Edward L. Hearn

Who was Edward L. Hearn?

Count Edward Leo Hearn was the fifth Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus from April 1, 1899 to August 31, 1909.

L. Hearn was born in Framingham, Massachusetts in 1866. He became president of the insurance firm the Casualty Company of America. Hearn was a State Deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from 1897 to 1899. He was elected the fifth Supreme Knight in 1899 and held that office for ten years. During those years the number of councils grew from around 400 to about 1,400 and membership climbed from 42,000 to nearly 230,000. The Order also spread further across the country and the globe establishing councils west of the Mississippi, in Mexico, in Cuba, in Panama and in the Philippines.

Hearn retired from the insurance industry in 1910 so that he could work full-time with the Knights of Columbus.He was created a Papal count by Pope Pius XI in 1926.