About Kent
Knights of Columbus
Council #1411
The Knights of Columbus were founded on the principles of Charity, Unity and Fraternity, and established in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, Assistant Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Connecticut, along with a group of parishioners.
Their intent was to bring financial aid and assistance to the sick, disabled and needy members and their families. Today, Father McGivney is being considered for Sainthood.
Our Mission
Together, we’re empowering Catholic men to live their faith at home, in their parish, at work and in their community.
Our Faith
Our goal is to help men, their families and their parishes grow closer to Christ. Through our programs and resources, we provide opportunities to live and spread the Catholic faith.
Founding of the Knights
Late-19th century Connecticut was marked by the growing fraternal benefit societies, anti-Catholic prejudice and dangerous factory working conditions that left many families fatherless. Recognizing a need in his community, Father Michael J. McGivney, the 29-year-old assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., gathered a group of men at his parish on Oct. 2, 1881. He proposed establishing a lay organization to prevent Catholic men from entering secret societies antithetical to Church teaching, uniting Catholic men and helping families of deceased members.
To demonstrate their loyalty to their country as well as their faith, these men took Christopher Columbus — recognized as a Catholic and celebrated as the discoverer of America – as their patron. The Knights of Columbus elected officers in February 1882 and assumed corporate status on March 29.
In addition to the Order’s benefits, Catholic men were drawn to the Knights because of its emphasis on serving one’s Church, community and family with virtue. Fraternity and patriotism were added to the Knights’ founding principles of charity and unity in 1885 and 1900, respectively.
1882: The Knights of Columbus is born on Feb. 6, 1882, when the first members choose Columbus as their patron. Immediately after the Order’s March 29 incorporation, Father McGivney sends a diocesan-wide appeal for new members to priests.
The First Fifteen Years of Kent 1411’s Century-long History
1909 was a year of many important events. On February 20, 1909, the Hudson Motor Car Company was founded in Detroit. On March 4, 1909, William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th US President. On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached North Pole. And in this little corner of the world, on April 18, 1909, the Knights of Columbus Council 1411 in Kent was officially established. As the photo of 1411’s charter on the right shows, the Knights of Columbus Council 1411 in Kent was officially established on April 18, 1909, by the undersigned 48 members.
To write a comprehensive history of Kent Council 1411 of the Knights of Columbus is exceedingly difficult given its more than a hundred years in the service of the Catholic Church in Kent. This brief history attempts the modest goal of chronicling Knights of Columbus 1411 in its first fifteen years as a council.
Peter A. Burens officially organized the Knights of Columbus Council 1411, and his name appears first on the list of founding members on the official charter of 1909, although John W. Casey was said to have been the first to sign the charter application. Council tradition holds that Peter A. Burens was Kent Council 1411’s first grand knight.
In 1910 Peter Burens was 35 years old. With his wife Addie and their five children, he lived in a rented home at 571 Vine Street in Kent, making a living as a bookkeeper in a local rubber company. He continued to attend meetings and pay dues until 1917 when at age 42, he moved his family to Clairton, Pennsylvania, where he clerked for the Carnegie Steel Company.
Peter Burens was succeeded by Arthur Timothy Shanley who became 1411’s second grand knight. At around 25 years of age, Arthur had a good job as a machinist on the Erie Railroad. He lived with his wife Minnie on Stinaff Street in Kent. Arthur went on to live in Kent for the rest of his life, At some point before 1942, he lost his left eye. He died in 1947 at age 65, and was buried in the St. Patrick Church portion of Standing Rock Cemetery in Kent.
In the council’s archives, minutes from Council 1411’s meetings for the years 1909 through 1913 are nowhere to be found. The single record of the council’s activities during its first years is a slim ledger recording the members and the amount of dues they each paid. The ledger begins in June of 1909 and ends in 1910. It shows how the council accumulated wealth fairly steadily since new members had to pay an initiation fee of $5. Funds were used to rent “club rooms” in the Donaghy building in downtown Kent, pay utilities, and provide the membership with entertainment events like dances and shows. More importantly, the members voted to pay for parish expenses such $70 for coal to heat the church and funds to purchase additional land for Catholic burials at the Catholic portion of Standing Rock Cemetery.
The first volume of Council 1411’s minutes is dated March 1914. It is the first of a score of heavy leather-bound volumes. The Supreme Leadership of the Knights of Columbus devised these quality “Minutes” volumes of pages with pre-printed meeting headings to facilitate the recording a local council’s attendance, spending and service decisions. While the space allotted was limited to the council’s motions that were carried, even these brief summations offer interesting insights into the council’s activities.
