I think your date is as far back as anyone - there are a number of Freepers with your date, JR included. So, maybe you're among a group that inaugurated this version of the website "Free Republic" but were actually having online conversations on another version before then.
When I first started FReeping in mid-1997, anyone could post. As FR traffic grew, Jim realized he had to set up a registration process. On 11-28-97, Jim opened up registration. After that, no one could post without registering first.