The place name Archer's Hope is older even than Jamestown located several miles upstream from it. Here on May 12, 1607 colonists went ashore to evaluate a spot as a site for their initial settlement. It had advantages, yet it was not possible to bring the ships in close to the shore so the next day they made choice of Jamestown. Gabriel Archer, it appears, liked the spot and it was named in his honor. The site was at the mouth of College (Archer's Hope) Creek, the waterway that may have been used by the Spanish Jesuit missionaries four decades earlier when, in 1570, they were searching for a mission site in Virginia.
Even though the settlers elected not to establish themselves here in 1607, it was in the Jamestown neighborhood and very likely was soon in use. It is clearly established that a distinct community took form within a dozen years. Unfortunately not much is known prior to 1619 when a number of land grants were made to men like William Fairfax, John Fowler, William Capp and Joakim Andrews, most with established Jamestown connections. It was at Archer's Hope that the great massacre reached closest to Jamestown. Five persons were slain "At Ensigne Spence his house." Following the slaughter the settlement appears to have been abandoned with survivors taking refuge elsewhere, perhaps, at Jamestown.
The abandonment was of short duration. On February 16, 1624 some fourteen persons were in residence here, at least three family units and presumably a number of servants. Evidently this was not sufficient to merit representation in the Assembly of 1624. The fact that Archer's Hope had a commander, Thomas Bransby, and that its inhabitants had been cautioned not to go too far from their homes alone, even when armed, leads to the conclusion that there was still danger from the Indian, "the Enemie," even in 1625. At the same time there is evidence of an expanding agriculture and increasing population. Archer's Hope had its disturbers of the peace as well in citizens such as Joseph Johnson who from time to time found himself answering to the General Court.
The census of 1625 named fourteen persons as constituting the settlement of Archer's Hope which then extended to the east as well as to the west of the creek bearing the same name. Each of the four major entries showed a single house although there must have been more than this in aggregate. On a population basis the amount of arms and armor available would indicate that, perhaps, the community had a military cast. Food supplies were about normal, yet no livestock is shown except eight hogs which included "piggs" as well.
Altogether, by this date, at least 3,000 acres of land had been taken up by fifteen persons, many of them "ancient planters." The largest grant, 750 acres, had been to Rev. Richard Buck, minister for Jamestown. Richard Kingsmill had received 300 acres as had Ensign William Spence and John Fowler. Two, William Claiborne and John Jefferson, had 250 acre parcels, but all others had lesser amounts. Only three were shown as "planted." The list omits a grant of some size to George Sandys which was located in the precincts of Archer's Hope but well to the east "on the ponds, dividing from the land of Martin's Hundred." On the west Archer's Hope was separated from James City's "Neck-of-Land" by the Jamestown parish glebe land.
["Neck-of-Land neare James Citty" (46)]
This area lay behind Jamestown Island on the mainland between Mill and Powhatan Creeks. Even though separated from "James Citty" only by the narrow Back River and its marshes, settlement seemingly was delayed for a decade. At least the records are silent on the matter if colonists did establish here in the first years.
It clearly emerges as an established settlement in 1624 when its population was given at twenty-five persons including at least four families with servants and dependents. That same year it sent its own burgess to the Assembly at Jamestown, its most prominent resident, Richard Kingsmill. Early in 1625 the population stood at eighteen, six freemen, three women, three children, five servants and a single negro. A comparison of the names given in 1624 with those in 1625 points up the shifting of persons that must have been a part of the Virginia scene at this time. As might be expected from its proximity, a number of the residents of the "Neck-of-Land" had property also at Jamestown or in the Island.
The 1625 muster listings included six houses, a boat, twenty-six and a half barrels of corn as well as some "flesh," fish, and meal. Livestock embraced eleven cattle and thirty-one hogs, "yong & old." There was only one "armour" and two "coats of male" yet small arms, shot and powder were in greater supply. The General Court records offer an occasional glimpse of life here in these years. There was, for example, the decision in 1624 that the "lands and goods" of John Phillmore, who died without a will, should be given to Elizabeth Pierce "unto whom he was assured and ment to have maryed."