It is in the New Business section on April 9, 1914, near the fifth anniversary of the establishment of Council 1411, that the membership voted to delay their 5-year celebration. They decided to defer the celebration until later “when we will be in our new quarters.” They voted to pay $21 to their new landlord, Robert Reed, for rent of the building going forward to July 1, 1914. They also voted to pay 12.50 to their current landlord, W.H. Donaghy, up to May 15, 1914, while announcing to him that “we will vacate at the expiration of our lease.” Their chaplain, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, attended this meeting and led the opening and closing prayers. Ever a team player, on June 8, 1914, Fr. Mahon donated pictures for the council’s new rooms.
Kent Council 1411 had been established under the pastorate of Father George Branigan who led St. Patrick Church in Kent from 1904 to 1909. Fr. Branigan’s name was also listed on the official charter as a founding member. Since 1909 was Fr. Branigan’s final year as pastor in Kent, it was St. Patrick’s next pastor, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, whose name appeared frequently in the council’s first meeting records. On March 26, 1914, the council offered their chaplain, Fr. Mahon, a vote of thanks for his efforts to defend the church and the Knights of Columbus from slanderous attacks printed in The Menace.
1914 and 1915 saw a surprising rise of anti-Catholic rhetoric appearing in print. One of the most notorious of these publications was The Menace, published in Aurora, Missouri. At its height it had 1.5 million weekly subscribers, greater than the largest daily newspapers in New York and Chicago. In the February 20, 1915, issue pictured left, The Menace reported a violent fatal attack on an ex-priest by a mob of Knights of Columbus in Marshall, Texas. On January 14, 1915, Kent Council 1411 sent $5 to a Wheeling, West Virginia, Knights of Columbus Council whose chaplain, Fr. Farrell, was suing The Menace for gross libel.
Fr. T. J. Mahon was pastor of St. Patrick and 1411’s chaplain until his untimely death in 1920. He took the time to be at a surprising number of 1411 Council meetings and contributed a genuine Catholic perspective at council meetings whenever he attended. When Pope Pius X died on August 20, 1914, Fr. Mahon asked the Kent Knights to donate $10 for him to be able to decorate the church in mourning the late Pope. The Knights at that meeting approved his request on the spot.
At the June 17, 1915 meeting, Fr. Mahan described his efforts to persuade the Public Library Board of Kent to purchase a set of the newly printed The Catholic Encyclopedia. The Knights couldn’t force the public library to purchase such a set. But they could purchase a set themselves. That very night, the Council voted to purchase a set of The Catholic Encyclopedia for the council’s rooms.
The Council looked for fun ways to generate income. They put on a dance in 1914 that made $22. The fee to the musicians was $6, leaving the Council with $14 in profit. Perhaps they found that paying musicians was expensive because they voted to spend $400 to purchase a player piano, deciding to sell their present piano to defray the cost of the new player piano. They tried to sell raffle tickets for a dollar each to raffle off their old piano, but they found selling the tickets was impossible. So instead, they voted that each member would donate a dollar to the purchase the new player piano. Three years later they still had the old piano along with the new one. They spent the money to have both of them tuned.
The game most beloved by our present-day Knights is Bocce. But on January 29, 1916, Council 1411 formed a baseball team which began competing against other teams in the area. The baseball team was still competing when, on March 29, 1920, a motion was made and carried “to give the manager of the baseball team authority to purchase baseball supplies.” The baseball team was still competing in 1921 (as the clipping on page 5 of this history shows).
On April 26, 1920, “Grand Knight Blake C. Cook appointed brothers J. J. McKinney and Ralph Fitzgerald and Fred Jacobs as a committee to investigate the cost of starting a K of C Band.” It must not have been feasible because the idea of a council band was not mentioned again in the minutes.
On September 13, 1920, outgoing Grand Knight Blake C. Cook passed on the office of Grand Knight to his successor, R.T. Armstrong. At that same meeting the members voted to authorize the football team manager “to purchase lumber for goal posts and hire someone to mow the field.” A few meetings later, the council voted to investigate the cost of putting up a fence on the field and authorized the football team manager to buy the necessary equipment for the football team.
On November 8, 1920, a motion was made and carried to notify members to be present at the club house at 1 PM, November 11, to take part in the Armistice Day Parade. For a number of years afterward, the minutes mentioned that the Knights of 1411 marched in the community parade on Armistice Day.
