Record of White Portrait Unveiling

Found by current Treasurer John White Justice White Portrait Unveiled by Widow

This brief May 23, 1924 article notes a "Ceremony Conducted by K. of C. Council Named in His Honor in Clarendon."

EDW's First 1st Degree

Found by current Treasurer, John White; Degree Announcement An interesting clipping from May 20, 1923 Washington Post. Based on this date, I assume it was the Council's first 1st Degree. Buried towards the bottom under an interesting account of a fire at Brown's Hardware.

Missionhurst, (home to our Chaplain) is 100 Years Old

Found at, and thanks to, the Arlington Virginia Department of Libraries Website;

MISSIONHURST
(4651 N. 25th Street)


Missionhurst (formerly Lyonhurst) is currently owned by a Roman Catholic order, but was built by Frank Lyon in 1907 as his home. Mr. Lyon was a prominent land developer in the County and built many homes in the areas of what are now Lyon Park and Lyon Village. He also owned one of the first newspapers in the County, The Chronicle. His home was the first in the County to have electricity, using power bought from the electric railroad which ran down what is now Old Dominion Drive.

Saegmuller Barn

Found at, and thanks to, the Arlington Virginia Department of Libraries Website;

SAEGMULLER BARN
(5115 Little Falls Road)


The Saegmuller barn was part of the Reserve Hill Farm, originally owned by the Vandenberg family. Reserve Hill subsequently became the home of one of the Vandenberg daughters and her husband, George Nicholas Saegmuller. Saegmuller, the inventor and manufacturer of precision instruments, built the stone barn in 1882. When the original farmhouse burned in 1894, Saegmuller rebuilt a grander stone "Reserve Hill" which survives today as the Knights of Columbus Hall. The first private phone line in the County was installed in 1894 to run between Reserve Hill and Easter Spring Farm, home of Saegmuller's brother-in-law, on N. Glebe Road.

MAY 20, 1923

There have been conversations recently as to the true date of the founding of EDW. Some know the date as May 20, and others are equally convinced that the date is May 23. The year of 1923 is not in question. The Anniversary logo used for the masthead of the Knight life currently uses May 23. However May 20 is used in the “Council History” written in the 2002 Membership Directory, as well as the 60th and 75th anniversary Knight Life editions. We have a puzzle to solve!

Obvious answer is to simply consult our official Charter. After multiple searches of every possible nook and cranny the charter is not to be found and no one we talked with seemed to remember seeing the document. An original piece of our history lost forever, sadly.

So we need to start digging. Vince Long DGK reviewed the World War II-era predecessor of the Knight Life and found in the Casey Cackle (circa)August 1945 that the date given is May 20. We did not want to take this as a definitive answer, since the mere publication of a date is not sufficient to verify the question. After all, they could have been wrong.

We contacted New Haven for assistance. Virginia Mingarelli was of great help to us; she reviewed our official records and definitively stated that May 20, 1923 is our Charter date and the date recognized by the Supreme Council. A large bonus came out of this conversation; Supreme will be able to replace our lost Charter. Once it arrives we will have it framed appropriately and displayed in a prominent position on our campus.

Beginning with the March, 2007 Knight Life, the correct date will be used in the masthead logo.

But when did this confusion begin? We searched through old Knight Lifes and found there was never any question as to the May 20, 1923 date until October 2002. From the original use of the logo in the May 1998 newsletter until November 2002, May 20 was the accepted date. The October 2002 issue of the newsletter, as well as the next two issues, changed the date of the anniversary logo to May 23. There wasn’t an explanation given for the change. The date was reversed to May 20 for the January 2003 to the April 2003 Knight Lifes. Again no reason was presented for the confusion. The last change was made for the May 2003 issue using the date of May 23 until now.

So it is official, May 20, 1923 is the official date of Edward Douglass White’s founding in the St. Charles School Hall.

OUR HISTORY

A newsletter is a near perfect method to get to know any organization. Located within our Knight Life is a plethora of anecdotal and random information that can tell you much if not everything about the Edward Douglass White Council. They can tell us what the priorities were in 1965. We can also find out about the groundbreaking for the Main Hall back in July of 1959 by Francis Crimmins and Jack Spates. Did you know that Jack "Mr. Knights of Columbus" Spates was EDW's first honorary member?

Having access to a complete collection of our Knight Life is a high expectation that can be achieved, but without your assistance it is impossible.

We want to thank Jim Holland, PGK, for donating a near complete collection of Knight Life's from 1988 to 1999.

A very special thank you, as well, to Janet Hankinson of Texas for mailing EDW a collection of Knight Life's that her departed father John Henry Martiny, PGK, had in his possession. She also forwarded photographs and documents concerning the Columbus Club.

We have an assortment of scattered Knight Life’s from 1947 to the present day. We have complete dates from January 2005. So please if you have even just one Knight Life in your home contact us so we can catalog it and scan it into our Web site for every brother and family to enjoy.

The Knight Life is believed to have first appeared in November 1946. There also appears to have been a predecessor published for EDW brothers serving in the military during World War II. It was called the Casey Cackle, but did not always carry that name on the masthead.

