Putnam Knights of Columbus Council celebrate anniversary
Serving northeastern Connecticut since 1892
Putnam, Conn. – Although much has changed in northeastern Connecticut since 1982, Putnam’s Knights of Columbus Council 64 remains a force for good in the community. That was recognized on Sunday afternoon, when a total of about 20 Knights, their families and the public held a short prayer service and celebration at the grave of Edward M. Mullan, the council’s first Grand Knight.
The Roman Catholic fraternal group was founded on July 26, 1892, only a decade after the parent Knights of Columbus organization began in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1882. Continuously active since its founding, the number 64 denotes that Cargill Council was the 64th council founded since the Knights came into existence.
The 20 charter members elected Mullan, who had once been Putnam’s postmaster, as their leader. Elected to three terms, he served as Grand Knight until 1895. He remained a member of the council until his death in 1916, at the age of 61.
After locating Mullan’s grave in St. Mary’s Cemetery on Providence Street, Cargill Knights received permission from Mullan’s descendants to hold the service.
Although it may seem like a strange way to celebrate, current Grand Knight David J. Meunier, Jr., of Danielson, explained that there was an important thought behind the idea.
“Cargill Council has had many homes here in Putnam since it started 117 years ago,” he said. “Its first home was in the Bradley Theater, downtown. We spent decades in a large building along Church Street. Since 1976 we’ve been on Providence Street, in what used to be the Putnam Polish Club. We wanted to celebrate by going right back to the beginning, in one spot. Our very first Grand Knight is the perfect symbol for every member of Cargill Council, living and deceased, past and present.”
Cargill Council 64 is made up of over 200 local Catholic men and their families. The council covers part of northeastern Windham County, in the areas served by St. Mary Church of the Visitation Parish in Putnam and Most Holy Trinity Parish in Pomfret.
In addition to support for its families, the council also sponsors or assists with many positive, local programs, including youth sports, the Annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Dip at Quaddick Pond in Thompson to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, essay and poster contests in area schools and strong, ongoing work for its two parishes. The council also holds a recitation of the Rosary for the public on the first Monday evening of every month.
Led by Grand Knight Meunier, its elected officers run Cargill Council. The organization does its own fund-raising, using all of the net proceeds to pay for its local programs.
The Knights of Columbus are a fraternal benefit society made up of Roman Catholic men and their families. It was founded by a parish priest, Fr. Michael J. McGivney. Looking at the problems being suffered by immigrant Catholics in and around New Haven in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, he founded the society so that members could help to support each other, socially, morally, religiously and financially.
Since then, the Knights of Columbus have grown to more than 1.7 million members and their families in over 13,000 active, local councils, in a dozen countries worldwide, including many of the nations in the Western Hemisphere. In 2005 the Knights expanded into Europe, founding the first councils in Poland.
McGivney, a Waterbury, Connecticut, native who died in 1890, is an official candidate for sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. If the pope canonizes him, McGivney would become Connecticut’s first Catholic saint and the first American parish priest to be so honored.
