Two years ago, Louise Peloquin began sharing excerpts from L’Etoile, a French-language newspaper published in Lowell from 1881 to 1957. At my urging, she has agreed to compile some of her previous posts with added contextual information into a book manuscript to be called, L’Etoile: A Star on Prince Street. Starting this week, Louise will present draft chapters from the book in serial form here on the blog. Today, we have another installment.

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L’Etoile – A Star on Prince Street

Chapter 2 – He Steered the Course

By Louise Peloquin

      Grasping L’Etoile’s local and regional impact requires overviewing its proprietor-manager’s profile. He was a direct descendent of Pierre Biron who, in the 17th century, left his town of Sainte Hermine in Vendée in the west of France, in order to work for the Jesuits in Québec. The newspaperman’s name was Louis-Alphonse Biron.

On July 28, 1861, Louis-A. Biron was born into an old seigniorial family of farmers dating back to the very origin of colonial times when the province of Québec was called La Nouvelle-France. His parents, Etienne Biron and Marie-Louise Laroche, lived in Saint-Louis de Lotbinière, a village on the south bank of the Saint Lawrence river. When young Marie-Louise passed away, her mother stepped in to raise Louis-A. and his nine siblings. During Louis-A.’s early adolescence, Etienne died as well.

The Lotbinière parish pastor recognized Louis-A.’s potential and decided to instruct him until the age of thirteen. The young man went on to study at the Nicolet seminary for seven years. He later asserted that his academic training had instilled in him the perseverance and patience to face life’s challenges.

Louis-A.’s cousins, poets Pamphile Lemay and Apollinaire Gingras, were making a living by the pen in Québec. Their success prompted the young man to choose a career in journalism. He debuted in Québec city with various reporting jobs as well as editing in publishing houses. Despite his strong ties to the homeland, the growing opportunities south of the Canadian border and a taste for adventure drew him to New England where he felt driven to serve the thousands of French-Canadian immigrants who had flocked to the mill towns in search of jobs and better living conditions for their large families.

His sister Lumina was working as a spinner in a Manchester New Hampshire cotton mill. Her enthusiastic correspondence prompted her young brother to join her in “les Etats” (the States). Consequently, he arrived in Manchester in 1890, found employment at the French daily L’Avenir National (The National Future) and became founder Joseph-Edouard Bernier’s right-hand man.

Louis-A. moved to Lowell to work at Maxime Lépine’s newspaper, L’Etoile. Nashua New Hampshire’s French-Canadian population was rapidly growing and wanted to benefit from its own French newspaper. To meet this demand, Louis-A. founded L’Impartial in 1898 (which continued until 1964). In 1917, he handed over its management to nephew Armand Biron.

In 1910, Louis-A. Biron married Marie-Annette Thibaudeau, a young teacher who had graduated from Québec city’s “Ecole Normale des Ursulines” (teacher-training higher education institution). The couple had three children, Louis, Jeanne (Mrs. Leon Lavallee) and Marthe (Mrs. Laval U. Peloquin).

Perpetuating French-language journalism in New England was not only Biron’s vocation but also a passion which he fervently transmitted to others. The Prince Street shop welcomed countless interns eager to learn the tricks of the printing trade. Louis-A. sent out his troops all over New England to serve French-language publications.

Biron always referred to himself as “a humble man among the humble,” and shunned public recognition. When the French government named him “Officier des Palmes Académiques” to recognize his cultural accomplishments, he respectfully declined the prestigious international distinction. This brings to mind the words of Antonine Maillet, first Acadian woman to win France’s most coveted literary award, the Prix Goncourt (equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize), in 1979 for her novel Pélagie la Charrette about Acadia’s exiled French population, a story made famous by H. W. Longfellow’s epic poem Evangeline.  “Each and every one of us has a single word with our lives” she said, “and this word must be that of our people.”  For Louis-A. Biron, the only reward was his mission – serving his community.

