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Former slave Augustine Tolton overcame daunting obstacles to become the second African-American to be ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church.

Tolton wrote in one letter to a benefactor, according to Seattle Times writer Martha Irvine, and he noted that some blacks of other faiths requested his prayers at their sickbed.

Tolton also made contact with Mother Katherine Drexel, one of the first American-born Catholics to be canonized a saint after death

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Back in Quincy, Tolton took over the pastorship of St. Joseph's Catholic Church for Negroes, but the parish struggled financially and had but two dozen members

Tolton was ordained to the priesthood in Rome in 1886 at age 31. Expecting to serve in an African mission, he had been studying its regional cultures and languages. Instead, he was directed to return to the United States to serve the black community.