Br. Eugene of Jesus

William Cornican was born on June 1, 1843, the son of John and Mary Fenton Cornican, in Waterford, Ireland. He emigrated to the United States and at age twenty-six sought admission to the Brothers' Novitiate at Carondelet, Missouri. There he received the habit and religious name of Brother Eugene of Jesus as he entered the Novitiate in November. In January of 1870 he was assigned to teach in St. Louis at St. Patrick's Academy but sickness caused him to be assigned as Sub-Director at Carondelet. He was sent to Chicago, St. Patrick's Academy in 1871, and to La Salle in 1872. His illness caused him to be assigned to the Orphanage at Bridgeport in Chicago in 1873, where he died at age thirty-one, having been a De La Salle Christian Brother for five years.