The man known as “the tall old oak of the Franco-American press” worked ceaselessly until a severe case of pneumonia took his life on February 23, 1947 at the age of 86.

Renown international journalist who debuted her journalism at L’Etoile, Yvonne Lemaître (her biography in chapter 6) wrote this obituary for the Travailleur.

[In French]

“Un Vieux Chêne S’Abat

Louis A. Biron père, de Lowell, depuis un demi-siècle figure marquante du journalisme franco-américain, s’éteint après une carrière exemplaire.

par Yvonne Lemaître

     Louis-A. Biron père, éditeur-propriétaire de L’Etoile de Lowell depuis 1910, doyen de la presse franco-américaine et l’une des figures les plus marquantes du groupe d’origine française en Nouvelle-Angleterre, s’est éteint le 23 février à l’hôpital St-Joseph à Lowell, terrassé par une pneumonie qui l’emporta en dix jours. Le 13 février, M. Biron avait encore paru à son bureau d’administration à L’Etoile, tel qu’il le faisait tous les jours. Quoiqu’en pleine possession de toutes ses facultés, il était octogénaire. Cette fidélité, qui jamais ne se démentit un jour en une carrière si longue, tellement remplie d’un labeur intensif, était bien tout l’homme. Fidélité, intelligence, force, bonté, droiture – telles étaient les qualités que reconnaissaient au défunt tous ceux qui l’ont connu….

     Et quelle plus belle épitaphe? Il serait à souhaiter que les deux filles du défunt, Jeanne-Biron-Lavallee et Marthe Biron, toutes deux rédactrices à L’Etoile et qui manient la plume avec aisance et éclat, s’appliquent à écrire une biographie de leur père. Une telle vie est un exemple, une inspiration; son souvenir devrait être dûment assuré au grand livre de l‘histoire franco-américaine. »

[English translation]

“An Old Oak Tree Falls

Louis-A. Biron senior, of Lowell, prominent figure of Franco-American journalism for a half century, passes away after an exemplary career.

By Yvonne Lemaître

     Louis-A. Biron senior, editor-proprietor of L’Etoile of Lowell since 1910, elder of the Franco-American press and one of the most prominent figures of the French-origin group in New England, passed away on February 23, at St-Joseph’s Hospital in Lowell, struck down by a case of pneumonia which took him in ten days. On February 13, Mr. Biron had, once again, attended L’Etoile’s board administration meeting as he had done every day. Although in full possession of his faculties, he was an octogenarian. This loyalty, which never failed a single day in such a long career so full of attentive labor, indeed fully exemplified the man he was. Loyalty, intelligence, strength, goodness, righteousness – these were the qualities recognized by everyone who knew him….

     And what more beautiful epitaph? It would be desirable that the deceased two daughters, Jeanne Biron-Lavallee and Marthe Biron, both editors at L’Etoile who handle the pen with ease and brilliance, apply themselves to write a biography of their father. Such a life is an example, an inspiration; his memory should be duly guaranteed in the great book of Franco-American history.”

      With thirty-seven years at the head of L’Etoile, Louis-A. Biron was the longest-lasting editor and proprietor of a French-language newspaper in New England. The Franco-American community mourned the loss of one its most valiant champions and defenders. Antoine Clément, L’Etoile’s last editorialist, paid homage to his director by declaring that the simple fact of maintaining the newspaper was Monsieur Biron’s priceless contribution to the cultural advancement of Lowell’s Franco-American population. Clément added that Biron’s often-repeated recommendation was to put out a local paper tailored to readers’ specific needs and expectations.

Louis-A. Biron lived on through the “Star” he and his team printed out of 24-26 Prince Street, Lowell. He advised his attorney and World War II veteran son and his two daughters to continue the mission as long as possible despite financial challenges. Thus, Louis, Jeanne and Marthe carried on for ten more years. On August 17, 1957, L’Etoile died.

Louis-A. Biron is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery in Chelmsford.