Amable Oli Moreaux (1874-1942)

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, June 27, 1942.

  Just a few days following the write up on Nebraska newspaper publisher Mentor Alsworth Brown, another oddly named newspaperman is featured here, Amable Oli Moreaux of Minnesota. Like Brown, Moreaux headed his newspaper for the better part of forty years and also had fleeting involvement in politics in his state, being a delegate to the Republican National Convention of 1924. While still actively engaged as a publisher, Moreaux lost his life in a collision with a gas tanker truck near Luverne, Minnesota. A lifelong Minnesotan, Amable Oli Moreaux was born in Jackson County on June 28, 1874, one of seven children born to Isadore and Anna (Tweeton) Moreaux.

  In early childhood, Moreaux had brief residencies with his family in Winnebago City and Mankato, Minnesota before settling in Rock County in 1878. In the latter portion of that year, the Moreaux family established a home in Luverne, where young Amable worked the farm in the summer months and attended school during the winter. 

  Amable O. Moreaux first entered into the publishing field in October 1892 when he joined the staff of the Rock County Herald as a printer's apprentice, working under owner Herbert Miller (a future Minnesota state senator.) After several years of learning the trade and working his way through the paper's hierarchy Moreaux advanced to the post of foreman, and later took on the role of city editor. Upon the retirement of Herbert Miller in 1907 Moreaux succeeded to the ownership of the paper, and would eventually purchase it in 1909 upon Miller's death.

  Moreaux's stewardship of the Herald continued until his death in 1942, and the paper subsequently earned the reputation as "one of the leading country journals of Minnesota." Moreaux's editorial work would see him elected as president of the Second Congressional district's editorial association in 1910 and in 1918 was elected as president of the Minnesota Newspaper Association for a one year term. He married Nellie M. Brown (1889-1950) in November 1919 and later had three children, Amable (died in infancy in 1921), Charles Mabe (died in infancy in 1927) and Charles Mabe Moreaux (1929-1987).

   The 1920s would see Moreaux become heavily invested in the development of a proposed seaway to be constructed on the St. Lawrence River. This proposal later led to the establishment of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Tidewater Association, which comprised twenty-one states. Moreaux joined the association in 1920 and later served as its chairman for a number of years, and in 1936 was one of several delegates from the group to confer with President Roosevelt on the construction of the St. Lawrence Seaway. Moreaux's long connection to this project also saw him hold the presidency of the Minnesota Tidewater Association and the directorship of the Great Lakes Waterways Association.

  Long active in Rock County Republican circles, Moreaux served as part of the Minnesota delegation to the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland where Calvin Coolidge was nominated for the presidency, and in 1926 was a member of the Minnesota State Republican Committee for the 2nd district.

  Amable O. Moreaux continued prominence in Minnesota civic affairs until his death in an automobile accident in June 1942. On June 26th of that year the car in which Moreaux was sole occupant collided with a gas truck near Luverne, and he succumbed to his injuries the following day. The driver of the truck, Albert Ericson of Willmar, Minnesota, was uninjured. Following funeral arrangements, Moreaux was returned to Luverne for burial at the Maplewood Cemetery.

This photo of the Moreaux accident appeared in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, June 27, 1942.

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader.