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Chapter History
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Jean Bessac
Chapter was organized October 25, 1939 in Alma, Michigan. It
was named for Jean Guilliame Bessac, ancestor of the Chapter's first
regent, Miss Lou Nickerson.
Since its
beginning the Jean Bessac Chapter has been active in patriotic and
youth causes. Pledge of Allegiance cards and flags were
distributed to Boy Scouts, local schools, and newly
naturalized citizens. Manuals for citizenship were distributed at
citizenship classes given by a member. The Chapter has sponsored
many 12th grade Good Citizens who
have become State runners-up. Chapter members have also worked
with Junior American Citizen and History contest contestants.
Many honors and winners have resulted.
In 1963, the
Jean Torrance Chapter of Ithaca disbanded and several members of the
chapter joined Jean Bessac Chapter. In 1987, Steven Thompson
Mason Chapter of Ionia disbanded and we received additional
transferees. A 50-Year birthday celebration was held in 1989.
Jean Bessac Chapter looks forward to future service and our members
are proud to be Daughters.
Jean
Guilliame Bessac (1760 - 1824)
This young
Frenchman came to America in 1779, at the age of 19, and with his
brother set up a mercantile business in Jersey City. When the
French fleet arrived with a body of land forces under Count
Rochambeau, Jean Bessac was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon and
was attached to the staff of the Count. In this post he made
good use of medical skills acquired in his earlier years of
training, and he also gave freely of his personal fortune in the
cause of American Independence.
The DAR Insignia is the property of, and is
copyrighted by, the National Society of the Daughters of the American
Revolution. Web hyperlinks to non-DAR sites are not the responsibility of
the NSDAR, the state organizations, or individual DAR chapters.
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