Count Edward Leo Hearn (August 2, 1865 – July 12, 1945) was the fifth Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus from April 1, 1899, to August 31, 1909. Early life and career Hearn was born in the Fort Hill neighborhood of Roxbury in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1865 to Irish immigrants. His father was a tailor, and he had two brothers and a sister. One brother, Edward, became a Jesuit priest. The family moved to Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and he graduated from Hopkinton High School. Hearn had private tutors who prepared him for college, but upon graduation instead went to work at a shoe factory. He then became a traveling salesman and opened a shoe store in Laconia, New Hampshire. He eventually became president of the insurance firm the Casualty Company of America. For a time he lived in South Framingham, Massachusetts. He was friends with Joseph Pelletier and Condé Benoist Pallen. Knights of Columbus Massachusetts Hearn was the founding grand knight of the Coeur de Leon Council of the Knights of Columbus in Framingham, Massachusetts. He served three terms as grand knight from 1894 to 1896, and from 1895 to 1899 was a supreme director of the order. In 1897 he was elected the second State Deputy of the Massachusetts Knights of Columbus from February 2, 1897, to September 1, 1899. As state deputy, he increased the number of councils to over 100, and to over 10,000 members. Supreme Knight At the 1899 convention, Hearn was in his hotel room when Congressman William S. McNary knocked on his door on the evening following the first session. McNary and several others entered his room and informed him that after a night of caucusing that he was their choice for Supreme Knight. Hearn initially declined, citing the demands of his job as a traveling salesman. He eventually agreed to allow his name to be put forth, and the next morning he was elected the fifth Supreme Knight in 1899 by a vote of 30-26. He would hold that office for ten years. Following his election, Hearn moved to New Haven, Connecticut. During those years the number of councils grew from around 300 to over 1,300, membership climbed from 40,000 to nearly 230,000, and 40 new jurisdictions were established. The Order also spread further across the country in 31 states and the around globe in Mexico, Cuba, Panama, and the Philippines. During a