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Service

Aug. 16 members of Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, Putnam, held the council’s annual memorial prayer service, in memory of the council’s deceased members and their families. More than a dozen Knights and their families gathered at St. Mary’s Cemetery on Providence Street, where they held a prayer service at the grave of Edward M. Mullan, Cargill Council’s first Grand Knight. He was elected when the council was founded on July 26, 1892. The service was held at Mullan’s grave, to serve as a symbol for all of Cargill Council’s members down through the years. Photo by John D. Ryan.

 

 

PUTNAM — Although much has changed in northeastern Connecticut since 1892, Knights of Columbus Cargill Council 64 remains a force for good in the community. That was recognized on Sunday morning, August 16, when a total of more than a dozen Knights and their families held the council’s annual memorial prayer service at the grave of Edward M. Mullan, the council’s first Grand Knight, in St. Mary’s Cemetery on Providence Street.

The service was held in memory of the council’s deceased members and their families.

The Roman Catholic fraternal group was founded 123 years ago this summer, on July 26, 1892,2 only a decade after the international Knights of Columbus organization was begun in 1882.3  Continuously active since its founding, Cargill Council was the 64th council founded since the Knights came into existence.

Cargill Council’s original members elected Mullan, who later served as Putnam’s postmaster, as their leader, known as the Grand Knight. Elected to three terms, he served as Grand Knight from 1892 to 1895.4 He remained a member of the council until his death in 1916, at the age of 61.

After locating Mullan’s grave, Cargill’s Knights received permission from Mullan’s local descendants to hold Sunday’s service.

Although it may seem strange to some people to hold a prayer service in a cemetery, current Grand Knight Matthew R. Frederick explained that there was an important thought behind the idea.

“Cargill Council has had several homes here in Putnam since it started 123 years ago,” he said. “Its first home was in the Bradley Theater, downtown. We spent decades in a large building off Church Street. Since 1976 we’ve been on Providence Street, in what used to be the Putnam Polish Club. We wanted to go right back to the beginning, in one spot. The grave of our very first Grand Knight is the perfect symbol for every member of Cargill Council, living and deceased, past and present.”

 Cargill Council 64, Knights of Columbus, is a ministry of both St. Mary Church of the Visitation in Putnam and Most Holy Trinity Church in Pomfret.