Born at St. Joseph, Kentucky, on October 2, 1877, Hortense was the second oldest in the Wethington family of nine children. Her father, Alex, was from the original Casey Creek settlement in Casey County and was listed as a son of St. Bernard Parish who fought with the Union Army in the Civil War. He later migrated to Daviess County and engaged in farming in the St. Raphael vicinity of West Louisville. Sister Augustine’s mother, Martha, was among the truly helpful neighbors of the early Ursulines of Mount Saint Joseph. Hortense attended public school. After eighth grade, she pursued a teaching career by attending normal school at Whitesville and teacher training school at Bowling Green. From childhood, she was interested in religious life. At age 32, she entered the novitiate at Mount Saint Joseph. On July 14, 1909, Hortense received the Ursuline habit and the name Sister Mary Augustine.
After preparing for Ursuline teaching, Sister Mary Augustine was assigned to Mount Saint Joseph Academy for three years. Then she was missioned to the new school, St. Anthony at Browns Valley. After two years there, Sister Augustine was assigned to St. Patrick School at Stithton until the U.S. War Department took over that portion of Hardin County for Camp Taylor. Other assignments followed which took her to public and parochial schools in Kentucky towns of Lebanon, Curdsville, and Hardinsburg. Sister also taught at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Because of a nervous disorder, Sister Mary Augustine left classroom teaching and returned to Mount Saint Joseph in 1933. In 1946, she spent the year in treatment at St. Agnes Sanitarium in Louisville. Sister came home to the Motherhouse and received constant care in the infirmary for the next three years.
Sister Mary Augustine died at Mercy Hospital in Owensboro on May 2, 1950. Her remains were brought to Mount Saint Joseph the following day. On May 4, her nephew, Father Paul Wethington of Covington, celebrated her funeral Mass. Another nephew, Father Joseph Aud from Silver Creek, Maryland, preached the sermon. Sister Mary Augustine’s remains are buried in the convent cemetery. Among her survivors was her Ursuline sister, Sister Robertus. Her other Ursuline sister, Sister Richard, preceded her in death.