Tragedy struck on the 29th of January in 1921. Fr. Mahon, who had been unwell lately, was taken to Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He died there after a three-week decline. The Kent Tribune put the account of Fr. Mahon’s funeral and his photo on the front page of its March 1, 1921 issue. The following is a portion of the text of the article.
Rev. Father Thomas J. Mahon, pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Kent, passed away at 3:30 p. m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He was taken there on Jan. 29 for treatment for a complication of diseases. He had suffered a great deal for two or three years or longer, but he was loath to give up, and, though in great pain, he remained faithful to his duties in his parish and with his people. In the truest sense he gave his life for his work, the work he loved, administering to St. Patrick's and comforting the people of his congregation.
His experience in a wreck on the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad last fall while enroute to Cleveland was a shock to his system, and there had been a noticeable "change since then.”
The remains were brought to Kent Thursday morning and lay in state at the rectory until 3 p. m. Sunday. At that hour, with members of the Knights of Columbus on either side of the walk as a guard of honor, the body was carried to the church. There hundreds of people came for a last look at the face of their dead friend.
Catholic and Protestant, old and young, all paid this last tribute, with tear-bedimmed eyes. The arrangements were in charge of Rev. John I. Gilhooley, of Hudson, an intimate associate of Father Mahon, and who had had charge of the church here since the pastor was taken to the hospital. Services were held for the children of the parish in advance of the funeral in order that all might have an opportunity to participate in the tribute to the beloved pastor. At 3 p.m. Sunday the vespers of the dead were sung by Rev. P. J. Clancy, of Ravenna, as celebrant. ...The remains were laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery, Youngstown.
Rev. Father Thomas J. Mahon, pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Kent, passed away at 3:30 p. m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He was taken there on Jan. 29 for treatment for a complication of diseases. He had suffered a great deal for two or three years or longer, but he was loath to give up, and, though in great pain, he remained faithful to his duties in his parish and with his people. In the truest sense he gave his life for his work, the work he loved, administering to St. Patrick's and comforting the people of his congregation.
His experience in a wreck on the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad last fall while enroute to Cleveland was a shock to his system, and there had been a noticeable "change since then.”
The remains were brought to Kent Thursday morning and lay in state at the rectory until 3 p. m. Sunday. At that hour, with members of the Knights of Columbus on either side of the walk as a guard of honor, the body was carried to the church. There hundreds of people came for a last look at the face of their dead friend.
Catholic and Protestant, old and young, all paid this last tribute, with tear-bedimmed eyes. The arrangements were in charge of Rev. John I. Gilhooley, of Hudson, an intimate associate of Father Mahon, and who had had charge of the church here since the pastor was taken to the hospital. Services were held for the children of the parish in advance of the funeral in order that all might have an opportunity to participate in the tribute to the beloved pastor. At 3 p.m. Sunday the vespers of the dead were sung by Rev. P. J. Clancy, of Ravenna, as celebrant. …The remains were laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery, Youngstown.
The loss of Fr. Mahon affected the council members deeply. At the March 14, 1921 meeting, the members voted to purchase purple bows “for every member to wear for 30 days in memory of our late pastor.”
On Monday, May 9, 1921, leading the list of applicants for membership was “Reverend Father Thomas Walsh.” Fr. Walsh must have been eager to contribute to the council because his name was mentioned at the next meeting on June 6, 1921, under “The Good of the Order” as follows: “Father Walsh, Brothers B.C. Cook and Lester Whalen was [sic] appointed as a committee of 3 to have a class of K of C on The Catholic Encyclopedia at our meeting every Monday night.” The Catholic Encyclopedia in the Club’s rooms had been purchased in 1915, and now in 1921, their new chaplain, Fr. Walsh, would be teaching its contents to the members who attended on Mondays.
On Monday Evening, September 26, 1921, the election of new officers was held. They were listed in the minutes as follows:
Grand Knight-Henry Lallament
Deputy Grand Knight- W. J. Whalen
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer
Financial Secretary-B. G. Sawyer
Recorder-C. L. Clark
Warden-Howard Balzer
Chancellor-C. J. Horning
Advocate-B.C. Cooke
Inside Guard-Pat McGill
Outside Guard-W.C. Kline
Trustee-J. C. Green
A clipping from the Kent Tribune on Thursday, July 21, 1921, promotes the Kent Council 1411’s baseball team that will be playing against the Gilmore K of C team of Cleveland.
