DuFour, Howard R.

Howard R. DuFour originally came from Detroit, Michigan. After being introduced to machine tools in technical high school, he was employed from 1932 until 1940, as a draftsman, photographer, and special machinist. During World War II, his skills were needed to support the defense industry in Dayton, Ohio, culminating with an assignment on the Manhattan Project. Remaining in Dayton after the war, he operated his own camera repair business. Starting in 1951, he worked in Dayton for Monsanto, Dabel, and National Cash Register, as an instrument machinist, tool and die maker, and machine tool and design engineer, respectively. By 1976, as a master model maker, he joined the staff at Wright State University, supervising the work of its instrument machine shop. During his lengthy career he co-authored several technical reports and secured some U.S. patents. Retired since 1981, he devoted most of his time to researching the life and times of a kindred-Charlie Taylor. Mr. DuFour died on December 13, 2009 at the age of 94.

Charles Edward Taylor was born on May 24, 1868, in Decatur, Illinois. While he was still quite young, his parents moved the family to Lincoln, Nebraska. While Taylor eventually completed high school, he was forced to quit school temporarily in order to help support his family. He worked at a variety of newspaper and printing jobs which brought him into contact with machinery. Taylor showed great aptitude with machinery. He also worked briefly as a surveyor for the City of Los Angeles, a place that would hold great significance for him later in life.

Charlie Taylor's introduction to the Wright Brothers began with his marriage to Henrietta Webbert of Kearney, Nebraska in 1894. Her family was close to Bishop Milton Wright (the Wright Brothers' father) and he apparently encouraged Taylor to seek work in Dayton. In the 1890's, Dayton was considered an industrial town where good technical workers could always find employment. The depression of that same decade forced Taylor's in-laws to move to Dayton in search of work. Charlie Taylor and his young family joined them in 1896.

Taylor worked for several Dayton manufacturers and even owned his own bicycle shop at one point. He also struck up a friendship with Orville and Wilbur Wright and subcontracted work from their bicycle shop. In 1901, the brothers offered Charlie a job managing their shop and doing repairs. Taylor excepted their offer and, by 1903, became actively involved in the Wrights' work towards powered flight. The brothers were unable to get the engine they needed for their airplane built by any conventional manufacturer. The Wright Brothers turned to Charlie Taylor and he designed and built them an engine. This engine was the engine that powered the Wright Brothers' historic flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903.

Taylor's significance was downplayed in the event, but the Wrights consistently showed their appreciation and affection towards Taylor and his family. Charlie Taylor continued to work with the Wrights, most notably designing a plane with them for the US Army. In 1911, Taylor left the Wright Brothers employ and assisted Cal Rodgers in his cross country flight. It was during this flight that he moved his family to Los Angeles, California. Henrietta Taylor, his wife, was not well and it was hoped that her health would improve in the West. However, by the autumn of 1911, Charlie Taylor was back in Dayton. During this time he did some work with the Wrights and enjoyed a continued friendship with Orville Wright until Wright's death in 1948.

There are several gaps in Charlie Taylor's history during the 1920's and 1930's. It is known that he suffered a severe depression brought on by the permanent hospitalization of his wife in a mental hospital. In 1928, Taylor moved back to California and lived quietly. It is known that he sought work but, ironically, had a difficult time finding work in aviation due to his age. Taylor enjoyed a brief respite when he was hired by Henry Ford to build a model of the first airplane engine for Ford's museum at Greenfield Village in Michigan. The time seems to have been a high point for Taylor.

After that, Charlie Taylor slipped into relative obscurity until the death of his friend, Orville Wright, in 1948. Wright left Taylor an annuity of $800 a year. A fair sum of money at the time, it soon proved inadequate in helping Taylor meet his needs. As Taylor's life drew to a close, he was cared for by family friends. When the health of his main caregiver, Mrs. Shafer, failed, Taylor became a charity case at the County Hospital in Los Angeles, California. When it became known that this significant figure in aviation was unable to support himself, those who made their livelihoods in the aviation industry came together and created a fund for Taylor's support. He was soon moved to a private sanitarium where he died in January 1956.

From the guide to the Charlie Taylor-Howard DuFour Collection, 1938-2004, (Wright State University, Special Collections and Archives)