Jean Ribaut, circa 1520 – 1565 (also spelled Jean Ribault) was an intrepid French explorer. He built the first Protestant settlement in the New World at Charlesfort on Parris Island in 1562. The settlement lasted less than a year before it was abandoned. The French relocated southward founding Fort Caroline in Florida. The Spanish, led by Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, built a fort of their own at the same site in 1566, calling the town Santa Elena.
The Beaufort District Collection, the special local history collection and archives of the Beaufort County Library, SC, recommends these links and materials about a key figure of the 16th century in the history of Beaufort County. This list was compiled and posted by Grace Morris Cordial, MLS, SL, CA, Manager of the Beaufort District Collection, on 12 November 2008; Latest update: 22 September 2016.
Biography in Context database (DISCUS, password required for access from home)
“Charlesfort-Santa Elena – Discover Our Shared Heritage Travel Itinerary, American Latino Heritage” National Parks Service
“Digging into the Colonial Past: Archaeology and the 16th-Century Spanish Settlements at Charlesfort-Santa Elena,” National Parks Service “Teaching with Historic Places Lesson Plans”.
Spark’s American Biography, Vol. XVII: Lives of John Ribault, Sebastian Rale, and William Palfrey, 1845. Printed book is available in the Research Room. SC 920 SPA 1845 V. 7
“Charlesfort Discovered” by Chester DePratter, Stanley South and James B. Legg, Published in Legacy, Volume 1, Issue 1, 1996, pages 1&5&8-9.
“The History of South Carolina Slide Collection” edited by Constance B. Schulz. *Choose Topic 2 “An Illustrated History, 1550-1988”for exploration, Native Americans, and the Santa Elena dig.
“Charlesfort” homepage of the South Carolina Institute for Anthropology and Archaeology.
Search “Charlesfort” on the Scholar Commons: The Institutional Repository of the University of South Carolina website to download more than 50 articles and papers on the topic.
“Charlesfort Identified” by Jessica E. Saraceni, Archaeology Archive, Volume 49 Number 5, September/October 1996
Come to the Beaufort District Collection to see these items:
Beaufort County Historical Society Papers, #32 “Early French Explorations and Settlements.” This paper is also available on microfilm in Beaufort Branch.
SC 920 SPA 1845 V. 7Spark’s American Biography, Vol. XVII: Lives of John Ribault, Sebastian Rale, and William Palfrey, 1845. Also available on the Internet Archive.
SC 284.557 TRA No. 14 “Ribault’s fort,” by Miss Isabelle DeSaussure, Transactions of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina , no. 14, 1907.
SC 284.557 TRA NO. 31 “Foldout of the Charlesfort Monument (built by Jean Ribaut in 1562) at Parris Island — Unveiling of the monument ceremony — Welcome address by General Harry Lee — Dedication address by Major Gen. John A LeJeune; M. Jules Henry, First Secretary of the French Embassy; Senator Ellison D. Smith of SC; Hon. Curtis D. Wilbur, Sec. of the Navy — The senatorial bill making the monument possible — Report of Simons and Lapham, architects of the monument — Address of W. C. Miller at the 41st anniv. mtg of the Hug. Soc. of SC,” Transactions of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina , No. 31 (1926).
SC 284.557 TRA NO. 39 “Monument to Jean Ribaut in Normandy,” Transactions of the Huguenot Society of South Carolina, No. 39 (1934).
The BDC has several relevant vertical files on Ribaut and the exploration and discovery period. Try these:
SC 812 PRO Prologue to Freedom: 400thAnniversary of the landing of Jean Ribaut, Souvenir Program of the Ribaut Quadricentennial, 1962 (BDC)
SC 910.45 CON Pirates and raiders of the Southern shore by T. D. Conner, 2007
SC 920 FED Palmetto pioneers; six stories of early South Carolinians
SC 975.7 ENC Entry in South Carolina Encyclopedia (ALL)
SC 975.702 FOR For God, Glory and Gold: Early French and Spanish conquest of South Carolina [DVD], 2006 (ALL)
SC 975.799 DAB Sea Island Diary : a History of St. Helena Island by Edith M. Dabbs, 1983 (BDC, HHI REF)
SC 975.799 JON Port Royal under Six Flags by Katharine M. Jones, 1960. (BDC, BEA, BLU, HHI, LOB)
SC 975.799 DOW Parris Island ‘from Cusabo to Leatherneck’ by George Geddes Dowling, 1970 (BDC, BEA, BLU REF)
SC 975.799 ROW V1 The history of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 1, 1514-1861by Lawrence Sanders Rowland, Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr., 1996 (ALL)
SC 975.799 WHI Charlesfort, 1562-63: the first Protestant settlement within the present-day United States by William H. Whitten, 1993 (BDC)
SC 975.799 WIL Beaufort County, South Carolina [Pamphlet] : the shrines, early history and topography by N. L. Willet, 1926 (BDC)
SC 975.9 CON Jean Ribaut: the whole & true discouerye of Terra Florida by Jean Ribaut, 1927 (BDC)
Available for Checkout to valid SCLENDS Library Cardholders:
For God, Glory and Gold: Early French and Spanish conquest of South Carolina [DVD], 2006.
The history of Beaufort County, South Carolina, Volume 1, 1514-1861 by Lawrence Sanders Rowland, Alexander Moore, and George C. Rogers, Jr., 1996.
Parris Island ‘from Cusabo to Leatherneck’ by George Geddes Dowling, 1970.
Pirates and raiders of the Southern shore by T. D. Conner, 2007.
Port Royal under six flags by Katharine M. Jones, 1960.
Sea island diary : a history of St. Helena Island by Edith M. Dabbs, 1983.
South Carolina Encyclopedia