Notice in the Kent Tribune on January 4, 1923
By this time, Fr. Walsh had been transferred, and Fr. James Nolan had become the new pastor of St. Patrick.
On October 2, 1922 the following eleven officers were elected unanimously:
Grand Knight-Leo Goodman
Deputy Grand Knight- S. A. Willett
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer
Financial Secretary-B. G. Sawyer
Recorder-C. L. Clark
Warden-M. D. Kearns
Chancellor-Albert Jacobs
Advocate-Blake C. Cooke
Inside Guard-J. V. Lansinger
Outside Guard-G. Ruggieri
Trustee-E. J. Williams
At the January 8, 1923, meeting under The Good of the Order, “Brother McIntyre remarked that the Christmas Program was a success due largely to a successful impersonation of Santa Claus by Brother Herb Strayer.”
On September 17, 1923, the following eleven officers were elected:
Grand Knight-P. A. Eichenlaub
Deputy Grand Knight-I. S. Bissler
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer elected by acclamation
Financial Secretary- B. G. Sawyer elected by acclamation
Recording Secretary- W. M. Sawyer elected by acclamation
Warden-Linnen
Chancellor-W. F. Kerwin
Advocate-O’Hara
Inside Guard-T. J. O’Brien
Outside Guard-H. G. Adams
Trustee-B. J. Sawyer to succeed Matt Adams
St. Patrick Church on Portage Street in Kent in the early years of the 20th century
Under The Good of the Order, Fr. Nolan gave a very good talk, and the council voted to donate $5 to the Kent Fire Department Home Fund.
Under the Secretary’s report of receipts of the meeting, the Total Amount was $74.98, made up as follows: Death Benefit Fund $26.98 and General Fund $48.00.
On November 5, 1923, in New Business, a committee was appointed to see Fr. Nolan about installing a telephone in the Sisters’ residence, consisting of Klein, Lansinger and Goodman.
Under The Good of the Order, “a very interesting talk was given by Fr. McCarthy of Akron on the K.K.K.” The Ku Klux Klan were vehemently anti-Catholic as well as racist. The first Klan appeared after the Civil and was suppressed by the government in 1871. The second Klan began in Georgia in 1915 and spread throughout the country in the 1920’s. It sought to maintain white supremacy, and it opposed Jews, while also stressing its opposition to the alleged political power of the pope and the Catholic Church. This second Klan flourished both in the South and northern states. It was funded by initiation fees and selling its members a standard white costume. The chapters did not have dues. It used K-words which were similar to those used by the first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades to intimidate others. It rapidly declined in the latter half of the 1920s.
Under the Secretary’s report of receipts of the meeting, the Total Amount was $167.35, made up as follows: Death Benefit Fund $66.35, General Fund $66.00, and a Special Fund of $35.
The name and Clairton, PA., address of 1411’s first Grand Knight, Peter A. Burens’ remained on the council’s mailing list after he left Kent. But early in 1923 he was operated for stomach cancer. He died six months later on November 14, 1923. His funeral and burial were to be held in Bellevue, Ohio, the town of his birth and childhood. On November 18, 1923, at a Sunday meeting of Council 1411, Brother Ed Sawyer was appointed to be a delegate to the funeral of Brother P.A. Burens in Bellevue, Ohio, in Sandusky County. It was moved and seconded that the council would pay Sawyer’s expenses. The burial was at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in the “Old Section.” It is noteworthy that his obituary implied that even though he had been away from Kent for the past fourteen years, he considered himself a member of Knights of Columbus Council 1411 to end of his life.
On December 17, 1923, “Brother Fitzgerald, Grand Knight of Ravenna Council was called out and told that Ravenna was counting on sending 4 or 5 cand. (candidates?) to Alliance, and that they expected to get about 15 more from Mantua as the priest of Mantua was very anxious to get a council started there. He then told of the efforts of the Ravenna council trying to stop the talk of the alleged ex-nun in the American Legion hall. He also stated that (if) any businessman is known to be a member of the K.K.K., they discontinue trading at his store.”
These events occurred over a hundred years ago, but there are three take-aways from this overview of the activities of Knights of Columbus Kent Council 1411 in its first fifteen years. First, the grand knights of Kent Council 1411 were effective leaders of their young council. They fostered the building of a vibrant fraternal organization of Catholic men committed to the work of the Catholic Church in their hometown. Second, the first three chaplains, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, Fr. Thomas Walsh and Fr. James Nolan each committed to attending many of the council’s business meetings. When they were present, they personally interacted with the men of the Knights of Columbus, bringing to light the needs of the parish and how the Knights could help meet them. And finally, there is clear evidence that these first Knights of Kent Council 1411 committed themselves in fulfilling the promises they made when they became Knights of Columbus. They were examples of simple piety, often attending Mass and Communion in a body; and also of true charity, sending floral arrangements to the families of deceased Knights and paying the expense of needs in the church and school. We Knights serving the Catholic Church in the 21st Century owe them our gratitude.
