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Historic Marker: Augustine Tolton

County: Adams
Location: The marker is located at the NW corner of 7th & Maine Sts., Quincy, directly in front of St. Boniface Catholic Church.

 N  39^o 55.903  
W 091^o 24.283

Erected: 01/01/1974 Erected by: Historical Society of Quincy and The Illinois State Historical Society

Father Tolton, the first Negro priest in the United States, was born of slave parents in Bush Creek, Missouri, in 1854. Educated at Quincy schools, he returned to this city after his ordination in Rome, Italy, in 1886. He celebrated his first public mass at St. Boniface Church in Quincy and later established St. Monica's Church for Negroes in Chicago. He died in Chicago in 1897, and is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, Quincy.

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Last modified: 06/09/08