YALE UNIVC^^ilTY
FEB 23 1921

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Bulletins of the Historical Commission of
South Carolina. — No. 5

Parris Island
The Site of the First Attempt at a Settlement
of White People Within the Bounds
of W^hat Is Now South Carolina

By A, S. SALLEY, Jr.
Secretary of the Commission

Printed for the Commission by
The State Company
Columbia, S. C.
1919

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[R9(>roduced from a French print in possession of Prof. Yates Snowden,]

Bulletins of the Historical Commission of
South Carolina. — No. 5

Parris Island
The Site of the First Attempt at a Settlement
of W^hite People Within the Bounds
of What Is Now South Carolina

By A. S. SALLEY, Jr.
Secretary of the Commission

Printed for the Commission by
The State Company
Columbia, S. C.
1919

C L SI,

I Ob

During the reign of Charles IX of France he sent an expedi
tion to make explorations on the coast of that part of the Ameri
can Continent known as Florida. One of the officers in charge of
the expedition was Rene Laudonniere, who, a few years later,
prepared an a,ccount of Florida and the several voyages of dis
covery thither in which he participated. This narrative was pub
lished in France by Martine Basanier about twenty years later,
and in 1587 was translated into English and reprinted by Richard
Hakluyt. The following are excerpts from Laudonniere 's ac
count of his first voyage :
My Lord Admirall of Ohastilloni, a noble man more desirous of the pub
lique then of his priuate beneflte, vnderstanding the pleasure of the King
his prince, which was to discouer new and strange Countreys, caused
vessels fit for this purpose to be made ready with all diligence, and men
10 bee leuied meete for such an enterprise: Among whom hee chose Cap-
taine lohn Ribault, a man in trueth expert in sea causes : which hauing
receiued his charge, set himselfe to Sea the yeere 1562. the eighteenth of
Februarie, accompanied onely with two of the kings shippes, but so well
furnished with Gentlemen, (of whose number I myselfe was one) and with
olde Souldiers, that he had meanes to achieue some notable thing and
worthy of eternal! memorie. Hauing therefore sayled two moneths, neuer
holding the usuall course of the Spaniards, hee arriued in Florida, landing
neere a Cape or Promontorie, which is no high lande, because the coast is
all flatte, but onely rising by reason of the high woods, which at his arriuall
he called Cape Frangois in honour of our France.
Laudonniere next describes their progress up the coast explor
ing the mouths of the several rivers that empty into the ocean
along the coasts of what are now the States of Florida, Georgia
and South Carolina. After recounting the results of several days
of exploring, he writes :
Neuerthelesse not fully satisfied we sayled yet further toward the North,
following the course that might bring vs to the Riuer of lordan one of the
fairest Riuers of the North,2 and holding our wonted course, great fogges
and tempests came vpon vs, which constrained vs to leaue the coast to
beare toward the maine Sea, which was the cause we lost the sight of our
Pinnesses a whole day and a night vntill the next day in the morning,
what time the weather waxing faire and the Sea calme wee discoured a
iGaspard Collignl.
2Supposed to be the Combahee, which Vasquez had discovered forty years before
and named the Jordan, and of which he had written enthusiastically.