By Deacon Tim DeFrange, 3rd Degree Knight of Kent Council 1411, November 20, 2022
The First Fifteen Years of Kent 1411’s Century-long History
1909 was a year of many important events. On February 20, 1909, the Hudson Motor Car Company was founded in Detroit. On March 4, 1909, William Howard Taft was inaugurated as 27th US President. On April 6, 1909, American explorers Robert Peary and Matthew Henson reached North Pole. And in this little corner of the world, on April 18, 1909, the Knights of Columbus Council 1411 in Kent was officially established. As the photo of 1411’s charter on the right shows, the Knights of Columbus Council 1411 in Kent was officially established on April 18, 1909, by the undersigned 48 members.
To write a comprehensive history of Kent Council 1411 of the Knights of Columbus is exceedingly difficult given its more than a hundred years in the service of the Catholic Church in Kent. This brief history attempts the modest goal of chronicling Knights of Columbus 1411 in its first fifteen years as a council.
Peter A. Burens officially organized the Knights of Columbus Council 1411, and his name appears first on the list of founding members on the official charter of 1909, although John W. Casey was said to have been the first to sign the charter application. Council tradition holds that Peter A. Burens was Kent Council 1411’s first grand knight.
In 1910 Peter Burens was 35 years old. With his wife Addie and their five children, he lived in a rented home at 571 Vine Street in Kent, making a living as a bookkeeper in a local rubber company. He continued to attend meetings and pay dues until 1917 when at age 42, he moved his family to Clairton, Pennsylvania, where he clerked for the Carnegie Steel Company.
Peter Burens was succeeded by Arthur Timothy Shanley who became 1411’s second grand knight. At around 25 years of age, Arthur had a good job as a machinist on the Erie Railroad. He lived with his wife Minnie on Stinaff Street in Kent. Arthur went on to live in Kent for the rest of his life, At some point before 1942, he lost his left eye. He died in 1947 at age 65, and was buried in the St. Patrick Church portion of Standing Rock Cemetery in Kent.
In the council’s archives, minutes from Council 1411’s meetings for the years 1909 through 1913 are nowhere to be found. The single record of the council’s activities during its first years is a slim ledger recording the members and the amount of dues they each paid. The ledger begins in June of 1909 and ends in 1910. It shows how the council accumulated wealth fairly steadily since new members had to pay an initiation fee of $5. Funds were used to rent “club rooms” in the Donaghy building in downtown Kent, pay utilities, and provide the membership with entertainment events like dances and shows. More importantly, the members voted to pay for parish expenses such $70 for coal to heat the church and funds to purchase additional land for Catholic burials at the Catholic portion of Standing Rock Cemetery.
The first volume of Council 1411’s minutes is dated March 1914. It is the first of a score of heavy leather-bound volumes. The Supreme Leadership of the Knights of Columbus devised these quality “Minutes” volumes of pages with pre-printed meeting headings to facilitate the recording a local council’s attendance, spending and service decisions. While the space allotted was limited to the council’s motions that were carried, even these brief summations offer interesting insights into the council’s activities.
It is in the New Business section on April 9, 1914, near the fifth anniversary of the establishment of Council 1411, that the membership voted to delay their 5-year celebration. They decided to defer the celebration until later “when we will be in our new quarters.” They voted to pay $21 to their new landlord, Robert Reed, for rent of the building going forward to July 1, 1914. They also voted to pay 12.50 to their current landlord, W.H. Donaghy, up to May 15, 1914, while announcing to him that “we will vacate at the expiration of our lease.” Their chaplain, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, attended this meeting and led the opening and closing prayers. Ever a team player, on June 8, 1914, Fr. Mahon donated pictures for the council’s new rooms.
Kent Council 1411 had been established under the pastorate of Father George Branigan who led St. Patrick Church in Kent from 1904 to 1909. Fr. Branigan’s name was also listed on the official charter as a founding member. Since 1909 was Fr. Branigan’s final year as pastor in Kent, it was St. Patrick’s next pastor, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, whose name appeared frequently in the council’s first meeting records. On March 26, 1914, the council offered their chaplain, Fr. Mahon, a vote of thanks for his efforts to defend the church and the Knights of Columbus from slanderous attacks printed in The Menace.
