invasion. A fierce battle took place,
with no one victor.

Opechancanough liked the country, so when he returned to his town below
Williamsburg on the Chickahominy, he left his son and a few warriors to
watch the hunting grounds which he had found so rich in game. This son,
Shee-wa-a-nee, with his band soon had to fight the main body of the
Iroquois and Sherando drove the Chief east of the mountains.

Opechancanough left the lowlands as soon as the news was brought to him
by runners. He gathered his warriors and set off with a large force. He
fell upon Sherando and in the fierce battles which followed, he slowly
drove him from his grounds, and he never returned from his home near the
Great Lakes.

Sheewa-a-nee was left again in charge of the Hunting Grounds and from
that day the Shawnees held the lovely Valley until the coming of the
white settlers.

The settlers kept many of the Indian names for both mountains and
streams. Opechancanough river was so called for the Great Chief. Legend
and history tell us that in his later years he became blind and could no
longer hunt in the lovely Shenandoah Valley.

There were many tribes of Indians in the country and though they did not
all speak the same language, they did have a common tongue and could
understand each other.

After 1710 all the lands west of the Blue Ridge Mountains were spoken of
as Indian Country. The different tribes evidently had understanding
among themselves about certain boundary lines as individual tribes had
certain domains. When one violated these rights, there was a war in
which whole tribes sometimes would be completely wiped out."

? Frost's pictorial history of Indian wars and captivities, 1872.
Ancient history, or, Annals of Kentucky, 1824.
"1590. Wahun-Sanacoc, King of the Powhatans in Virginia, conquers many tribes, and becomes formidable to all his neighbours, even the Massawomees and Erigas of Kentucky. He adopts Opechan, a wise Shawanee, for his brother, and makes him king of Pamunkey."

Note: this excerpt from a book written in 1824 seems to imply that 1) Opechancanough was Shawnee and 2) he was adopted by Powhatan and not a natural born relative. This passage has been discussed by scholars but I am not aware of any conclusions. cthrnvl

? Orapakes at VirginiaPlaces.org
? Geni.com
Our Family Tree


From Find A Grave:

Paramount Chief of Tsenacomoco, also known as the Powhatan Confederation 1618-1646.

Various historians reference him as the younger brother, half brother or cousin of Chief Powhatan, Opechancanough is most famous for leading assaults on the English settlers in Virginian and for the capture of colonist John Smith.

Opechancanough ordered the Great Assaults of 1622 and 1644 (Anglo-Powhatan Wars) which led to the massacre of thousand of English settlers. In 1646 Opechancanough was captured by an expedition of Virginia governor William Berkeley and brought him to Jamestown where approximately two weeks later he was shot and killed by one of the guards.

There are no written records of where Opechancanough is buried but most historians believe he was buried near his brother Chief Powhatan.

Opechancanough married Nonoma "Cleopatra", daughter of Wauhunsenacawah "Powhatan" and Winanuske Nonoma, in 1618 in Jamestown, James City County, Virginia, USA. (Nonoma "Cleopatra" was born in 1602 in Virginia, USA, died in 1641 in Henrico County, Virginia, USA and was buried in Mardela Memorial Cemetery, Mardela Springs, Wicomico County, Maryland, USA ².)