Almost 136 years ago, a remarkable man came to Lewiston from his home in Canada. Although he was here for only 26 years, his impact on this community through his devotion to its French-speaking people and their health needs, their education and their potential political power was profound.

It’s this man’s name that is engraved in granite above the entrance of an old and highly respected elementary school, Martel, at the corner of Lisbon Street and East Avenue.

In his obituary published in a February 1899 edition of the Lewiston Evening Journal, Dr. Louis Joseph Martel was said to be “regarded by the French citizens with a near approach to hero-worship.”

The sudden death of Dr. Martel at the age of 49 shocked the city’s population and his funeral on a snowy March day brought 1,500 mourners to St. Peter’s Cemetery, according to a 1974 Lewiston Evening Journal story by Paul Pare.

What were the accomplishments of this man who commanded such respect from his friends and neighbors?

He was not a rich man.

“In fact,” Pare wrote, “He died virtually penniless.”

Dr. Louis Joseph Martel came to Lewiston from St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, in December of 1873 when he was only 23 years old. He had graduated from Victoria Medical College a few months earlier, and he came here at the insistence of the Rev. Pierre Hevey, first pastor of Saints Peter and Paul parish and also a native of St. Hyacinthe.

The Rev. Hevey learned of Louis Martel’s early success in St. Hyacinthe, and he respected the character and intelligence of this young man.

Lewiston was growing rapidly as French-Canadian families arrived daily by train for the mill jobs. These families settled in neighborhoods where almost all of them spoke only French.

Dr. Martel was the first French-speaking physician in Lewiston, and he was warmly welcomed. His first office was at 87 Lisbon St. and he lived in rented rooms at Park and Ash streets.

It wasn’t long before Dr. Martel became involved in the city’s social life and was instrumental in the formation of “L’Institut Jacques Cartier,” or the Jacques Cartier social club.

Dr. Martel understood that Lewiston’s French-speaking population needed both preservation of their heritage and access to political power, which required the ability to speak English. He helped open many educational, political and economic doors for the Franco-American population of Lewiston.

Dr. Martel also worked very closely with the Sisters of Charity – the “Grey Nuns” – in founding St. Mary’s General Hospital.

Dr. Martel championed U.S. citizenship and political involvement of the French residents, and he served as a member of the Maine Legislature. He was a city alderman and the first Franco-American to hold the post of president of the Lewiston Board of Aldermen. In addition to serving as city physician, he ran for mayor of Lewiston. Although he had strong support, he did not win the election.

In 1880, Dr. Martel founded Le Messager, the popular French-language newspaper that continued in publication through 1966.

Through his years of service to the people of Lewiston, Dr. Martel became known as a kind and generous philanthropist. His gifts of time and money were the foundations for many of Lewiston’s important Franco-American institutions.

Lewiston’s appreciative population assured that the Martel name would be remembered in the man’s adopted hometown. The Martel School was built in 1925, and it was a day in 1981 when a young girl entered those doors of the school named for her illustrious ancestor. Julie Bernier, daughter of Karen (Martel) Bernier, is believed to be the first direct descendent of Dr. Louis Martel to attend that school. Dr. Martel was Julie’s great-great uncle.

Although several other descendants lived in Lewiston, and went to Lewiston schools, Julie, who now lives in Portland, was the first to be a resident of the neighborhood served by Martel School.

Several of Dr. Martel’s descendants still live in Lewiston. They include retired surgeon Dr. Cyprien Martel, who became a respected and well-known physician in his own right. After graduation from Bates College and Tufts Medical College in 1957, he went on to practice in Lewiston for many years.

Following in the footsteps of his famous ancestor, he became chief of staff at St. Mary’s in 1978.