1914 and 1915 saw a surprising rise of anti-Catholic rhetoric appearing in print. One of the most notorious of these publications was The Menace, published in Aurora, Missouri. At its height it had 1.5 million weekly subscribers, greater than the largest daily newspapers in New York and Chicago. In the February 20, 1915, issue pictured left, The Menace reported a violent fatal attack on an ex-priest by a mob of Knights of Columbus in Marshall, Texas. On January 14, 1915, Kent Council 1411 sent $5 to a Wheeling, West Virginia, Knights of Columbus Council whose chaplain, Fr. Farrell, was suing The Menace for gross libel.
Fr. T. J. Mahon was pastor of St. Patrick and 1411’s chaplain until his untimely death in 1920. He took the time to be at a surprising number of 1411 Council meetings and contributed a genuine Catholic perspective at council meetings whenever he attended. When Pope Pius X died on August 20, 1914, Fr. Mahon asked the Kent Knights to donate $10 for him to be able to decorate the church in mourning the late Pope. The Knights at that meeting approved his request on the spot.
At the June 17, 1915 meeting, Fr. Mahan described his efforts to persuade the Public Library Board of Kent to purchase a set of the newly printed The Catholic Encyclopedia. The Knights couldn’t force the public library to purchase such a set. But they could purchase a set themselves. That very night, the Council voted to purchase a set of The Catholic Encyclopedia for the council’s rooms.
The Council looked for fun ways to generate income. They put on a dance in 1914 that made $22. The fee to the musicians was $6, leaving the Council with $14 in profit. Perhaps they found that paying musicians was expensive because they voted to spend $400 to purchase a player piano, deciding to sell their present piano to defray the cost of the new player piano. They tried to sell raffle tickets for a dollar each to raffle off their old piano, but they found selling the tickets was impossible. So instead, they voted that each member would donate a dollar to the purchase the new player piano. Three years later they still had the old piano along with the new one. They spent the money to have both of them tuned.
The game most beloved by our present-day Knights is Bocce. But on January 29, 1916, Council 1411 formed a baseball team which began competing against other teams in the area. The baseball team was still competing when, on March 29, 1920, a motion was made and carried “to give the manager of the baseball team authority to purchase baseball supplies.” The baseball team was still competing in 1921 (as the clipping on page 5 of this history shows).
On April 26, 1920, “Grand Knight Blake C. Cook appointed brothers J. J. McKinney and Ralph Fitzgerald and Fred Jacobs as a committee to investigate the cost of starting a K of C Band.” It must not have been feasible because the idea of a council band was not mentioned again in the minutes.
On September 13, 1920, outgoing Grand Knight Blake C. Cook passed on the office of Grand Knight to his successor, R.T. Armstrong. At that same meeting the members voted to authorize the football team manager “to purchase lumber for goal posts and hire someone to mow the field.” A few meetings later, the council voted to investigate the cost of putting up a fence on the field and authorized the football team manager to buy the necessary equipment for the football team.
On November 8, 1920, a motion was made and carried to notify members to be present at the club house at 1 PM, November 11, to take part in the Armistice Day Parade. For a number of years afterward, the minutes mentioned that the Knights of 1411 marched in the community parade on Armistice Day.
Tragedy struck on the 29th of January in 1921. Fr. Mahon, who had been unwell lately, was taken to Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He died there after a three-week decline. The Kent Tribune put the account of Fr. Mahon’s funeral and his photo on the front page of its March 1, 1921 issue. The following is a portion of the text of the article.
Rev. Father Thomas J. Mahon, pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Kent, passed away at 3:30 p. m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He was taken there on Jan. 29 for treatment for a complication of diseases. He had suffered a great deal for two or three years or longer, but he was loath to give up, and, though in great pain, he remained faithful to his duties in his parish and with his people. In the truest sense he gave his life for his work, the work he loved, administering to St. Patrick's and comforting the people of his congregation.
His experience in a wreck on the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad last fall while enroute to Cleveland was a shock to his system, and there had been a noticeable "change since then.”
The remains were brought to Kent Thursday morning and lay in state at the rectory until 3 p. m. Sunday. At that hour, with members of the Knights of Columbus on either side of the walk as a guard of honor, the body was carried to the church. There hundreds of people came for a last look at the face of their dead friend.
