April 18, 1967
Page 9952
TWO OUTSTANDING MAINE CITIZENS
Mr. MUSKIE. Mr. President, creativity in the field of public service cannot be passed on from one generation to another. Intelligence and understanding are qualities which can only be developed through long hours of hard work and application. Occasionally, these rare characteristics are found in two generations within one family.
In Maine, we are fortunate in having a father and son, Albert and Severin Beliveau, of Rumford, who possess outstanding leadership qualities. Judge Beliveau, who recently celebrated his 80th birthday, served with distinction as a Maine Supreme Court Justice. Representative Beliveau has just launched what observers expect will be a long and successful political career. The people of Maine were and are fortunate to enjoy their talents in positions of public trust.
I ask unanimous consent that two articles published in the Portland, Maine, Sunday Telegram, which described in detail the Beliveaus' achievement, be printed in the RECORD.
There being no objection, the articles were ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
RETIRED SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TO OBSERVE 8OTH BIRTHDAY SOON
(By Priscilla M. Ross)
RUMFORD. --"I will be older, but I will never be old" said retired Maine Supreme Court Justice Albert J. Beliveau, who will celebrate his 80th birthday March 27.
Truly a self-made man, he is known throughout the state as a brilliant lawyer and judge. For all his success, he has never let this deter him from realizing what is truly worthwhile in life, his family.
When asked what he considered the high point of his life, he quickly replied "my marriage to Margaret." He never mentioned his joy of passing his bar exam in 1911 with a percentage of 99%, (the highest ever to be attained in the history of Maine until then) nor the day he was sworn in as Supreme Court Justice or any of the many spectacular trials over which he presided, simply his wife of 31 years.
On Aug. 6, 1935, he married the former Margaret McCarthy, daughter of the late Judge and Mrs. Mathew McCarthy of this town. They were richly endowed with three children, Albert Jr., and Severin, both promising young attorneys, (the latter also a newly elected member of the state legislature) and Judith, now Mrs. Lawrence C. Eutis, an English teacher at Stephens High School.
Beliveau was not born with the proverbial "silver spoon" in his mouth, nor was his climb to success an easy one.
The son of Mr. and Mrs. Severin Beliveau, a baker and mill worker, he was born in Lewiston, in 1887. He attended school eight years, the only formal education he received in his early years.
At the age of 13 the family moved to Livermore Falls, where circumstances forced him to leave school. He began as an apprentice in his father's bakery at Chisholm, until they moved here in 1904 where he worked for a year in the Clark foundry and then went to work at the International Paper Co.
In 1906, at the age of 19, he knew there must be more to life and he was determined to find it.
Having taken an international correspondence course, in all high school subjects, while he worked at the foundry, he left the mill and went to work in the law office of Mathew McCarthy, where he remained for three years as a clerk and stenographer.
Reading, studying and absorbing all the knowledge he possibly could paid off a hundred-fold, for in 1909 he had fortified himself with the necessary qualifications to be accepted at the U. of M. Law School. He completed the three-year course in two.
He began his practice in an office on the top floor of the Hotel Harris. He also became interested in politics and stumped through Oxford County on behalf of the Democratic party. These early and fiery campaigns brought out the aggressive spirit and marked him as a brilliant and clever speaker.
He also became extremely interested in civic affairs which he has continued to the present. Only on a rare occasion does he miss a town meeting and then only for a good reason.
At the age of 26, after practicing law only three years, he was elected Oxford county attorney, then the youngest in Maine. Fifty years later he saw his youngest son Severin, also 26 at the time, elected to the same office.
Before Judge Beliveau had completed his first year as county attorney, he had to deal with three murder cases. One of the more famous was the apprehension and conviction of Patrick J. Harrington for the murder of Thomas E. Preece of Paris Hill, who was killed on the night of Nov. 7, 1914.
When his term of office was completed in 1915 he went back to private practice until World War I broke out and he went to the Second New England Company Camp at Plattsburg. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the infantry and in 1918 was sent to France.
With his law experience and his ability to speak both English and French, he was assigned to the Judge Advocates Department. It was his job to settle land controversies with French civilians and to represent the government in general court martials.
He returned here in 1919 to begin his postwar work with the American Legion. His hard work brought him not only great praise and commendation throughout the State, but, more important, a personal satisfaction of doing something truly worthwhile.
He organized the Napoleon Ouellette Post in 1919 and became its first commander. Four years later, he was elected department vice commander and the following year was chosen for the highest state office, that of department commander.
He was appointed a member of former Governor Baxter's staff with the rank of colonel and again by former Governor Brewster.
In 1935, he was appointed by Gov. Louis J. Brann to the office of Superior Court Judge, a post he held for almost 20 years. It was during this time that the rugged pipe-smoking justice broke with legal tradition in Maine by freeing Francis M. Carroll from prison on a writ of habeas corpus. Carroll, onetime deputy sheriff, had served 12 years for the slaying of Dr. James G. Littlefield.
In 1954, at the age of 66, Judge Beliveau was appointed to the State Supreme Court by Gov. Burton M. Cross. He resigned in 1958 to join the Lewiston law firm of Brann and Brann and Isaacson.
When his sons were admitted to practice before the Maine Bar, the firm of Beliveau and Beliveau was formed and he became associated with them. Last year, the firm of McCarthy, Beliveau and Beliveau was started with a new suite of offices on Congress St. He is still active in the firm.
"I go to the office (most of the time he walks) a few days a week for a short time," he said. "My boys are on their own, they don't need or should they have me to lean on. They can make their own mistakes and we all know that experience is the best teacher."