4 • - ,
Riuer which we called Belle a veoir. After wee had sayled three or four
leagues, wee began to espie our Pinnesses which came straight toward vs,
and at their arriuall they reported to the Captalne, that while the fogges
and wild weather endured they harboured themselues in a mightle Riuer
which in bignesse and beautie exceeded the former : wherewithall the Cap
talne was exceeding ioyfull, for his chiefe desire was to flnde out an
Hauen to harbour his shippes, and there to refresh our selues for a while;
Thus making thitherward wee arriued athwart the sayde Riuer, (which
because of the fairnesse and largenesse thereof wee named Port Royall)
wee strooke our sailes and cast anker at ten fathom of water: for the
depth is such, namely when the Sea beginneth to flowe, that the greatest
shippes of France, yea, the ArguKes of Venice may enter in there.
After describing their landing, their reception by Indians and
their explorations, observations and discoveries in the vicinity
Laudonniere continues:
Notwithstanding wee returned to our .shippes, where after wee had
bene but one night, the Captaine in the morning commanded to put into
the Pinnesse a pillar of hard stone fashioned like a columne, wherein the
armes of the king of France were grauen, to plant the same in the fairest
place that he could finde. This done, wee imbarked ourselues, and sayled
three leagues towards the West : where wee discouered a little riuer vp
which we sayled so long, that in the ende we found it returned into the
great current, and in his returne to make a litle Hand separated from the
firme land where wee went on shore: and by commandement of the Cap
taine, because it was exceeding faire and pleasant, there wee planted the
Pillar vpon a hillock open round about to the view, and Inuironed with
a lake halfe a fathom deepe of very good and sweete wnter.
After relating their experiences during the next few days Laii:
donniere proceeds:
Captaine Ribault therefore knowing the singular fairenes of this riuer.
desired by all meanes to encourage some of his men to dwell there, well
foreseeing that this thing might be of great importance for the Kin.gs
seruiee. and the reliefe of the Common wealth of France.
Laudonniere next describes the preparations Ribault made for
leaving a colony at Port Royal and the speech he made to his
men exhorting them to begin a settlement there. He then relates
their response thereto, as follows :
He had scurfely ended his Oration, but the greatesf part of our souldiers
replyed : that a greater pleasure could neuer betide them, perceiuiug well
the acceptable seruiee which by this meanes they shoulde doe vnto their
I'rince : besides that this thing should be for the increase of their honours :
therefore they besought the Captaine, before he departed out of the place.
to begin to build them a Fort, which they hoped afterwards to finish, and
Id lenue them munition neressarie for their defence, shewing as it seemed

that they were displeased, that it was so long in doing. Wherevpon lohn
Ribault being as glad as might be to see his men so well willing, deter
mined the next day to search the most fit and conuenient place to be
inhabited. Wherefore he embarked himselfe very earely in the morning
and commanded them to followe him that were desirous to Inhabite there,
to the intent that they might like the beter of the place. Hauing sayled vp
the great riuer on the North side, in coasting an Isle which ended with a
sharpe point toward the mouth of the riuer, hauing sailed a while, he dis
couered a small riuer. which entred into the Islaude, which hee would not
faile to search out. Which done, and finding the same deep inough to
harbour therein Gallies and Galliots in good number, proceeding further, he
found a very open place, ioyuing vpon the brinke thereof, where he went on
land, and seeing the place fit to build a Fortresse in, and commodious for
them that were willing to plant there, he resolued incontinent to cause the
bignes of the fortification to be measured out. And considering that there
stayed but sixe and twentie there, he caused the Fort to be made in length
but sixteene fathome, and thirteene in breadth, with flanljes according to
the proportion thereof. The measure being taken by me and Captaine
Sailes, we sent vnto the shippes for men, and to bring shouels, pickaxes
and other instruments necessarie to make the fortification. We trauailed
.so diligently, that in a short space the Fort was made in some sort defen-
ciable. In which meane time lohn Ribault caused victuals and warrelike
munition to be brought for the defence of the place. After he had fur
nished them with all such things as they had neede of. he determined to
take his leaue of them.
Laudonniere then recites the speech that Ribault made to Cap
tain Albert, whom he left in command of the little garrison, and
adds: Hauing ended his exhortation, we tooke our leaues of each of them, and
sayled toward our shippes, calling the Forte by the name of Charles-fort,i
and the Riuer by the name Clienonceau. The next daye we determined to
depart from this place being as wel contented as was possible that we had
so happily ended our busines, with good hope, if occasion would permitte,
to discouer perfectly the riuer of lordan. For this cause we hoysed our
sayles about ten of the clocke in the morning : after wee were ready to
depart Captaine Ribault commanded to shoote off our Ordinance to giue a
farewel vnto our Frenchmen, which failed not to doe the like on their part.
This being done wee sayled toward the North : and then we named this
Riuer Porte Royal, because of the largenes and excellent fairenes of the
same.

lArx Carolina. From this fact has arisen the myth that Carolina received Its
name from Charles IX of France, despite the grant in 1629 from Charles I of
England to Sir Eobert Heath, his attorney general, wherein the country is specifically
named Carolina for the English grantor, and the further fact that all documents
and publications prepared or issued In the intervening years between the French
departure and the English settlement of the country continued the use of the name
Florida therefor.

