Father Augustine Tolton was born to slave parents on April 1, 1854, at Brush Creek in Ralls County, Missouri, and was baptized by Father John O'Sullivan in St. Peter's Catholic Church, Brush Creek, on May 29, 1854. Educated in Quincy, Illinois, he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood in Rome, Italy, on April 24, 1886, and celebrated his first public mass at St. Boniface Church in Quincy. He became pastor of St. Joseph Church in Quincy and later established St. Monica's Parish for Negroes in Chicago. He died in Chicago on July 9, 1897, and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery, Quincy, Illinois.