BINET, inn-keeper in the Department of l'Orne in 1809. He was
concerned in a trial which created some stir, and cast a shadow
over Mme. de la Chanterie, striking at her daughter, Mme. des
Tours-Minieres. Binet harbored some brigands known as "chauffeurs."
He was brought to trial for it and sentenced to five years'
imprisonment. [The Seamy Side of History.]
BIROTTEAU (Jacques), a gardener hard by Chinon. He married the
chambermaid of a lady on whose estate he trimmed vines. Three boys
were born to them: Francois, Jean and Cesar. He lost his wife on the
birth of the last child (1779), and himself died shortly after. [Cesar
Birotteau.]
BIROTTEAU (Abbe Francois), eldest son of Jacques Birotteau; born in
1766; vicar of the church of Saint-Gatien at Tours, and afterwards
cure of Saint-Symphorien in the same city. After the death of the Abbe
de la Berge, in 1817, he became confessor of Mme. de Mortsauf,
attending her last moments. [The Lily of the Valley.] His brother
Cesar, the perfumer, wrote him after his--Cesar's--business failure in
1819, asking aid. Abbe Birotteau, in a touching letter, responded with
the sum of one thousand francs which represented all his own little
hoard and, in addition, a loan obtained from Mme. de Listomere. [Cesar
Birotteau.] Accused of having inveigled Mme. de Listomere to leave him
the income of fifteen hundred francs, which she bequeathed him on her
death, Abbe Birotteau was placed under interdiction, in 1826, the
victim of the terrible hatred of the Abbe Troubert. [The Vicar of
Tours.]
BIROTTEAU (Jean), second son of Jacques Birotteau. A captain in the
army, killed in the historic battle of La Trebia which lasted three
days, June 17-19, 1799. [Cesar Birotteau.]
BIROTTEAU (Cesar), third son of Jacques Birotteau, born in 1779;
dealer in perfumes in Paris at number 397 rue Saint-Honore, near the
Place Vendome, in the old shop once occupied by the grocer Descoings,
who was executed with Andre Chenier in 1794. After the eighteenth
Brumaire, Cesar Birotteau succeeded Sieur Ragon, and moved the source
of the "Queen of Roses" to the above address. Among his customers were
the Georges, the La Billardieres, the Montaurans, the Bauvans, the
Longuys, the Mandas, the Berniers, the Guenics, and the Fontaines.
These relations with the militant Royalists implicated him in the plot
of the 13th Vendemaire, 1795, against the Convention; and he was
wounded, as he told over and over, "by Bonaparte on the borders of
Saint-Roche." In May, 1800, Birotteau the perfumer married
Constance-Barbe-Josephine Pillerault. By her he had an only daughter,
Cesarine, who married Anselme Popinot in 1822. Successively captain,
then chief of battalion in the National Guard and adjunct-mayor of the
eleventh arrondissement, Birotteau was appointed Chevalier of the Legion
of Honor in 1818. To celebrate his nomination in the Order, he gave a
grand ball* which, on account of the very radical changes necessitated
in his apartments, and coupled with some bad speculations, brought
about his total ruin; he filed a petition in bankruptcy the year
following. By stubborn effort and the most rigid economy, Birotteau
was able to indemnify his creditors completely, three years later
(1822). But he died soon after the formal court reinstating. He
numbered among his patrons in 1818 the following: the Duc and Duchesse
de Lenoncourt, the Princesse de Blamont-Chauvry, the Marquise
d'Espard, the two Vandenesses, Marsay, Ronquerolles, and the Marquis
d'Aiglemont. [Cesar Birotteau. A Bachelor's Establishment.] Cesar
Birotteau was likewise on friendly terms with the Guillaumes, clothing
dealers in the rue Saint-Denis. [At the Sign of the Cat and Racket.]
* The 17th of December was really Thursday and not Sunday, as
erroneously given.
BIROTTEAU (Madame), born Constance-Barbe-Josephine Pillerault in 1782.
Married Cesar Birotteau in May, 1800. Previous to her marriage she was
head "saleslady" at the "Little Sailor"* novelty shop, corner of Quai
Anjou and rue des Deux Ponts, Paris. Her surviving relative and
guardian was her uncle, Claude-Joseph Pillerault. [Cesar Birotteau.]
* This shop still exists at the same place, No. 43 Quai d'Anjou and
40 rue des Deux-Ponts, being run by M. L. Bellevaut.