er 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 J