By CAROLE BRESLIN
When God calls a man to the priesthood, sometimes the call is heard clearly and few obstacles are placed in the path of the aspiring man of God. Sometimes, however, that man must overcome numerous obstacles to his vocation before achieving the honor of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Such was the case of Augustus Tolton, born into slavery in Missouri.
A well-to-do Catholic family lived in Kentucky, owning a number of slaves, one of which was a lovely young girl named Martha Jane Chisley. Just before 1850, her owners, Stephen and Savilla Elliot, moved to Missouri, taking Savilla’s personal slave, Martha, with them.
In 1851, Martha married Peter Paul Tolton in St. Peter Church in Brush Creek, Mo. The Toltons were a faithful family since the Elliots had all of their slaves baptized and educated in the Church.
Two years later, Charles Tolton was born and also baptized in St. Peter’s. Two other children followed in 1854 and 1859 — Augustus and Anne respectively. They also were baptized at St. Peter’s.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Peter Paul Tolton left to fight with the Union Army, but died of dysentery shortly thereafter. Having learned of her husband’s death, Martha packed up her three young children and their meager belongings.
Accounts of her departure differ, with some saying she escaped from the Elliots who were abusive, while others record that she left with the Elliots’ blessing. It would seem that since Savilla was concerned with the spiritual welfare of her workers — to the extent that she had them baptized and educated them herself in Catholic teaching — that she was not the harsh person some claim she was.
Ultimately, Martha had some frightening experiences as she traveled the back roads to freedom. At one point she was almost captured near Hannibal; but a white neighbor, Constable Lee Hardy, found an old boat which Martha used to cross the Mississippi and trek the remaining 21 miles to Quincy, Ill., with Charles, Augustus, and Anne, who was only 20 months old at the time.
Now that the young, fatherless family lived in a free territory, Martha was safe to raise her children. Martha began by regularly attending Mass at St. Boniface Church in Quincy. Unlike the churches in the South, where the whites attended Mass separately from the blacks, both black and white families attended the Masses at St. Boniface.
With no father to support them, Charles and Augustus had to go to work in the tobacco factory shortly after their arrival in Quincy. However, tragedy stuck once again when Charles died in 1862. In the meantime, Augustus and Anne enrolled at St. Boniface School. When the pastor of St. Boniface allowed the Tolton children to attend the school, some families rebelled, forcing the children to leave the school after just one month.
Mercifully, the School Sisters of Notre Dame volunteered to privately tutor the Tolton children before the pastor of St. Peter’s, Fr. Peter McGirr, personally provided for their education at his parish.
Augustus was confirmed at St. Peter’s, where he probably also received his First Holy Communion. In 1872 he graduated with distinction from the high school at the age of 18. With the assistance of Fr. McGirr, Augustus applied to various diocesan seminaries and was rejected by all.
But Fr. McGirr began tutoring the determined Augustus himself. After two years, Augustus was finally accepted by Francis Solanus College (now Quincy University). He was so far ahead in his studies when he began classes that he had to receive special instruction.
On February 15, 1880 Augustus left for Rome where he would study at the prestigious Collegium Urbanum de Propaganda Fide. Again he did well and dreamed of going to Africa to serve the missions there.
After six years of study in Rome, Augustus was ordained by Lucido Cardinal Parocchi at a Mass in St. John Lateran Basilica on April 24, 1886. He celebrated his first Mass the next day in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Then when he met with the cardinal to receive his assignment, he was surprised to learn that he was being sent as a missionary back to the place he had come from. His first stop in the United Sates was in Hoboken, N.J., where he celebrated his first Mass in the United States for the Franciscan Sisters.
He continued his journey and returned to Quincy, Ind., arriving 11 days later. He then celebrated his first public Mass at St. Boniface — the location of the same school which he and his sister had to leave as children.
For the next three years Augustus served as the pastor of St. Joseph’s Church. His sermons were penetrating, stirring the souls of his listeners. His knowledge of Church matters was extensive and his eloquence brought many white persons to his black parish to hear his words.
Once again persecution found Augustus. Both the white Catholic priests and the black Protestant pastors complained about Augustus, who was drawing so many Christians to hear him speak and receive his counsel. As the situation became more critical, Augustus once again had to leave.
This time Archbishop Patrick Feehan invited Augustus to come to Chicago to minister to the African-American Catholics in his city. Augustus began this new assignment in the bustling city of Chicago on December 19, 1889 in the basement of Old St. Mary’s.
With complete trust in God, Augustus’ preaching, teaching, and counseling slowly built up a group of black Catholics ready to start their own parish. After four years of this work, Mrs. Anna O’Neil gave Augustus $10,000 to build a “Negro Church.” This church, St. Monica’s, began in the recently vacated storefront in the 2200 block of South Indiana Avenue, and was dedicated on January 14, 1894.
Augustus continued his ministry, meeting with such success among the faithful that cardinals and bishops around the country were inviting the young priest to come to their dioceses to start similar parishes.
For three more years Augustus labored for his flock, frequently visiting them and ministering to their needs. In July 1897 Chicago was hit with a suffocating heat wave. People left the heat of their homes at night to sleep in parks and outdoors. During one such day, as Fr. Augustus walked to minister to a suffering soul, he collapsed in the heat.
He died on July 9, 1897. His funeral was held in the newly built St. Monica Catholic Church on 36th and Dearborn Street in Chicago on July 12, 1897. The very next day, another funeral was held in Quincy, Ind., at St. Boniface Church where he was then buried.
On March 17, 2010, Francis Cardinal George, OMI, of Chicago announced that the Vatican had approved the opening of the cause of canonization for Augustus Tolton. Now he is given the official title of servant of God.
Dear St. Augustus, during your lifetime you suffered much from prejudice. Help us all to pray for unity in the Church on all levels, in the hierarchy, in the religious life, and in the laity. May the Mystical Body of Christ, as Jesus prayed at the Last Supper, all be one. Amen.
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(Carole Breslin home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
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