Knights of Columbus¹ 

On December 1, 1919 a group of men convened a meeting to institute a Knights of Columbus, an organization founded in New Heaven in 1882, Chapter in Canton. The Knights of Columbus was formally instituted on March 14, 1920 and was named after St. John’s first pastor John Flatley. The programs of the organization, in the early years, were to provide financial backing for the Catholic Church and often openly opposed the Ku Klux Klan. In the 1930s the financial backing of the church began to subside, but was replaced by support for community activities, such as field days, horse and minstrel shows that were the ideas of the Rev. Dr. Louis F. Kelleher. The knights from their inception in Canton had no permanent meeting place and were known to meet at Brooks Block, Canton Crossing, and St. John’s. This changed in 1960 when the organization purchased, through its company Columbian Associates Inc., a building at 500 Pleasant St. from the Polish Franciscan Fathers by which time there were 300 knights in Canton. In the latter half of the 20^th century the Knights of Columbus ran a bowling league, a bingo night, and fundraisers for various causes.

Resources¹

Canton Comes of Age, 1797-1997 by Canton’s Bicentennial Committee, 213-216.