If you have a Knight Life from 2004 to the original in 1946, or a Casey Cackle, please donate or lend it to us. Ideally we would like them donated to EDW for the permanent collection. But we completely understand if you can only lend them to us for a short period of time.

We are in the process of scanning the Knight Life’s for our www.kofedw2473.org Web site with the invaluable help of our Web master, A.J. Valinote. This will allow all brothers, family and friends and potential new brothers to learn our history. Currently you can view editions from September 1950 to September 1951. The July 1951 issue is missing, so if you have it or others, well, you know, CONTACT US!

202.352.7955
history@kofcedw2473.org

EDW STEIN

In 1870, George Nicholas Saegmuller arrived in the United States from Bavaria, via England. Shortly after arriving in Washington he met his bride and moved onto his wife’s family property of Reserve Hill, he eventually expanded the property to include approximately 240 acres by 1911.

When the original house, that stood on or near where the mansion is now, burned in 1892 Saegmuller decided to build a stone mansion reminiscent of the Nuremberg castle along with some Southern American touches such as the portico. A desire to have running water, the first in then-Alexandria County, led him to replicate a tower found along the Nuremberg city wall. Saegmuller owned a German beer character stein designed in the shape of one of the towers, so he had the builders replicate as closely as possible the tower from his Nuremberg Castle tower stein.

The Reserve Hill Water Tower was built in 1896 according to the ‘date stone’ halfway up the west side of the tower.

The tower at the old Nuremberg Castle is still standing and open to tourists.

The Saegmuller stein is still in the possession of the family where it is treated as the family heirloom it rightfully is. In July, 2006, The History Project was able to track down a near identical stein from the same time period. Character steins in the 19th century, as well as now, were made out of molds, thus multiple copies were created. With the very kind generosity of 17 EDW brothers, ladies and friends we were able to purchase the stein; forever to be known as the EDW Stein. As part of the Council Home renovations a permanent and safe home will be found to display the EDW Stein.

From time to time other Nuremberg tower steins may become available on the open market. If you are interested in purchasing one for yourself or to donate/loan to EDW please contact The History Project and we will put you in contact with the sellers.

A new EDW tradition begins now: When a new EDW Grand Knight, and a new president of the Columbus Club of Arlington, assumes office, they will be permitted to have a ceremonial drink from the EDW Stein. This will be in honor of the great works that previous EDW generations have accomplished before us, and to show our desire that future generations carry on our work as members of the Knights of Columbus, Edward Douglass White Council 2473 located on Reserve Hill. Grand Knight James Walthall and Columbus Club of Arlington President Owen Beirne will inaugurate the EDW Stein in September, 2006.

Edward Douglass White

November 3, 1845 Lafourche Parish, Louisiana
May 19, 1921 Washington, D.C.

• Confederate soldier until 1863 when he fell ill from starvation during the Union siege of Port Hudson, La.
• United States Senator 1891 to 1894
• Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1894 to 1910
• Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1910 to 1921

Those are some of the resume highlights of our namesake EDW. As the first Catholic Associate Justice of the Supreme Court and the second Catholic Chief Justice, White has been honored by the Knights of Columbus many times. There are at least 2 councils bearing his name, us of course, and Edward Douglas White Council 3246 in Metairie, Louisiana [www.kofc3246.org]. As well as the Fourth Degree Edward Douglas White Assembly 398 in Attleboro, Mass. Those are not misspellings; we are the only Knight unit that spells White’s middle name with two s’s. The Edward Douglas White high school in Louisiana joins that club. However we are not in error, the Supreme Court, the U.S. Congress and the state of Louisiana use the double ending. Is this heavy information? Of course not, but it’s a little bit of flavor. Much like the candy White would keep in his pockets to give to the many children he’d come across throughout the day.

His contemporaries, including his political and judicial opponents, agree to the kindness and moral character of this man. The quality of his tenure as chief justice is mixed. He is famous for his “rule of reason” decision in 1911 in the Standard Oil and American Tobacco anti-trust cases. Basically the Rule of Reason held that not all monopolies were illegal, just those that unreasonably restrained trade. An ill effect of the monopoly had to be shown.

Perhaps his best heritage to Catholics and to the United States was in simply conducting most of his life and career in a manner that brought him honor and respect. As a Catholic law professor remarked on White and another Catholic Supreme Court justice, Pierce Butler: “Each proved to protestants that they did not need to fear Catholics in high positions in the federal government. They disarmed and confused bigots. ...They showed...every Catholic boy...could aspire to great office in the judiciary.”

There have been ten or eleven Catholics to serve on the Highest Court. The eleventh, Sherman Minton, converted to Catholicism after retiring from the court. Five of those eleven make up the majority of the current court: Chief Justice John Roberts, Anthony Kennedy, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The Roberts’ court is truly a high mark for Catholics.

The first Catholic appointed Chief Justice was Roger Taney of Calvert County, Maryland, who served from 1836 to 1864. He of the infamous Dred Scott Decision.

