Our Story

The Jean Ribault Chapter NSDAR was organized in January 1953 in Neptune Beach, Florida.

Our Charter members selected the name “Jean Ribault” for this chapter in 1953. Jean Ribault was not a Revolutionary War participant.  He was chosen for his connection with the land we call home and the value he and his people placed on religious freedom which later became an integral part of the United States Constitution.  His sojourn here predates the English Settlement of Jamestown in 1607 and even that of St. Augustine in 1565.

Jean Ribault was a French Huguenot during a time of great religious wars in Europe. King Charles IX was persuaded to let Captain Ribault lead an expedition, made up primarily of Huguenots, to “the new world” in order to claim land for France and establish a Protestant settlement.

On the 18th day of February, 1562, three ships sailed from LaHavre. Ribault was an excellent navigator and in six weeks they reached the coast of Florida. Sailing northward they soon found the mouth of a large river and because it was the first of May, named it The River of May. This is the river we now call the St. Johns.

“There he landed and prayers were sent heavenward in thanks giving for a safe voyage. These Frenchmen were the first people to come to an area, now a part of the United States, seeking freedom of religion, and their prayers were the first ever offered on our shores by men searching for fulfillment of their ideal. (U.S. Congressman, Charles Bennett.)

Captain Ribault erected a stone column, adorned with the Royal Coat of Arms, at the site of their landing (now Mayport) to claim this area for France. His description of this land as “the fairest, fruit fullest and pleasantest” he had seen anywhere still rings true to many
citizens and visitors.

It was two years after the fort known as Fort Caroline was built on a high bluff of the River May. New colonists included several families to whom a number of children were born. Ultimately, in 1565, the Spanish attacked, massacred most of the French colonists, destroyed the column and took control of the fort and the river. One ship with about fifty survivors escaped and made their way back to France.

In 1924, a replica of the original column was erected by the Florida Daughters of the American Revolution, Jacksonville Chapter, on property donated by Elizabeth P. Starke. After the Naval Station Mayport was built on that same land the column was ultimately
relocated to the high bluffs overlooking the St. Johns at the Fort Caroline National Memorial.

We proudly honor this brave group through our Chapter name: Jean Ribault.