It was established at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and had five degrees, which, according to the Cyclopedia of Fraternities, "in connection with the personnel of its earlier membership, point to Orange sympathies."
It is probable that American Protestant associations existed as long ago as the 1844, but it is also probable that the American Protestant Association was founded in 1849, because the "forty-fifth annual convention" of the Pennsylvania State Lodge was held at its natal city in 1895.
At a meeting held December 5, 1850, overtures were received from the Protestant Benevolent Association of New York to send delegates to a meeting of that society held in that city; the result was a union of the bodies under the name of Protestant Association, the word American being subsequently prefixed.
There was nothing on record as to what was the cause for forming the APA, but it was always understood that at that time, there was no Protestant society to which citizens of foreign birth could be admitted that had for its fundamental principles the maintenance of civil and religious liberty, and the maintenance of the Bible in public schools; hence the "APA was formed, to which all Protestants could be admitted.
With the rise of Know Nothingism, the APA and its allies or sympathizers, the Order of United American Mechanics, the Patriotic Order, Sons of America, and the Brotherhood of the Union, founded in 1850, were swept into the Know Nothing campaign of nativism and anti-Roman Catholicism, much as most of the members of the same societies were engulfed in the wave of the American Protective Association, 45 years later.
[1] Unlike most of its companions, in its antagonism to Roman Catholic prominence in American public life, the APA suffered from schism and secession.
The new name chosen was Loyal Knights of America, and membership in the society was said to be composed mainly of Protestant Irish Americans.
It enjoined upon all the principles of probity, rectitude and virtue, and the members pledged themselves to preserve inviolate that privilege, "Liberty of conscience," and to protect all good citizens from violence, oppression and wrong.
Its membership was very largely Protestant Irish, and they were enthusiastic supporters of nativism, although not using their secret machinery for political work.
Like other societies, the APA lost heavily after 1856 by the collapse of the nativist party, but it kept an existence in New York City for over 30 years before the last of its lodges died out.