Parish Priest Book signing at EDW

It is a great honor to be able to welcome Douglas Brinkley to Edward Douglas White for a book-signing event. Parish Priest, as of February 19, is number 29 on the New York Times non-fiction bestseller list.

"Father McGivney's vision remains as relevant as ever in the changed circumstances of today's church and society."
~ Pope John Paul II

“Michael McGivney had an understanding of them all: the fathers, the mothers, the children, an everyday trinity more fragile in modern life than anyone else seemed to realize.”
~ excerpt from Parish Priest

Douglas Brinkley is a renowned New York Times bestselling author for The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc, and Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War. Brinkley has authored award-winning biographies of Jimmy Carter, Franklin Roosevelt, Dean Acheson, Rosa Parks and James Forrestal. He also edited Jack Kerouac’s diaries, amongst numerous other works. He has now turned his efforts to the founder of the Knights of Columbus, and candidate for sainthood, Father Michael McGivney.

Brinkley and Julie Fenster were intrigued while during the height of the pedophilia scandals they heard of a parish priest who truly knew what the priestly vocation was meant to be. Fr. McGivney is a reminder to us of the goodness of the vast majority of our modern parish priests who strive to serve our parishes with love and devotion.

This is a very exciting time for the council. We have a unique opportunity to have at Reserve Hill this distinguished author; and I sincerely hope that you and your family will be able to join us in strong numbers to support EDW and this book. Parish Priest will be available for purchase during the book signing.

We will be inviting our own parish priests and Bishop Loverde to the event, as well as the general public and the media. A large turnout of EDW members will go far to encourage future events of this caliber.

George Nicholas Saegmuller

February 12, 1847, Neustadt, Germany – February 12, 1934, Arlington

As Reserve Hill caretakers we have a special obligation to remember this good man. George N. Saegmuller has influenced Arlington County, our nation and our lives as EDW Knights.

Originally I was going to merely list his accomplishments, and think that would do him justice. However, that would be a disservice to this gentleman, and to his family. In reading his autobiography I found several anecdotes that sum up his character.

One story taking place in England eerily depicts the mood towards Catholics in the 19th century that helped lead to the creation by Father Michael McGivney in 1882 of the Knights of Columbus in the United States. While starting out in life, and living in England in the 1860s, Saegmuller acknowledges “the first mistake...in my life”. When he arrived in Manchester, England his first act obviously was to look for boarding. He came across the Brennan family who provided a room and leads for employment. A good and decent family by his account. Brennan family's fatal flaw of the time; they were branded as “Catholics and Fenians” by a co-worker who held influence over the young and impressionable Saegmuller. Saegmuller, under social pressure moved into the home of the co-worker, abandoning the Brennans. In his own words, “This was a very despicable thing to do and I have regretted it ever since. Long afterward, when I went to Manchester on a visit, I tried to locate them for the purpose of begging their pardon, but they had moved and my search was in vain.”

Saegmuller never needed to bring this story to light, but he wanted his family to “Profit by My Mistakes”. A good man, strong in character, willing to admit his errors and humble enough to want to try and correct them.

Courtesy of David Burns, a great-great-grandson, I have provided a couple printed copies of George Nicholas Saegmuller's autobiography at the Council Home/Big House atop the mantel. You can also access the autobiography at www.burnsorama.com if you wish to read it at home.

The History Project Begins

The challenge of history is to recover the past and introduce it to the present.
~David Thelen

Who founded the Edward Douglass White Council?
Who purchased Reserve Hill?
Reserve Hill?Where’s that?
Why does the mansion have a turret?
Who is George N. Saegmuller?

As a person who became a Knight this past June I have many questions. While speaking with fellow brothers these are sometimes answered, even with multiple replies. I have been able to get some queries definitively answered. But asking and answering the questions just breed more questions.

We have begun ‘The History Project’. This will help answer the above questions and the thousand others that are important, and maybe not so important, but adds color and flavor, to who we are as EDW Knights of Columbus. I have begun reaching out to Arlington County, the Supreme Council archivist and will be approaching descendants of George N. Saegmuller.

Now, I’m asking you for help. You are a vital part of this project; this cannot be done properly without you. If you have any historic information please get in touch with me. In the coming months I suspect we will have items that need to be identified. We will need your help to clarify and identify them. We envision creating a permanent exhibit within the Council Home, and available on our Web site and in this column.

By the way, Reserve Hill? It’s the name of our land; so named because it held an encampment for reserve Union troops in support of the Federal camp at Minor’s Hill.

The turret? A water tower. Its design? Came from a beer stein, depicting the Nuremburg city wall, that G.N. Saegmuller gave to the mason to use as a scale model.

Saegmuller? Financed the first courthouse and jail for Alexandria [now Arlington] County. He created the twelve-inch telescope used at the U.S. Naval Observatory; it is still on display at the USNO. He also was the creator of the bore sight for military weapons. He was the holder of 41 patents used by the military and in his optical profession.

Please contact me with any photographs or other historic information you can share, no matter how large or minute. It’s all important to us. You can reach me at history@kofcedw2473.org, by leaving an envelope addressed to me or 'The History Project' at the Council Home or call me at (202) 352-7955.