Bernard W. Aubuchon Jr - Aubuchon Hardware

Louis Jean-Baptiste Aubuchon, pictured here, was the father of William E. Aubuchon Sr., the founder of Aubuchon Hardware. Louis was born in Canada in 1859 and owned a farm in Yamaska, Quebec. His early death in 1892 precipitated the familys move to the United States.

The widowed Georgiana LAbbe Aubuchon sold the farm and moved her family to America on the Rutland Railroad in 1900. It was only because of a distant relative, a Mrs. Delisle, who was living in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, that they alighted from the train at Depot Square to search out a new way of life. Pictured from left to right are William E., Georgiana, Albanie Marie, John B., and Arthur Joseph.

Georgiana LAbbe Aubuchon (18661944) found the family a home on the second floor of a triple-decker on Daniels Street in the Cleghorn section of Fitchburg. At this time, Cleghorn was attracting a large number of French Canadians looking for employment in the mills and factories.

The eldest of four children, William, born in 1885, found work at the Orswell Mill on River Street in Fitchburg where he oiled pulley shafts for the cotton machinery. In 1904, he changed jobs and journeyed to Leominster, Massachusetts, on the electric cars to work at the Blodgett Comb Company punching teeth into solid plastic bars. After brief clerking stints at retail establishments, he secured a position at Proulxs Drug Store. It was here that he met Emile Dionne, a painter, who was to become a partner in his first hardware store. This is a photograph of William in 1902 as a military guard of honor of the St. Joseph Church in Cleghorn.

This 1908 photograph shows William in the second row, second from the left. In this same year, Alphonse Roy let it be known that his hardware store on Fairmont Street in Fitchburg was for sale. William and Emile Dionne purchased the store for $2,800. William used his share of inheritance from the sale of the farm, borrowed from his mother, and paid Alphonse Roy $50 per month until he owned his half. About a year later, Dionne sold out his share to William. The store and the destiny were completely his.

This is the oldest-known photograph of an Aubuchon Hardware store. It was taken in 1909 at 112 Fairmont Street in Fitchburg. It is interesting to note that most of the identifiable products are still sold in the stores today: paint, hammers, garden tools, and seeds. Shown from left to right are Alfred Boucher, Phileas Quintal and his son, William E. Aubuchon Sr., and Gonzague Marien.

In this baseball team photograph taken in the very early 1900s, William, or Willie as his friends called him, is in the back row second from the left. Willie loved the game of baseball throughout his life, and his competitive spirit served him well in business. So as not to miss any prospective customers, Willie bore a hole through his store wall into Quintals candy store. He had an agreement with Quintal to wait on his customers while he was out.

This picture of two handsome brothers was taken around 1910 when both were in a local play at St. Joseph Church Hall in Cleghorn; John B. Aubuchon is on the left and William E. Aubuchon Sr. on the right. In 1913, William persuaded John to enter into the hardware business with him. Arthur, the other brother, intrigued by the success of his two siblings, opened Union Hardware in Fitchburg about a year later.

This photograph, taken in 1914, shows Aubuchon Hardwares first company truck. William E. Aubuchon Sr. is behind the wheel of this 1913 Ford Model T pickup truck. When this truck was new, it cost $440. It is parked on Pratt Road in front of the triple-decker in Cleghorn where much of the family lived for many years.

This 1916 image of the 144 Fairmont Street store shows, from left to right, Ovide Leclair, Armand Sabourin, John B. Aubuchon, Albanie (Aubuchon) Lavoie, unidentified, Albert Boucher, Joseph Isabelle, unidentified, and William E. Aubuchon Sr. The Cleghorn Aubuchon Hardware store has had five locations since it opened in 1908. The addresses are 112 Fairmont Street (1908 to 1913), 144 Fairmont Street (1913 to 1929), 146 Fairmont Street (1929 to 1949), 85 Fairmont Street (1949 to 1976), and Parkhill Plaza (since 1976).