Laudonniere tells of their further explorations and discoveries
and of their return to France, where they arrived July 20, 1562.
He next gives a chapter on "The state and condition of those
which were left behind in Charles-fort." He recites the hard
ships the garrison underwent ; the misfortunes that befell them ;
the kind treatment accorded them by the neighboring Indians;
their quarrel with their commandant, Captain Albert, whom they
killed; their determination to return to France, and their con
struction of a clumsy ship in which they put to sea ; their terrible
sufferings on the voyage, during which some of them died; how
they cast lots to see which should die for the others to eat and
how they killed and devoured the unlucky man; how they were
finally picked up by an English barque, and the feeblest of them
put ashore while the others were taken to England because the
queen of England was then contemplating sending an expedition
to Florida.
Laudonniere next devotes a chapter to "The second voyage vnto
Florida" which he begins as follows :
After our arriuall at Diepe, at our comming home, from our flrst voyage
(which was the twentieth of luly 1562) we found the ciuill warres begun,
which was in part the cause why our men were not succoured, as Captaine
lohn Ribault had promised them : whereof it followed that Captaine Albert
was killed by his souldiers, and the countrey abandoned, as heretofore we
haue sufficiently discoursed, and as it may more at large be vnderstood by
those men which were there in person. After the peace was made in
France, my Lord Armirall de Chastillon shewed vnto the king, that he
heard no newes at all of the men which Captaine lohn Ribault had left in
Florida, and that it were pitty to suffer them to perish. In which respect
the king was content he should cause 3 ships to be furnished, the one of
sixe score tunnes, the other of 100, and the third of 60, to seeke them out,
and to succour them.
My Lord Admirall therefore being well informed of the faithfull seruiee
which I had done, aswell vnto his Maiestie as to his predecessors king of
France, aduertised the king how able I was to doe him seruiee in this
voyage, which was the cause that he made me chiefe Captaine ouer these
;i shippes, and charged me to depart with diligence to performe his com
mandement, which for mine owne part I would not gainsay, but rather
thinking my selfe happy to haue bene chosen out among such an infinite
number of others, which in my iudgement were very well able to haue
quitted themselues in this charge, I embarked my selfe at New Hauen the
22 of Aprill 1564.
Laudonniere follows this with a recital of his voyage to the
coast of Florida, his explorations and discoveries there, his rela-

tions with the Indians of Florida, his attempts to make settle
ments, his troubles with the Spaniards, and the expedition of de
Gourges to Florida. He says nothing of any attempt to relieve
the garrison at Port Royal, but from a sentence in his narrative
it is evident that he had learned the fate of those men during his
voyage or after reaching Florida. Discussing a suitable place
for a settlement he says : "On the other side if wee passed fur
ther toward the North to seeke out Port Royall, it would be
neither very profitable nor conuenient : at the least if wee should
giue credit to the report of them which remained there a long
time." The island upon which Fort Charles was located is formed by
Port Royal River, Broad River and a creek connecting the two,
called Archer's Creek. The outlines of the fort are still to be
seen there on the eastern side of the island on Pilot Creek, which
enters Port Royal River (also known as Beaufort River).
For a century after the French abandoned Fort Charles the
little island upon which it stood secured no place on the pages of
history, but in 1663 it again came into notice. In August of that
year an expedition under William Hilton, financed by citizens
of Barbadoes, sailed from Spikes Bay on a voyage of exploration
of the coast of Carolina in the interest of the Lords Proprietors
of the newly chartered province of Carolina. In his Relation of
his discoveries at Port Royal Hilton says :
Likewise we saw the Ruines of an old Fort, compassing more than half
an acre of land within the Trenches, which we supposed to be Charls's
Fort, built, and so called by the French in 1562, etc.
In his Relation of a Voyage on the Coast of the Province of
Carolina., Formerly called Florida * ** from Charles River near
Cape Fear * * * to Port Royall * * * Robert Sandford, "Secre
tary and Chiefe Register for the Lords Proprietors of their
County of Clarendon, in the Province aforesaid", tells us that
about midnight of July 3, 1666, he anchored in Broad River above
its junction with Port Royal River, and that the next morning
he removed and anchored opposite the principal Indian town
and went ashore. From his description it is evident that that
town was on this historic island. He says :
[The Towne is scited on an Island made by a branch which cometh out
of Brayne Sound and falleth into Port Royall about a mile above where
wee landed.

