Augustine Tolton

Augustine John Tolton (April 1, 1854 - July 9, 1897), or Augustus Tolton, was the first black Roman Catholic priest in the United States. A former slave who was baptized and reared Catholic, Tolton studied formally in Rome. There he was ordained and served his first Mass on Easter Sunday at St. Peter's Basilica. Assigned to the Alton, Illinois diocese, Tolton first ministered to his home parish in Quincy. Later assigned to Chicago, Tolton led the development and construction of St. Monica's Catholic Church as a black "national parish church", completed in 1893 at 36th and Dearborn on the South Side.

Early life

Augustine Tolton was born in Missouri to Peter Paul Tolton and his wife Martha Jane Chisley, who were enslaved. His mother, who was reared Catholic, named him after St. Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo, from north Africa. Tolton was baptised in St. Peter's Catholic Church in Brush Creek, Missouri, a community about 12 miles from Hannibal. His master was Stephen Elliott. Mrs. Susan Elliot, his master's wife, stood as godmother.

Freedom

How the surviving members of the Tolton family gained their freedom remains a subject of debate. According to accounts Father Tolton told to his friends and parishioners, his father escaped first and went off to join the Union Army. Tolton's 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. Martha Irvine, "Life story of first recognized black U.S. priest unknown to most"; Page A-8; January 7, 2007; "The Post-Crescent"] According to descendants of the Elliott family, Tolton's masters freed all their slaves at the outbreak of the American Civil War and allowed them to move North. Augustine's father died of dysentery before the war ended.

Vocation

After arriving in Quincy, Illinois, Augustine, his mother Martha, and his brother Charley began working at the Herris Tobacco Company making cigars. After Charley's death at a young age, Augustine met Father Peter McGirr, an Irish-American priest, who gave him the opportunity to attend St. Peter's parochial school during the winter months when the factory was closed. The father's decision was controversial in the parish. Despite the activities of abolitionists in the town, many of Father McGirr's parishioners objected to a black student in their school. McGirr held fast and enabled Tolton to study there. Later Tolton continued studies directly with some priests.

Despite McGirr's support, Tolton was rejected by every American seminary to which he applied. Impressed by his personal qualities, McGirr continued to help him and enabled Tolton's having the chance to study in Rome. He attended the prestigious Pontifical Urbaniana University and became fluent in Italian, as well as studying Latin and Greek.

Priesthood

Tolton was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1886 at age 31. He served his first Mass as priest at St. Peter's Basilica on Easter Sunday. Tolton had expected to serve in an African mission, and had been studying its regional cultures and languages. Instead, he was directed to return to the United States to serve the black community.

Tolton attempted to organize a black parish in Quincy, Illinois, where over the years he met hostility from both white Catholics (many of whom were ethnic German) and Protestant blacks, who did not want him trying to convert parishioners to another denomination. He organized St. Joseph Catholic Church and school in Quincy, but ran into opposition from the new dean of the parish, who wanted him to turn away white worshippers.

After reassignment to Chicago, Tolton first led a mission society, St. Augustine's, that met in the basement of St. Mary's Church. He led the development and administration of the Negro "national parish" of St. Monica's Catholic Church, built at 36th and Dearborn on the South Side, Chicago. He had 600 parishioners. Tolton's success at ministering to black Catholics quickly earned him national attention. "Good Father Gus", as he was called by many, was known for his "eloquent sermons, his beautiful singing voice and his talent for playing the accordion."

Death

Hemesath writes that Tolton was beginning to be plagued by "spells of illness" in 1893. He collapsed and died as a result of a heat wave in Chicago in 1897, at the age of 43. Tolton was buried in Quincy, Illinois in the priests' lot at St. Peter's Catholic Church, where he had begun his vocation. This had been his frequently expressed wish.

Legacy

After Tolton's death, St. Monica's was made a mission of St. Elizabeth's Church. It was permanently closed as a national parish in 1924, as black Catholics chose to attend parish churches in their own neighborhoods.

Tolton is the subject of the 1973 biography "From Slave to Priest" by Sister Caroline Hemesath. The book was reissued by Ignatius Press in 2007.

References

External links

* [http://www.cospq.org/Parish%20History/Tolton%20Biography.htm Father Roy Bauer, "They Called Him Father Gus"] , St. Peter's Church, Quincy, IL
* [http://shamino.quincy.edu/tolton/tolton2.html Fr. Tolton Biography]
* [http://www.rootsweb.com/~momonroe/tolton.htm "Father Augustine Tolton - First Black Priest"]