John J. Phelan

John Joseph Phelan (June 24, 1851 – after 1900) was the second Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus from 1886 to 1897. He was also the Secretary of the State of Connecticut from 1893 to 1895. He was born in Wexford, Ireland.

Phelan was not a founding member of the Knights. He joined the group in 1885. at the beginning of Phelan's leadership there were just thirty-eight councils with about 2,700 members., After his time in office in 1897, there 210 councils and nearly 17,000 members located in ten states.