Edward John Horan (October 26, 1817 – February 15, 1875) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest and

Bishop of Kingston The Bishop of Kingston (technically of ''Kingston upon Thames'' or, originally, of ''Kingston-on-Thames'') is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The ti ...

from 1858 to 1875.

Life

Edward John Horan was born in the Parish of Notre Dame in Quebec to Gordian and Eleanore Cannon Horan. His parents served on the committee of management of Saint Patrick's, an English-speaking chapel of Notre Dame. Although his family spoke English, he received his early education in French. He entered the Petit Séminaire in Quebec in September 1830. In 1839 he started at the Grand Séminairé , and was assigned to teach English.Rea, J. E., "Horan, Edward John", ''Dictionary of Canadian Biography'', vol. 10, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 1972
/ref> He was ordained on September 22, 1842, and continued on the teaching staff of the Grand Séminairé. Horan was interested in science as applied to agriculture. In 1843 he was appointed professor of natural history at the seminary. In 1844 he wrote a manuscript in French describing 423 different minerals.Flynn, Louis J., ''Built On A Rock: The Story of the Roman Catholic Church in Kingston 1826-1976'', Archdiocese of Kingston In February 1848, he went to

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

to further his studies. However, he soon transferred to

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

in order to attend the lectures of science educator

Benjamin Silliman Benjamin Silliman (August 8, 1779 – November 24, 1864) was an American chemist and science education, science educator. He was one of the first American professors of science, the first science professor at Yale University, Yale, and the firs ...

, and of his son

Benjamin Benjamin ( ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the younger of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel, and Jacob's twe ...

. In

New Haven New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is the third largest city in Co ...

he also encountered anti-Catholic American nativism. Horan returned his teaching duties the following autumn. He made field trips to

L'Isle-aux-Coudres L'Isle-aux-Coudres (), is a municipality located on island aux Coudres, in the St. Lawrence River, in Charlevoix Regional County Municipality, Capitale-Nationale region, Quebec, Canada. Variations of the official name are: La Baleine, L'Île-aux- ...

in 1849, and to

Baie-Saint-Paul Baie-Saint-Paul (; 2021 Population 7,371; UA population 4,308) is a city in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on the northern shore of the St. Lawrence River. Baie-Saint-Paul is the seat of Charlevoix Regional County Municipality. The city i ...

in 1850, and worked closely with Louis-Ovide Brunet and

Elkanah Billings Elkanah Billings (May 5, 1820 – June 14, 1876) is often referred to as Canada's first paleontologist. Billings was born on a farm by the Rideau River outside Bytown (Ottawa), now known as Billings Estate. His parents were named Lamira Dow an ...

. He discovered a species of Trilobite on a trip to

Cap Tourmente The Cap Tourmente National Wildlife Area is a National Wildlife Area (NWA) located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River in the National Provincial Capital Region of Quebec, Canada, established on 28 April 1978. It is one of the critic ...

; Billings named it ''Acidaspis Horani''. He was a director of the Petit Séminaire and secretary of the

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

council in 1855, and in 1856 the first principal of the École Normale Laval.

Bishop

In 1858 Horan was appointed fourth

bishop of Kingston The Bishop of Kingston (technically of ''Kingston upon Thames'' or, originally, of ''Kingston-on-Thames'') is an episcopal title used by an area bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Southwark, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The ti ...

to succeed Patrick Phelan. He was consecrated on 1 May at St Patrick’s Church in Quebec. Bishop Horan was one of the founders of the

Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul are an apostolic congregation of vowed women religious, who rely on and proclaim the Divine providence, Providence of God. They are the only religious congregation founded in Kingston, Ontario. H ...

. In 1861 he negotiated an agreement with the

Sisters of Providence (Montreal) The Sisters of Providence are a religious institute of Roman Catholics, Roman Catholic nun, sisters founded in 1843 by Émilie Gamelin. They are headquartered in Montreal, Quebec with five provinces: Mother Joseph Province, Holy Angels Province, ...

and Bishop Bourget for the sisters to establish a temporary house in Kingston to receive postulants and train them in both religious life and social service, after which they would return to Montreal. In 1867 he was named a director of the Université Laval. He was good friends with

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (10 or 11January 18156June 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 until his death in 1891. He was the dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, and had a political ...

, among other political figures. His health began to fail. Horan resigned as bishop on 28 May 1874."Past and Present Ordinaries", Archdiocese of Kingston
/ref> He died on February 15, 1875, and was laid to rest with the previous Bishops of Kingston in the vault below St. Mary’s Cathedral.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Horan, Edward 1817 births 1875 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Canada Roman Catholic bishops of Kingston, Canada Burials at St. Mary's Cathedral, Kingston