g
On August 12, 1698, the Lords Proprietors of South Carolina
creatfed Major Robert Daniell, a landgrave of Carolina. This title
carried with it the right to grants of land to the extent of 48,000
acres. Among the lands selected by Landgrave Daniell was this
island, the site of the first attempt at a while settlement on the
soil of what was now South Carolina, as shown by the following
certificate from the then Surveyor General of the Province :
By Vertue of a wart, under ye hand & Seal of ye Rt: Honble — Joseph
Blake Proprietor & Governr. bearing date ye ninth day of March 1698/9 to
me directed to admeasure & Lay out unto Majr — Robt. Daniell all yt. tract
of land Comonly called Port royall Island in part of ye Lands belonging to
him as one of ye Landgraves of Carolina In persuance whereof I have
Caused ye: Same to be Laid oiit & Contains three thousand and twenty
acres & is Scituated in ye. mouth of Port Royall River in Port Royall
County & hath such form & Shape as by ye Piatt is discribed & Wformed
this fourteenth day of .Tune 1700 and Certified ^ met
By a deed dated April 17, 1701, Landgrave Robert Daniell, of
Berleley County, South Carolina, conveyed to Edward Archer,
of Barbadoes, mariner, in consideration of one hundred pounds
current money of the province,
"all yt. tract of Land Comonly called Port Royall Island wch. by vertue
of a wart, under ye hand & seal of ye Honble — Proprietv. Joseph Blake
Esqi-. Governr. bearing date ye ninth day of March auo. 16f)S/9 was laid
out unto me ye gd. Robt. Daniell in Wt of ye Lands belonging to me as one
of ye Landgrs. of ye sd. Province wch. sd. Island Contains 3020 acres or
tliereabouts & is Scituated in ye Mouth of Port Royall river."2
In a memorial entered for registry in the office of His Majesty's
Auditor for South Carolina, May 10, 1733, by Alexander Parris,
he described, among his lands, the following tract :
One Tract of Land, containing Three Thousand and Twenty Acres, called
Port Royal Island, lying and being in the Parish of St. Hellena, in Gran
ville County being one large Island and eight smaller, granted unto Robert
Daniell Esqr by a grant dated the 9th day of May 1706 at the yearly rent
of one shilling pr 100 acres, butting and bounding to the south west, on
Port Royal River, to the north west on a Creek running out of the said
river to the north east on a Creek running out of Port Royal River which
said Tract of Land was conveyed unto the said Alexander Parris by a deed
of sale, signed by Edward Archer dated the 1st — day of July 1715
N. B. One Thousand Three Hundred and Twenty Acres of the above lai-ge
Island, was given by a Deed of gift signed by Alexander Parris unto John
Del a Beenes
lEecords of the Register of the Province of South Carolina, Book D (1696-1703).
p. 252.
2Eecords of the Register of the Province of South Carolina, Book D (1696-1703).
252-253. •iMemorial Book 5, page 62, land records of South Carolina.

SIGNATURE OF COLONEL ALEXANDER PARRIS.
[Colonel Parris was for a time a deputy for one of the Lords Proprietors and as such
signed the Acts of the General Assembly. This was his signature to an Act.]

It will be observed that in the certificate of survey to Daniell.
in Daniell's deed to Archer and in Parris's memorial reciting his
deed from Archer the island was then called Port Royal Island.
Colonel Parris, who was for many years Public Treasurer of
South Carolina, and otherwise conspicuous in the early history
of the province, died March 10, 1736,^ and in the course of time
the island came to be called Parris Island, while its former
name, Port Roj'al, was applied to the larger island to the north
thereof. Edward Archer's name was likewise preserved in the
name of the creek that separates Parris Island from Port Royal
Island. From the death of Colonel Parris to 1917 this historic island
continued in the hands of private citizens and was used for agri
cultural purp'oses. In 1820 when a map of Beaufort District was
prepared for Mills's Atlas of South Carolina seven plantation
homes were given thereon as being on Parris Island. These were
of the Edings, Barnwell, Grayson, Cartright, Elliott, Habersham
and Means families. After the entrance of the United States into
the war against Germany it was acquired by the government for a
training ground for the United States marine corps, and in the
last two years has probably seen more activities than in all of its
previous interesting history.

iSee Death Nolices in The South-Carolina <ln-cttr. n.ii-ms, page 10.

3 9002 08854 0134

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