Augustus Tolton

Augustus Tolton (born April 1, 1854, Brush Creek, Ralls county, Missouri, U.S.—died July 9, 1897, Chicago, Illinois) was an American religious leader who is regarded as the first African American ordained as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church (see Researcher’s Note). Tolton was born into slavery. His parents, Peter Paul and Martha Jane (née Chisley) Tolton, were baptized Catholics who had been granted permission to wed by the neighbouring Catholic families who owned them....