Over the years, Justice Beliveau has shared his time and talents not only as a lawyer, judge and hard working Legion head, but has served as past exalted ruler of the Rumford Lodge of Elks and has also been prominent as a fourth degree member of the Father A. J. Barry Council, Knights of Columbus.
A man with seemingly boundless energy, he has traveled extensively. He first toured Europe in 1929, when he spent three months visiting almost every capital. His purpose was to make a close study of postwar conditions as well as social and industrial conditions. He brought home with him a wealth of valuable material in relation to foreign affairs.
Two years ago, he and his wife went to Europe for seven weeks, a trip they had looked forward to for many years. They plan to go abroad again next fall, but only for a couple of months as he dislikes being away from his native state too long.
His favorite hobbies include gardening and carpentry. He modestly admits he is a mere amateur but the products of his labors prove otherwise.
His huge flower garden, which he tends alone, is a picture of beauty. From early spring until fall he can be seen working around his flowers dressed in old clothes, his favorite attire. "A man in my profession must find some form of relaxation from the demands of his work, and this I found in my gardening and carpentry," he said.
He has become an expert cabinet maker. His most elaborate piece, which adds a great deal to the family dining room, is an 18th century "break front" which he built in his spare time over a period of five years.
He knew nothing about the use of tools when he started, became self taught and the results can be seen throughout his home in the form of desks, bookcases, circular table and kitchen cupboards among other things.
Much has been written about this man over the years of his colorful and rewarding career but describing him as "likable happy and sincere and to many friends he is most dear" would seem to sum it up.
YOUTHFUL SEVERIN BELIVEAU SHOWS PROMISE FOR DEMOS
AUGUSTA: The important things happened to Albert Beliveau back in 1935. He was named to the Maine Superior Court and he married Margaret A. McCarthy.
The youngest son of the union between Justice Beliveau and Miss McCarthy is the most promising freshman member of the Maine House of Representatives.
In young Rep. Severin M. Beliveau, D-Rumford, are combined the charm and wit of his Irish ancestry with the resourcefulness and determination of his French ancestry. He is, quite obviously, a young man on his way to somewhere and if Rep. Beliveau himself professes to be uncertain of the destination, it only serves to make the journey the more engrossing.
"I'm really not trying to be evasive but I don't know what I want to do politically," says 28-year-old Severin Matthew Beliveau. "I'm confused."
"He could be governor someday," says one acquaintance. "He has more promise than any other Democrat in Maine right now." That's heady praise for a young attorney with only two months of legislative experience under his belt. If he hears, Beliveau appears to give no notice. If he is confident, it has not become egotism; if he is friendly, it has not become condescension.
Beliveau's reputation preceded him to the legislature. The son of a famous Maine father and himself a former Oxford county attorney, Beliveau was watched with far more than casual interest from the first day he took his seat in the House.
He has done nothing to lessen his promise. He has avoided one of the most common pitfalls that has dimmed the lustre of other promising legislators, that of speaking often on a number of issues. Beliveau has yet to make his maiden address.
"I'll be doing some talking later on, of course, when the bills I'm sponsoring get to the House floor," he says.
Appearing before legislative committees in behalf of his legislation, he is capable and concise. And brief. Among the bills stamped with Beliveau sponsorship are proposals to establish a separate Department of Motor Vehicles, a lieutenant governor, and an item veto for the governor.
Beliveau, who will turn 29 in 10 days, was born in 1938 in Rumford and attended local schools, finishing up his secondary education at St. John's prep in Danvers, Mass.
After high school Beliveau entered Georgetown University and after graduation in 1960 immediately entered Georgetown Law School.
"For a year I was a member of the Capitol Police Force under the patronage of Congressman (James) Oliver," Beliveau says. The job paid $100 a week for part-time patrol of the capitol. "Mostly we were free to study." Beliveau was dumped from the force and replaced by a Republican when Oliver was defeated.
After graduation in 1963 Beliveau spent six months in the U.S. Coast Guard under the "take six" program and, as Seaman Beliveau, continues to attend monthly weekend drills in Rockland.
A law diploma under his arm and admitted to practice in Maine, Beliveau hung out his shingle in Rumford where he was shortly joined in practice by elder brother Albert, who had been with the Department of Justice. After four months of practice Severin was running for county attorney.
Being county attorney was nothing new for either the Beliveau or McCarthy clans. Since 1820 there have been four Democratic county attorneys in Oxford County. They were Severin's grandfather, his father, his uncle, Matthew McCarthy, and Severin himself.
Despite the fact that Beliveau performed with ability as county attorney he concedes that there's something a trifle ludicrous in an attorney with four months' experience being elected county attorney.
"It points up the need to revise our system to provide for some sort of full-time prosecuting system although not necessarily district attorneys," he says.
With a term as county attorney behind him, Beliveau ran for the House in 1966 and was elected with ease. "I ran, I guess," he says, "because I wanted to get an insight into state government.
Initially, Beliveau was "disillusioned" with the House. "I didn't understand the system and nothing seemed to be happening. Now that the session is moving, it's becoming more colorful and exciting."
A bachelor, Beliveau speaks easily on a variety of subjects, occasionally pushing an apparently unmanageable forelock back into place. He finds, for instance, little to be enthusiastic about in the bill which would make receipt of a driver's license an unspoken agreement to take an alcohol test if required.
"In place of that I'd like to see a statute that would permit a person's refusal to take a sobriety test to be introduced as evidence in a drunken driving trial. It's permitted in Connecticut and it's very effective there."
Beliveau, by the same token, doesn't profess to have all the answers. "There's no question that something's got to be done about Maine's high power rates but I'm not certain that public power is the way to do it.”
Beliveau gives all indications of being "on his way." And the direction is up.