Catholic and Protestant, old and young, all paid this last tribute, with tear-bedimmed eyes. The arrangements were in charge of Rev. John I. Gilhooley, of Hudson, an intimate associate of Father Mahon, and who had had charge of the church here since the pastor was taken to the hospital. Services were held for the children of the parish in advance of the funeral in order that all might have an opportunity to participate in the tribute to the beloved pastor. At 3 p.m. Sunday the vespers of the dead were sung by Rev. P. J. Clancy, of Ravenna, as celebrant. ...The remains were laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery, Youngstown.
Rev. Father Thomas J. Mahon, pastor of St. Patrick's Church of Kent, passed away at 3:30 p. m. Thursday, Feb. 24, at Charity Hospital in Cleveland. He was taken there on Jan. 29 for treatment for a complication of diseases. He had suffered a great deal for two or three years or longer, but he was loath to give up, and, though in great pain, he remained faithful to his duties in his parish and with his people. In the truest sense he gave his life for his work, the work he loved, administering to St. Patrick's and comforting the people of his congregation.
His experience in a wreck on the Wheeling & Lake Erie railroad last fall while enroute to Cleveland was a shock to his system, and there had been a noticeable "change since then.”
The remains were brought to Kent Thursday morning and lay in state at the rectory until 3 p. m. Sunday. At that hour, with members of the Knights of Columbus on either side of the walk as a guard of honor, the body was carried to the church. There hundreds of people came for a last look at the face of their dead friend.
Catholic and Protestant, old and young, all paid this last tribute, with tear-bedimmed eyes. The arrangements were in charge of Rev. John I. Gilhooley, of Hudson, an intimate associate of Father Mahon, and who had had charge of the church here since the pastor was taken to the hospital. Services were held for the children of the parish in advance of the funeral in order that all might have an opportunity to participate in the tribute to the beloved pastor. At 3 p.m. Sunday the vespers of the dead were sung by Rev. P. J. Clancy, of Ravenna, as celebrant. …The remains were laid to rest in Calvary Cemetery, Youngstown.
The loss of Fr. Mahon affected the council members deeply. At the March 14, 1921 meeting, the members voted to purchase purple bows “for every member to wear for 30 days in memory of our late pastor.”
On Monday, May 9, 1921, leading the list of applicants for membership was “Reverend Father Thomas Walsh.” Fr. Walsh must have been eager to contribute to the council because his name was mentioned at the next meeting on June 6, 1921, under “The Good of the Order” as follows: “Father Walsh, Brothers B.C. Cook and Lester Whalen was [sic] appointed as a committee of 3 to have a class of K of C on The Catholic Encyclopedia at our meeting every Monday night.” The Catholic Encyclopedia in the Club’s rooms had been purchased in 1915, and now in 1921, their new chaplain, Fr. Walsh, would be teaching its contents to the members who attended on Mondays.
On Monday Evening, September 26, 1921, the election of new officers was held. They were listed in the minutes as follows:
Grand Knight-Henry Lallament
Deputy Grand Knight- W. J. Whalen
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer
Financial Secretary-B. G. Sawyer
Recorder-C. L. Clark
Warden-Howard Balzer
Chancellor-C. J. Horning
Advocate-B.C. Cooke
Inside Guard-Pat McGill
Outside Guard-W.C. Kline
Trustee-J. C. Green
A clipping from the Kent Tribune on Thursday, July 21, 1921, promotes the Kent Council 1411’s baseball team that will be playing against the Gilmore K of C team of Cleveland.
Notice in the Kent Tribune on January 4, 1923
By this time, Fr. Walsh had been transferred, and Fr. James Nolan had become the new pastor of St. Patrick.
On October 2, 1922 the following eleven officers were elected unanimously:
Grand Knight-Leo Goodman
Deputy Grand Knight- S. A. Willett
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer
Financial Secretary-B. G. Sawyer
Recorder-C. L. Clark
Warden-M. D. Kearns
Chancellor-Albert Jacobs
Advocate-Blake C. Cooke
Inside Guard-J. V. Lansinger
Outside Guard-G. Ruggieri
Trustee-E. J. Williams
At the January 8, 1923, meeting under The Good of the Order, “Brother McIntyre remarked that the Christmas Program was a success due largely to a successful impersonation of Santa Claus by Brother Herb Strayer.”
