Tolton, Augustine (1854-1897), was one of the first African American Roman Catholic priests. He is sometimes called Augustus. His ministry won him the respect and admiration of many people, both black and white.
Augustine John Tolton was born in Brush Creek, Ralls County, Missouri, on April 1, 1854. Both of his parents had been born as black slaves in the United States. Both had been baptized as Roman Catholics. When Tolton was a child, his father joined the Union Army during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Tolton, his mother, and his brother and sister then crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois to escape slavery. Illinois was a free state that prohibited slavery. In Quincy, Illinois, Tolton attended St. Peter’s Catholic School and St. Francis Solanus College (now Quincy University). The influence of several nuns and priests caused Tolton to want to join the priesthood.
In the 1800’s, Catholic seminaries in the United States did not accept African Americans. Tolton attended a seminary in Rome. He was ordained a priest on April 24, 1886. He expected to be sent to Africa to work as a priest there. However, he was sent back to Quincy, where he served as a pastor for nearly four years. Tolton was a successful preacher, and both black and white people attended his Masses. However, he encountered racism, even within the church.
In late 1889, Archbishop Patrick Feehan of Chicago arranged for Tolton’s transfer to Chicago. Tolton helped build Saint Monica’s Chapel on Chicago’s South Side in the early 1890’s. He became well known nationally and preached in many U.S. cities. Tolton championed education and black leadership in the church. He also worked to help the poor and the sick. He died of heat stroke at the age of 43 on July 9, 1897, in Chicago. Thousands of people, both black and white, attended his funeral. In 2010, Cardinal Francis George, archbishop of Chicago, introduced Tolton’s cause for sainthood.
