First African-American Ordained in the U.S.

Today marks the death of Father Charles Randolph Uncles (seen on the right), the first African-American priest to be ordained in the United States (earlier African-American priests had been ordained abroad). The following is by Agnes Kane Callum:

Father Charles Randolph Uncles, a native Baltimorean, and parishioner of St. Francis Xavier, Baltimore, became the first colored seminarian to be educated and ordained a priest in the United States. He was ordained by Cardinal James Gibbons at the then Cathedral of the Assumption in Baltimore in December 1891 and celebrated his first Mass Christmas Day at St. Francis Xavier. Charles Randolph was the son of Lorenzo and Anna Marie (Buchanan) Uncles, who were born free and faithful Catholics. Charles Randolph had the desire to be a priest at an early age. He dedicated himself to acquiring an education and following the tenets of the Catholic Church. He attended Baltimore Normal School for teachers and taught in Baltimore County public schools. He was fluent in Latin, Greek, and French. Father Uncles was sponsored by Father Slattery, who was the American provincial of the Mill Hill Order, to attend St. Hyacinthe College in Quebec, Canada. He finished his studies there with the highest grades in his class.
In the meantime, Cardinal Herbert Vaughn, who was the spiritual leader of the Mill Hill Order of England, arrived in America in 1871. By the latter part of 1888, Cardinal Vaughn formed St. Joseph Seminary in Baltimore, and Father Uncles was one of the first candidates. It was here that he received tonsure (the ceremony in which some or all of the hair is clipped as an entrance into religious status) by Cardinal Gibbons. Father Uncles, along with four other priests, was instrumental in forming the Society of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, known as the Josephites, in 1893. From 1891-1925 Father Uncles taught mainly in Epiphany College in Baltimore and Newburgh, N.Y. While residing at Epiphany College he fell ill and died July 21, 1933. He is buried at Calvary Cemetery, Josephite Plot, in Newburgh.