QUINCY and BRUSH CREEK, Mo. — Chicago Cardinal Francis George, OMI, led a pilgrimage April 6 and 7 to Quincy and nearby Missouri sites relevant in the life of Father Augustus Tolton, the country’s first acknowledged black priest, whose cause for beautification and canonization is under way. At St. Peter Cemetery in Quincy, the archbishop made a canonical examination of Father Tolton’s gravesite and led the group in prayers.
The group at the late afternoon canonical service included: Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, diocesan postulator for the Cause of Father Tolton; Auxiliary Bishop Francis Kane; Father Peter Harman, member Cause for Father Tolton Guild; Vanessa White, Catholic Theological Union Tolton Pastoral Ministry director and member Cause for Father Tolton Guild; Father Joseph Zimmerman, OFM; and Father Roy Bauer.
The next morning the group traveled across the Mississippi River to Brush Creek, Mo., located a short drive from Monroe City, birthplace of Mark Twain.
Bishop John Gaydos of the Diocese of Jefferson City greeted visitors at St. Peter Church, a whitewashed stone edifice that had replaced the original small church where Father Tolton was baptized.
“Welcome to Brush Creek. This is truly where it all began,” Bishop Gaydos said. Behind the church is a well-tended parish cemetery with multiple tombstones, including one for the Elliott family, owners of Father Tolton’s family. Some distance from that cemetery, just before the church property ends, are two long rows of graves, each marked with a simple wooden cross. A wooden sign says “Slave Cemetery 1840-1865.”
Friends of St. Peter’s Church at Brush Creek, many of whom are parishioners at Holy Rosary Church in Monroe City, maintain the church and grounds. They provided a reception after Mass. The group visited the farm where the Tolton family had labored, then drove back to Hannibal, where they stopped along the banks of the Mississippi River to reflect on how difficult it must have been for a young mother with three small children to make her way to freedom across the muddy waters.
Back in Illinois, the group visited the Robert Eels Home in Quincy, which was a stop on the Underground Railroad, then moved on to look at a marker designating the site of St. Joseph Church, where Father Tolton was once pastor.
The pilgrimage ended with a closing prayer at St. Peter’s Church in Quincy, where a statue of Father Tolton hangs on the school’s exterior wall.
The next event in the Father Augustus Tolton Cause for Sainthood is the 125th anniversary of Father Tolton’s priestly ordination. It will be held June 5, starting with Mass at 3 p.m. at St. Peter Catholic Church, 2600 Main St., Quincy, followed by a reservation-only dinner at 3 p.m. at the Quincy University Student Center, 1810 Lind St., Quincy. The cost is $30. Make checks payable to: Archdiocese of Chicago, and mail to: Vicariate VI, P.O. Box 733, South Holland, IL 60473.