SR0156 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

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SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On April 1, 1854, Augustus Tolton, a man who would become the nation's first African-American priest, was born into slavery to Martha Jane Chisley and Peter Paul Tolton, who were both kept in slavery in Brush Creek, Missouri; and

WHEREAS, When the nation was headed toward a civil war, Peter Paul Tolton escaped slavery to join the Union Army, dreaming of freedom and education for his children; unfortunately, he died in St. Louis shortly after his escape; and

WHEREAS, In 1862, Augustus Tolton's mother, determined by the sight of him and his brother doing field work at ages 7 and 8 and worried that any of her three children would be sold to other slave-owners, planned and carried out the family's harrowing escape to Quincy; and

WHEREAS, In Quincy, Martha Tolton sent Augustus Tolton to get an education with the Notre Dame Sisters in St. Boniface Parish in Quincy, which caused an uproar that eventually forced Augustus to withdraw from school until Father Peter McGirr of nearby St. Lawrence School (later St. Peter's) prepared the way for his school to accept its first black student; and

WHEREAS, Father McGirr, recognizing Augustus Tolton as a devout young man who served Mass daily before going to work, saw in Augustus a possible vocation in the priesthood; realizing that no seminary or religious order in the United States would accept Augustus due to his race, Father McGirr began with local priests to assist in Augustus' formal education in 1873; and

WHEREAS, In 1878, the Franciscans at St. Francis College (now known as Quincy University) took Augustus Tolton in as a student; while at St. Francis, he excelled academically, helped influence the temperance movement, started a Sunday school, and urged families to see to the religious instruction of their children; and

WHEREAS, In 1880, while in search of a seminary to pursue his priestly vocation, Augustus Tolton left Quincy for Rome, Italy to become a seminarian at the Propaganda Seminary (Urban College), which trains priests for work in mission countries; and

WHEREAS, On the day before his priestly ordination, Cardinal Simeoni told Augustus Tolton that a committee had agreed that he should be sent to Africa, but that the Cardinal overruled the decision, announcing that "America has been called the most enlightened nation in the world. We shall see whether it deserves that honor. If the United States has never before seen a black priest, it must see one now"; and

WHEREAS, On April 24, 1886, Augustus Tolton was ordained to the priesthood at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome; and

WHEREAS, Father Tolton subsequently returned to Quincy and became pastor of St. Joseph's Church on July 25, 1886; he worked tirelessly for the welfare of his parish, travelling great distances for numerous speaking engagements around the country to raise money to maintain the church and school; and

WHEREAS, In 1889, Father Tolton came to Chicago and was placed in charge of a fledgling group of black Catholics under the title of the St. Augustine Society out of St. Mary Church in downtown Chicago; and

WHEREAS, In 1891, after moving to St. Monica's store-front chapel, Father Tolton assisted in garnering support for the construction of a grand St. Monica's Church; by the time the church opened, Father Tolton was ministering directly to 600 African-American Catholics and tirelessly aiding many others who were afflicted by poverty; and

WHEREAS, Father Tolton's unceasing dedication to work and to serving those in his community kept him constantly busy, leading to much noticeable fatigue and exhaustion; and

WHEREAS, On July 9, 1897, upon returning to Chicago from an annual gathering of priests in Bourbonnais, Father Tolton passed away at the young age of 43 of heat stroke; he was laid to rest in St. Peter's Cemetery in Quincy; and

WHEREAS, On February 24, 2011, in consideration of Father Tolton's priestly dedication, particularly to African-American Catholics, the Cause for the beatification and canonization of Father Augustus Tolton was officially opened; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that that we commemorate the 125th anniversary of the ordination of Father Augustus Tolton on April 24, 2011, as the first African-American priest in the United States and commend his unyielding commitment and ministry to African-American Catholics in Quincy, Chicago and across the nation.