WSC History - Knights of Columbus Washington State Council

the standpoint of the number of members and from the logistics of travel from an ever-widening areaencompassed by the Order. The Board of Directors changed in that the State Deputies were no longermembers. The Directors were to be chosen so as to form a compact group of management talent withoutreference to geographic distribution. Also in 1896, John J. Phelan was succeeded as Supreme Knight byMr. James E. Hayes. Mr. Hayes had great managerial skill and the Order had a large increase inmembership during the short time before his death in 1897. Deputy Supreme Knight John J. Cone ofJersey City succeeded him.National Organizer Cummings was sent to Chicago and on July 10, 1896 Chicago Council 182was instituted. From this base, the Order spread into surrounding territory. He was succeeded asNational Organizer by Mr. James J. Gorman of Fall River, Mass. Mr. Gorman did much work in theMiddle West. He brought the Order into Missouri in 1899 making it the twenty-first state jurisdiction tobe established. By 1900 the Order had reached into every section of the country except the Far West andthe Deep South. In 1899 Edward L. Hearn or Framingham, Mass. was elected as Supreme Knightsucceeding John J. Cone. He was the Supreme Knight for ten years.In 1901 the Board voted to expand to California and National Organizer James J. Gorman wassent there. He followed a pattern which was to be repeated in other states - most notably, our own stateof Washington.He first visited the two largest cities of the state - San Francisco and Los Angeles - to meet withlocal Catholic leaders both clergy and laymen. He explained the aims, the Constitution and Laws, thestructure and methods of the Knights of Columbus. It was an open question for some time as to whetherSan Francisco or Los Angeles would receive the first council. San Francisco was selected and, onJanuary 19, 1902, San Francisco Council 615 was instituted. It was followed one week later by LosAngeles Council 621.Mr. Gorman was obviously kept busy that year of 1902. He did much traveling the length ofCalifornia to insure the growth of the two councils in San Francisco and Los Angeles and to insure thatthe third council needed for a State Council would be realized. In that same year he traveled to Portland,Oregon and to Seattle and Spokane in our own state.The first council in the state of Washington was Seattle Council 676 instituted on June 22, 1902and it was followed just one week later by Spokane Council 683 on June 29, 1902.The growth of these West Coast councils was steady and satisfactory - although not as rapid ascouncils in the east. This is undoubtedly due both to the smaller population in general and the smallerpercentage of Catholics in the population. Added to this consideration is a much greater dispersion ofthat smaller population over the vast areas of the Far West.It took fourteen months after the institution of San Francisco Council 615 to bring in OxnardCouncil 750 in order to have a sufficient of councils and total membership to qualify as a State Council.In Washington State, it took until May 3, 1904 - almost two years after Seattle Council 676 wasinstituted. In Oregon, it took almost two years to bring in Council 849 in Baker, Oregon. The pattern inthe West was basically the same as in the East. It was to begin in the larger cities and then, as othercommunities observed the Knights of Columbus in these cities, additional councils would be formed,spreading outward.