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1885 — present
A parallel fraternal world, built under the Church's own roof: In a city where the Catholic Church barred its men from the Masonic lodge room — the standing of that bar is told below — Catholic South Bend built its own secret-and-benefit world, order by order. The Ancient Order of Hibernians came first: Division No. 1 of St. Joseph County was founded in January 1885, meeting the first and third Sunday afternoons, the Irish order at home in an Irish-German-Polish city. The Catholic Knights of America, a fraternal-insurance order, kept St. Paul's Branch No. 408, founded in September 1885 by the Rev. Michael P. Fallize, and St. Boniface Branch No. 701, with St. Mary's Commandery of its uniformed rank. The Catholic Order of Foresters kept St. Edward Court No. 1424, meeting the first and third Tuesdays, its officers printed by Howard down to the medical examiner and the inside and outside sentinels.
The Independent Order of Foresters kept Court St. Joseph No. 1576 beside them. Over the parish societies stood the St. Joseph County Federation of Catholic Societies, meeting the last Sunday of each month — the umbrella of a system that, in the Polish parishes alone, counted more than fifty societies by 1914. The capstone came on 6 January 1901, when the Knights of Columbus chartered Santa Maria Council No. 553 in South Bend — the date stands on the council's own bulletin masthead to this day. Howard prints its first generation of officers, John B. Weber as Grand Knight; the 1921 directory finds it meeting at Beyler Hall on East Wayne with J. Elmer Peak as Grand Knight; and the council is alive in its own monthly Anchor bulletin in 2025, a hundred and twenty-four years from its charter, its officers elected and published each year. The council as a club — its halls and its social life — stands in Private Clubs; what belongs here is the charter line: 1901, unbroken.
Sources:
- Howard (1907), societies chapter — A.O.H. Division No. 1 (Jan. 1885); Catholic Knights of America branches 408 (Sept. 1885) and 701; Catholic Order of Foresters, St. Edward Court No. 1424; Independent Order of Foresters, Court St. Joseph No. 1576; the Federation of Catholic Societies; Knights of Columbus Council No. 553 and officers.
- Polk (1921) — Council No. 553 at Beyler Hall; St. Edward Court No. 1424.
- The Anchor, monthly bulletin of Santa Maria Council No. 553 (2022–2025) — masthead: "Chartered January 6, 1901"; current officers.
- Rev. Joseph Swastek, "The Poles in South Bend to 1914" — the count of Polish parochial societies.