Jesuit Martyr Of Florida Missioned By Saint Francis Borgia

While diocesan priests were in charge of the initial mission, Nombre de Dios in St. Augustine, Pedro Menendez soon sought assistance from the Jesuits.

A small contingent of Jesuits was sent to Florida. One of the first to arrive, Fr. Pedro Martinez suffered martyrdom from fearful Indians who clubbed him to death October 6, 1566 on the sands of Fort George Island. Two other Jesuits, Father Juan Rogel and Brother Francisco de Villareal survived and, after spending a winter studying the language, proceeded to work among the Calusa tribe in southern Florida.

In 1568 ten more Jesuits arrived to work in the Florida missions establishing stations among the Calusa (Ft. Myers), Tegesta (Miami), and Tocobaga (Tampa) tribes of the south and west coasts, while others began missions in what is today Georgia , South Carolina, and Virginia. These missions were not all that successful.

The Indians they encountered were generally hostile and suspicious of their motives moreover the living conditions were very difficult. By 1573, the Jesuits had abandoned all their missions in Florida.

Menendez made do with lay catechists, mostly military personnel, for the next few years. In 1578, Menedez was able to get the Franciscans to come to Florida to pick up the missionary work where the Jesuits had failed so miserably.

Link (here) to a much larger article on Florida Catholic history.

September 28, 1566. On Cumberland Island, Georgia, the memory of Father Pedro Martinez, the proto-martyr of the Jesuits in the United States. He was born at Celda, diocese of Saragossa (or at Teruel?), Spain, on October 15. 1533.

In 1553 he joined the Jesuits at Valencia; with Fathers (great link) Juan Rogel and Francisco Villareal, he was sent to America by Saint Francis Borgia, in June, 1566. He was a man of great learning, deep humility and fervent zeal.

Driven by a storm to the coast of Georgia, he landed with a few companions, but his ship was thrown back to the high sea by the heavy waves. Whilst he tried to reach Florida on foot, he was killed by the natives on the isle of Tacatacuru (Cumberland Island), about September 28, 1566. Hist. Recordi and Studies, December. 1904, p. 352.

Link (here)

Painting of St. Francis Borgia, S.J.