[1] His grandfather was Daniel Legrand (1783–1859), an industrialist and Christian in Ban de la Roche, Alsace[a] who felt that the gospel message was primarily for the poor and unfortunate, despite their suffering.

[3] He was influenced by the work of the English clergyman Robert Whitaker McAll, who held "moral conferences" to carry the message of the Gospel to the poorest people.

[2] Fallot founded the French League for the Rehabilitation of Public Morality (Ligue pour le relèvement de la moralité publique), which gained widespread support in Paris and the provinces.

[2] Fallot began to adhere to socialist ideas, although condemning class warfare preached by leaders who "dream of revenge and conquest".

Fallot founded the Cercle socialiste de la libre pensée chrétienne, which in 1882 became the Société d’aide fraternelle et d’études sociales.

[6] By 1890 Fallot, who was in poor health and disappointed at the lack of enthusiasm for his socialist ideas in the Protestant establishment, asked to be given a simple parish in the country.