Augustine Tolton
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Augustine Tolton (April 1, 1854 - July 9, 1897) was the first Roman Catholic priest in the United States to proclaim himself African-American instead of passing as white.
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[edit] Early life
He was born the son of slaves, Peter Paul Tolton and Martha Jane Tolton, and was baptised in St. Peter Church in Brush Creek, Missouri. Mrs. Susan Elliot, his master's wife, stood as godmother. Augustine's father was killed in action fighting with the Union Army during the Civil War.
[edit] Freedom
Exactly how the surviving members of the Tolton family gained their freedom remains a subject of debate. According to Father Tolton's friends and parishioners, his mother ran away from their master with her sons. With the assistance of sympathetic Union soldiers and police, she succeeded in crossing the Mississippi River and arriving in the Free State of Illinois. [1] According to descendants of his master, the Elliot family freed all their slaves at the outbreak of the American Civil War and allowed them to move North.
[edit] Vocation
After arriving in Quincy, Illinois Augustine, Martha, and his brother Charley began working at the Herris Tobacco Company making cigars. After Charley's death, Augustine met Father Peter McGirr, an Irish-American priest, who gave him the opportunity of attending St. Peter's parochial school during the winter months when the factory was closed. The decision was controversial, and many of Father McGirr's parishioners were enraged by their priest's decision. He was rejected by every seminary which he applied to for several years. He was finally forced to study in Rome at Pontifical Urbaniana University.
[edit] Priesthood
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1886 at age 31. [1] Tolton had previously hoped to serve in the African missions, but he was directed to return to the United States. He went to work attempting to organize a Black parish in Quincy, where he met a great deal of hostility from White Catholics and Protestant Blacks. [1]
He later was the pastor of St. Augustine's, which met in the basement of St. Mary's, and later aided in the construction and administration of the Negro national parish of St. Monica's, located on the South Side, Chicago. His success at ministering to Black Catholics quickly earned him national attention. [1] "Good Father Gus", as he was called by many who knew him before his ordination, was known for his "eloquent sermons, his beautiful singing voice and his talent for playing the accordion." [1]
[edit] Death
Hemesath writes that Tolton was beginning to be plagued by "spells of illness" in 1893. [1] He collapsed and died in a heat wave in Chicago in 1897 at the age of 43. [1] He was buried in Quincy, as had been his frequently expressed wish.
[edit] Legacy
St. Monica's was made a mission of St. Elizabeth's after his death and was permanently closed in 1924.
Tolton is the subject of the 1973 biography From Slave to Priest by Sister Caroline Hemesath. [1] The book was reissued by Ignatius Press in 2007.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Martha Irvine "Life story of first recognized black U.S. priest unknown to most"; Page A-8; January 7, 2007; The Post-Crescent