On September 17, 1923, the following eleven officers were elected:
Grand Knight-P. A. Eichenlaub
Deputy Grand Knight-I. S. Bissler
Treasurer-F.H. Bauer elected by acclamation
Financial Secretary- B. G. Sawyer elected by acclamation
Recording Secretary- W. M. Sawyer elected by acclamation
Warden-Linnen
Chancellor-W. F. Kerwin
Advocate-O’Hara
Inside Guard-T. J. O’Brien
Outside Guard-H. G. Adams
Trustee-B. J. Sawyer to succeed Matt Adams
St. Patrick Church on Portage Street in Kent in the early years of the 20th century
Under The Good of the Order, Fr. Nolan gave a very good talk, and the council voted to donate $5 to the Kent Fire Department Home Fund.
Under the Secretary’s report of receipts of the meeting, the Total Amount was $74.98, made up as follows: Death Benefit Fund $26.98 and General Fund $48.00.
On November 5, 1923, in New Business, a committee was appointed to see Fr. Nolan about installing a telephone in the Sisters’ residence, consisting of Klein, Lansinger and Goodman.
Under The Good of the Order, “a very interesting talk was given by Fr. McCarthy of Akron on the K.K.K.” The Ku Klux Klan were vehemently anti-Catholic as well as racist. The first Klan appeared after the Civil and was suppressed by the government in 1871. The second Klan began in Georgia in 1915 and spread throughout the country in the 1920’s. It sought to maintain white supremacy, and it opposed Jews, while also stressing its opposition to the alleged political power of the pope and the Catholic Church. This second Klan flourished both in the South and northern states. It was funded by initiation fees and selling its members a standard white costume. The chapters did not have dues. It used K-words which were similar to those used by the first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades to intimidate others. It rapidly declined in the latter half of the 1920s.
Under the Secretary’s report of receipts of the meeting, the Total Amount was $167.35, made up as follows: Death Benefit Fund $66.35, General Fund $66.00, and a Special Fund of $35.
The name and Clairton, PA., address of 1411’s first Grand Knight, Peter A. Burens’ remained on the council’s mailing list after he left Kent. But early in 1923 he was operated for stomach cancer. He died six months later on November 14, 1923. His funeral and burial were to be held in Bellevue, Ohio, the town of his birth and childhood. On November 18, 1923, at a Sunday meeting of Council 1411, Brother Ed Sawyer was appointed to be a delegate to the funeral of Brother P.A. Burens in Bellevue, Ohio, in Sandusky County. It was moved and seconded that the council would pay Sawyer’s expenses. The burial was at Immaculate Conception Cemetery in the “Old Section.” It is noteworthy that his obituary implied that even though he had been away from Kent for the past fourteen years, he considered himself a member of Knights of Columbus Council 1411 to end of his life.
On December 17, 1923, “Brother Fitzgerald, Grand Knight of Ravenna Council was called out and told that Ravenna was counting on sending 4 or 5 cand. (candidates?) to Alliance, and that they expected to get about 15 more from Mantua as the priest of Mantua was very anxious to get a council started there. He then told of the efforts of the Ravenna council trying to stop the talk of the alleged ex-nun in the American Legion hall. He also stated that (if) any businessman is known to be a member of the K.K.K., they discontinue trading at his store.”
These events occurred over a hundred years ago, but there are three take-aways from this overview of the activities of Knights of Columbus Kent Council 1411 in its first fifteen years. First, the grand knights of Kent Council 1411 were effective leaders of their young council. They fostered the building of a vibrant fraternal organization of Catholic men committed to the work of the Catholic Church in their hometown. Second, the first three chaplains, Fr. Thomas J. Mahon, Fr. Thomas Walsh and Fr. James Nolan each committed to attending many of the council’s business meetings. When they were present, they personally interacted with the men of the Knights of Columbus, bringing to light the needs of the parish and how the Knights could help meet them. And finally, there is clear evidence that these first Knights of Kent Council 1411 committed themselves in fulfilling the promises they made when they became Knights of Columbus. They were examples of simple piety, often attending Mass and Communion in a body; and also of true charity, sending floral arrangements to the families of deceased Knights and paying the expense of needs in the church and school. We Knights serving the Catholic Church in the 21st Century owe them our gratitude.
By Deacon Tim DeFrange, 3rd Degree Knight of Kent Council 1411, November 20, 2022
What It Means To Be a Knight
We are Catholic men who lead, serve, protect and defend. We share a desire to be better husbands, fathers, sons, neighbors and role models and to put charity and community first.
Kent St. Patrick Council #1411
Council #1411 of the Knights of Columbus was established in Kent, Ohio in 1909.