Antoine-Joseph Léger served his native Acadia above all as a lawyer and politician and only marginally as the author of two historical novels and as an amateur historian. One of eleven children, he was born on 16 October 1880 in Memramcook, New Brunswick, to Julien-T, and Marie LeBlanc Léger. After attending elementary school and receiving his secondary and postsecondary education (B.A., Université Saint-Joseph, 1903) in Memramcook, he studied first at the teachers' college and then trained for a law career in the office of Alfred Laforêr in Edmunston, New Brunswick. In 1907 he was admitted to the bar; he established himself in Moncton, where he practiced, eventually in association with two of his sons, until his death. In 1910 he married Alvina M. Léger; they had four sons and one daughter.

He was named legal counsel and member of the executive board of...